TheFourth World is an extension of thethree-world model, used variably to refer to
The term is not commonly used. "Fourth World" has also been used to refer to other parts of the world in relation to the three-world model.
Fourth World follows theFirst World,Second World, andThird World classification of nation-state status; however, unlike the former categories,Fourth World is not spatially bounded, and is usually used to refer to size and shape which does not map onto citizenship in a specific nation-state. It can denotenations without asovereign state, emphasizing the perceived non-recognition and exclusion of ethnically- and religiously defined peoples from the politico-economic world system, such as theFirst Nations groups throughout North, Central and South America. SpanishsociologistManuel Castells of theUniversity of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication has made extensive use of the termfourth world.[2][3]
The term was coined in 1969 by FatherJoseph Wresinski when he renamed the charity he had founded in 1957 with families from theNoisy-le-Grand (France)shanty town toATD Quart Monde.
The term was recycled in the 1970s by Mbuto Milando, first secretary of theTanzanianHigh Commission, in conversation withGeorge Manuel, Chief of the National Indian Brotherhood (now theAssembly of First Nations). Milando stated that "When Native peoples come into their own, on the basis of their own cultures and traditions, that will be the Fourth World."[4][5]
Since publication of Manuel'sThe Fourth World: An Indian Reality (1974), the termFourth World became synonymous with stateless, poor, and marginal nations.[6] Since 1979, think tanks such as theCenter for World Indigenous Studies have used the term in defining the relationships between ancient,tribal, and non-industrial nations and modern industrialised nation-states.[7] With the 2007 UNDeclaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, communications and organizing amongst Fourth World peoples have accelerated in the form of international treaties between aboriginal nations for the purposes of trade, travel, and security.[8]In the Indian left movement,M. P. Parameswaran's ideas on the fourth world caused widespread debates, which eventually led to his expulsion from theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) in 2004.[9][10]
Economic classification of countries | |||||
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| Gross domestic product (GDP) |
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| Digital divide | |||||
| Net international investment position (NIIP) | |||||
