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The ‘Global South’ is a pernicious term that needs to be retired
Arbitrarily dividing a complex world into simple blocs creates polarisation and retards progress.
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The term is used to describe countries ranging from least developed to middle-income giants such as the Brics, but it is contradictory and anything but neutral, says the writer.
PHOTO: AFP
Alan Beattie
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It is quite an achievement for an expression to be patronising, factually inaccurate, a contradiction in terms and a catalyst for political polarisation all within two words, but the deeply unhelpful term “Global South” manages it with aplomb.
The expression apparently has its modern roots in post-colonial discourse, particularly in writings by the US activist Carl Oglesby about the Vietnam War. But in recent years it has been elevated into a descriptor for all lower-income nations, from the poorest “least developed countries” to the middle-income giants such as the Brics – some of which, specifically China and Russia, have extensive historical and indeed present-day imperialist traditions of their own.
