Sheet n°267 - May 2007
Territories of the South and globalization:
between disparities and solidarities
hrough the extension of
international trade it involves, globalization tends to further the notion that the Earth
can be a “global village” where
all – countries and individuals
alike – would have access to
the same development possibilities. Yet this process brings
forth some strong disparities,
not only between North and
South, but also in the South,
betweencountriesandbetween
regions. To gain better understanding of the the globalizationrelated trends developing in the
South, a research programme
entitled “Territoires et mondialisation dans les pays du Sud”
(Territories and globalization in
the countries of the South) ,
was launched in 2001 for five
years by the lRD and the ENS.
The researchers of several institutions and nationalities, mostly
geographers, therefore set their
attention on reconfiguration of
territories, defined as socialized, appropriated, spaces that
reveal the power relationships
brought into play. Their investigations focused on the place of
territories of the South in globalization, on the new hierarchies
that form between them and on
the way the forms of solidarity
form and develop between the
different parties, from the local
level right up to the supranational scale.
© IRD/Patrick Blanchon
T
On the road to Tocopilla and Iquique, Chile
The process of globalization has been
at work since the 1990s. Its overriding
trait is the desire to involve all the spaces
of the globe in the construction of a “global
village”, in which every space would have
the same chances for development. It
functions in line with a strategy of homogenization of the economic and legal rules
enacted by the countries of the North, to
which the countries of the South, with less
powerful institutions and representative
parties, are obliged to comply if they do
not want to stay on the sidelines. This
process does not get rid of the existing
disparities, but sets them in a different
form. While the disparities are clear to see
between the countries of the North and
those of the South, they are just as stark
between countries of the South themselves. The principles of globalization are not
everywhere applied in the same way and
do not lead to the same consequences
in Peru and Senegal, in Argentine and
South Africa, in Brazil and Mauritius. By
the same token, inequality is also growing
within countries, between the regions and
local areas which fit with varying degrees
of success into the transnational economic
dynamics. Even if globalization can, in
some cases, offer a real boost to deprived
areas, the consequences of its extension
often prove serious for populations already
>>
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Sheet n°267 - May 2007
weakened by poverty, discrimination, violence or abuse of power.
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IRD UR151 - Laboratoire
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Jerome.Lombard@ird.fr
EVELYNE MESCLIER
IRD UR095 - Régulations
foncières, politiques publiques et logiques d'acteurs
(Refo). Associée au laboratoire PRODIG.
+ 33 (0)1 44 07 75 79
Evelyne.mesclier@wanadoo.fr
SÉBASTIEN VELUT
IRD - UMR 063 - Centre
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REFERENCE :
La mondialisation côté Sud
– Acteurs et territoires. Editeurs
scientifiques : JÉRÔME LOMBARD,
EVELYNE MESCLIER, SÉBASTIEN
VELUT, IRD Editions, Presses de
la rue d’Ulm, 2006, 496 p.
KEY-WORDS :
GLOBALIZATION, INEQUALITIES,
TERRITORIES, DEVELOPMENT,
COUNTRIES OF THE
SOUTH.
The researchers used that observation
as a starting point for their investigation.
Mostly geographers, working jointly on the
programme “Territoires et mondialisation
dans les pays du Sud”, led by the IRD and
the ENS, they sought a better grasp of the
globalization process in the countries of the
South. Changes occurring in territories at different scales were studied: regional, national
and supranational. These areas represent
spaces that are organized and invested by
societies, and therefore are good indicators
for revealing the power dynamics brought
into play in the globalization process.
Internationalization of companies and
trade have led commercial relations and
flows to expand progressively into zones
of the world that were hitherto outside such
transnational movements. Exploitation of
natural resources and the relocation of businesses and services have generated direct
links between rural areas and the world economy. This is the case for the pioneer fronts
as in the Amazon region, or outer suburbs of
large cities such as Johannesburg. Whereas
such areas connected to the global economy are changing and developing, in step
with innovations worldwide, the neighbouring
regions stagnate, which impairs local and
neighbourhood ties and creates an increase
in competition between territories.
Concentration of knowledge and power
in certain more fortunate places, the creation of centres of economic activity connected to the global system, or operation within
a network, implies the necessity for new
methods of management and organization
of these territories, notably by reinforcing
controls at certain borders or a reorganization of the places where trade fluxes are
concentrated. The spaces for production
and transport are reconfigured following a
global pattern, no longer according to that of
the States or regions concerned. Thus the
exchanges between the different centres of
activity require a smooth circulation of goods,
channelled by large highways which do not
in general benefit the territories they cross.
The poverty and poorer level of infrastructure
of such areas aggravate their marginalization. Government investment goes in priority
to zones that are potentially profitable and
attractive for international investors.
Globalization, thought of as a process
for harmonization, appears in the context
of the countries of the South as a source
of inequality. It creates “winner” areas and
generates benefits for certain societies, yet
simultaneously pushes certain other social
groups aside if they are unable to adapt to
this new dynamic global trend. Measures to
counter this trend, the researchers suggest,
imply a rethink of the notion of “territory”, by
taking the different scales into account: those
of the State, the region and supranational
spaces. The setting-up or reinstatement of
mutual territorial socio-economic systems,
from local to global scales, demands a political will and an active role of the State for
organizing a re-equilibrium of investments
and their returns, between the connected
centres and local markets. Coordination of
such forms of solidarity should contribute to
the emergence of new development potential
for all concerned, by preventing isolation of
communities and their withdrawal behind
their own boundaries.
The book resulting from this research,
“Mondialisation côté Sud. Acteurs et territoires”, deals with theoretical subjects from
the starting point of case studies conducted
in a dozen countries in Africa, Latin America
and the Indian Ocean, which give as many
concrete examples of spatial changes under
way. Examination of the expansion of soya
bean in the Mato Grosso of Brazil, analysis
of the economic transformations taking place
in Mauritius, the study of international emigration in Dakar, are examples. They give
ample illustration of how the populations and
societies of the South move, link up to the
global networks, regulate access to resources, reshape their political space and look
for international sources of support, in their
search for their own path towards developing
their territory.
Marie Guillaume-Signoret- IRD
Translation : Nicholas Flay
Marie Guillaume-Signoret, coordinatrice
Délégation à l’information et à la communication
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