Third World
What is it? A term once commonly used to designate the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere that were economically less developed. The phrase is attributed to French analyst Alfred Sauvy, who in 1952 used tiers monde to describe neutral countries in the cold war. By inference, the U.S.-led Western bloc and the Soviet-led Eastern bloc were the other two worlds. But since most of the neutral countries were also relatively poor, the phrase had a double meaning. Sauvy used the older tiers, instead of the more modern troisi?, to allude to the pre-Revolutionary (1789) third estate (tiers ?t), that is, the underprivileged class, the commoners. The nobility and the clergy were the first and second estates. Based on this second meaning, Third World came most commonly to designate the less developed countries of the world, whatever their political orientation. The phrase is less often used since the end of the cold war, although some analysts continue to employ it to designate the less developed countries.Added By: Alexis
The Third World definition has been viewed 80 Time(s)!
Send To Friends!
If you'd like to send the Third World definition to yourself or to your friends/colleagues, just enter the e-mail addresses in the boxes below -We hope you now understand the meaning of Third World. If you need any more information on this term, please don't hesitate to contact us.