Description
Underlying contemporary international relations is an inherent tension. Core terms have fundamentally changed, but we challenge the notion that their change reflects a changing reality. We examine the terms ‘Global South’ and ‘Third World’, tracing their genealogies to understand the dynamics they reflect and are designed to reflect. We find that the move to Global South reflects a fundamental developmental and neoliberal turn in international relations theory. While Third World as a term may harbour negative colloquial connotations in much of the West, including associations with underdevelopment, or have orientalising connotations related to ‘civilisation’, this is only half the story. The abandonment of Third World as a term also jettisons associations of pragmatism that underlie Third Worldism, as well as the connotations of international solidarity and broader political project inherent in and invoked by the ‘Third World’ terminology. This change is more apt to reflect Western political sensibilities than it is the death of the aspirations behind Third Worldism.
