Is the term “third world” pejorative or descriptive?
One rarely hears the term “third world” anymore. When it was used, it was used in a pejorative sense or as an insult. One cannot claim that the term is descriptive because there are not three worlds. The term came about because Western countries, no doubt led by the United States, after World War II, considered themselves the “first world.” They thought they were the most sophisticated, the most advanced, and, therefore, the “first” in everything. The second world was the Soviet nations. They too were sophisticated and advanced, but were also the enemy. They could not be considered “first.” The third world accounted for everyone else even if they were not an impoverished country. The words “third world” came to mean any impoverished country located somewhere besides in the Western hemisphere. Some may claim it is not an insult, but since the options provided are either pejorative or descriptive, “third world” is not descriptive simply because of semantics, but for other reasons too. Therefore, “third world” is definitely a pejorative term.
If one were trying to divide the globe up into sections that they called “worlds,” then it seems logical that the “first world” would be the one where humans first evolved, and that is Africa. Charles Okigbo, who wrote a chapter in the Handbook of Black Studies says, “Although Africa today appears to lag behind in developed countries, the continent provided the cradle for human civilization, and it is the origin of humankind. The higher primates inhabited the Nile valley 40 million years ago, and various forms of ‘early man’ have been discovered in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Niger, Chad, and South Africa. One of these forms, Homo erectus, is believed to be the first to use fire, which marked the first stage in iron technology” (Okigbo 2). From Africa, early humans migrated to other continents, but the first humans evolved there, so the continent would deservedly earn the title “first world.”
The insulting aspect of the term is that Westerners thought they should be able to claim themselves as “first world” because they believe they are the best. They developed weapons that helped them to succeed along with their allies in World War II, and that made them superior in their minds. By relegating some countries to the “third world” status implies that those countries are not as sophisticated or as advanced as those in the first and second worlds. Often people will use the term “third world” when they do want to be evasive about what they really mean. For instance, they may refer to countries with corrupt governments as “third world” countries, but that is not a very descriptive or accurate term. Perhaps they mean impoverished countries when they say “third world” countries, but they could just call them poor countries. The term “third world” is not descriptive of either corruption or poverty.
Perhaps people who use the archaic “third world” designation are talking about countries inhabited by specific ethnic groups. “Third world” does not apply to that situation either as Max Fisher of Vox points out. “One thing to keep in mind when looking at this map or any study on ethnicity is just how flexible ethnic identity can be. Any given person might hold several ethnic identities he or she uses interchangeably, and they can shift over time. That's just as true in the US as it is in, say, Uganda or anywhere else” (Fisher 3). If that is the case, then what makes Uganda a third world country and the United States a first world country? The answer is the fact that Americans believe they are superior to African countries because of their wealth and power.
Those who coined the term “third world” think their technological innovations and their sophistication make them better than countries who do not have the same level of advancement as they have. However, African nations have also had moments in history when they were the most advanced nations in the world. Vincent Harding who wrote There is a River says, “The African people . . . were also living testimonies to the breadth and variety of the work and skill of their continent. Imprisoned . . .were miners familiar with the long African traditions of iron, gold, and diamond mining. Blacksmiths, their companion artisans, were also captives. Weavers and potters; workers in bronze, copper, and gold; traders whose wide-ranging movements had long ago put Africa in touch with Asia, Asia Minor, and Europe” (Harding 4-5). The fact that these skilled people were overpowered by others and then chained, imprisoned, enslaved and eventually colonized all at the hands of Europeans who now want to claim that they are superior just goes to show that the term “third world” is really more of an insult than a descriptive term.
The term “third world” was created by Westerners to designate their standing in the world and everybody else’s too. They believe that they are so powerful and deserving of respect that they can classify entire continents and nations, and rank them lower than themselves even though it is they who caused the problems of corrupt governments, poverty and lack of innovation. If Western countries had not captured millions of Africans, enslaved them, and then after ending that moral travesty, returned to colonize them all because they believe they are somehow superior to them, then there would be less corruption and poverty and more innovation coming out of Africa. The West does not have any more right to coin terms to describe people they want to continue to oppress because of some sense of justification for their past wrongdoings. Coining insulting terms does not make the implication of the term true.
Works Cited
Fisher, Max. "A fascinating color-coded map of Africa's diversity." 10 November 2015. Vox. Web. 25 October 2019. https://www.vox.com/2015/11/10....
Harding, Vincent. "From the Shores of Africa." Harding, Vincent. There is a River. New York: Vintage Books, 1981. 3-23. Print. 25 October 2019.
Okigbo, Charles. "African Communication Patterns and the Black Studies Inheritance." Handbook of Black Studies. Ed. Molefi Kete Asante and Maulana Karenga. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2006. 1-19. E-book. 25 October 2019.
