Fourth World

The term Fourth World featuring people who suffer from poverty and social exclusion. It was coined by Joseph Wresinski 1969 in France and links the terms Third World and Fourth booth

Over the years his focus has shifted meaning. In the seventies he served to draw public attention to the persistence of poverty in the industrialized countries, and to designate the disadvantaged population, which was also referred to as " sub-proletariat " in its historical and sociological reality. In the manifesto Un peuple parle (1968 ), this population reported for the first time publicly to speak.

With the name of Fourth World poverty affected soon joined a new self- awareness and the movement in which they put it, took him in her name to: From " Aide à tout détresse " (Help in all distress ) ATD Fourth World was.

Since the eighties, the name was based on the people who were in the rich and in poor countries, excluded from society because of their great poverty and fought against it. Gradually, its scope expanded to all who work within the framework of the International Movement ATD Fourth World for a world without poverty and exclusion. As a sociological category, however, he was as useless.

In another tradition that has developed in the English language, Fourth World is a classifying summary of certain developing countries according to economic aspects as opposed to the Third World. There were different types of classification:

• Countries that much more dependent on the sale of oil than other developing countries were designated as.
• Another meaning are countries that currently do not have any exportable commodities, and therefore are even poorer than the Third World.

The notion of a Fourth World is questionable insofar as it presupposes not only a "third world " but also a " First World " and a " Second World ". Under the Second World was understood traditionally the so-called Eastern Bloc, which no longer exists, at least since 1990. Hence the term Fourth World The term Third World today seems very simplistic, even more. Therefore, both terms are now used less often.

In Johan Galtung, the term Fourth World is redefined. He counted together with the First World to the MDC (more developed countries) and is one of the East Asian market the Buddhist- Confucian countries Japan, China ( together with Hong Kong and Taiwan), Korea, and Vietnam to do so.

More and more is meant by the Fourth World, countries and societies that are economically, socially, technologically, etc. due, can not carry out the change to the information society. In this Fourth World, the citizens of the society does not come to the increasingly important commodity information, and are therefore marginalized over other companies.

Occasionally one also finds the term " Fifth World ". This is used as a synonym for the Least Developed Countries, where the term Fourth World differently is use (eg for the OPEC countries or minorities in industrialized countries).