Post-Industrialism and the Third World

Abstract

A new consideration of the value and meaning of the concept of the Third World brings with it a new look at the culture of industrialism in today’s world, for the division of the globe into advanced and semi-or non-advanced countries has been largely a heritage of the Industrial Revolution. The countries of Western Europe that became the main colonial powers in the last two hundred years were precisely those nations that could boast of the most advanced industrial production and the most modern technology. Thus, the British Empire was so vast that it circled the globe so that the sun never set on its domain. France and Belgium were among other nations of Western Europe that founded colonies in Asia and Africa. Much of the boldness of these nation-states in terms of political expansion was an extension of the supposed supremacy of scientific knowledge that formed the basis for technological advances. Those countries that were in the forefront of scientific experimentation were, therefore, considered to be more advanced in every sphere of life. It was the resultant pride stemming from this belief that led such societies to be convinced not only of their own superiority politically but also of the superiority of their lifestyle and their culture in the most complete sense of the word. After all colonizing countries made manifest their obvious conviction that “inferior” nation-states did not have the ability to rule themselves.