Reshaping the World for the 21st Century: Society and Growth [Paperback]

Virginia Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

Concerns the future of relations between rich and poor countries in the coming century.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Virginia Smith articles have appeared in Maclean's, the Toronto Star, and Canadian Dimension. She is the co-author of Perpetuating Poverty: The Political Economy of Canadian Foreign Aid. She is also a social activist with over 30 years of experience in community based organizations: chiefly Latin America and with groups that resist cutbacks imposed by globalizing governments.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Black Rose Books (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551641941
• ISBN-13: 978-1551641942
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,348,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great personal account, March 6, 2002

By 

Jim Cook (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reshaping the World for the 21st Century: Society and Growth (Paperback)

Reshaping the World for the 21st Century evaluates post-World War II economic development efforts in the United States, in Canada, and, in Brazil, and in Mexico. It argues that the proposal that the more fortunate countries should bring prosperity to the less developed ones failed: it did not stop the growth of poverty, did not protect the environment sufficiently, and did not promote human rights energetically.

Smith begins with a presentation of the two chief development theories pursued after World War II, that is, the growth oriented, market driven model, and the communist ideology. She then chronicles the rise of dependency theory, a newer, 1960s based development perspective that was focused on the needs of less developed third world countries. Based on personal accounts of daily life in the megacities Sao Paulo and Mexico City, and on a review of other development analysts' conclusions, Smith evaluates the failures in Brazil and Mexico--the transportation fiascos spawned, the housing situation--and wonders how it could be that the most advanced industrial powers just didn't see that the poverty suffered by most people in Latin American countries was worsening even during the 1960s and 1970s, an era of relative prosperity.

5.0 out of 5 stars Reshaping the World for the 21st Century, April 13, 2002

By 

Leslie Sanders (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reshaping the World for the 21st Century: Society and Growth (Paperback)

Combines thorough analysis with a stylistic flair and self-deprecating humour