The Fourth World is an extension of the
three-world model, used variably to refer to
# Sub-populations socially excluded from
global society
Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives ...
, such as
uncontacted peoples;
#
Hunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
,
nomadic,
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
, and some
subsistence farming peoples living beyond the modern industrial norm.
# Sub-populations existing in a
First World
The concept of First World originated during the Cold War and comprised countries that were under the influence of the United States and the rest of NATO and opposed the Soviet Union and/or communism during the Cold War. Since the collapse of ...
country, but with the living standards of those of a
Third World.
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.
Etymology
''Fourth World'' follows the
First World
The concept of First World originated during the Cold War and comprised countries that were under the influence of the United States and the rest of NATO and opposed the Soviet Union and/or communism during the Cold War. Since the collapse of ...
,
Second World, and
Third 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 denote
nations without a
sovereign state, emphasizing the perceived non-recognition and exclusion of ethnically- and religiously-defined peoples from the politico-economic world system, such as the
First Nations groups throughout North, Central and South America. Spanish
sociologist Manuel Castells of the
University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication has made extensive use of the term ''fourth world''.
Coinage
The term was coined in 1969 by Father
Joseph Wresinski when he renamed the charity he had founded in 1957 with families from the
Noisy-le-Grand (France)
shanty town to
''ATD Quart Monde''.
The term was recycled in the 1970s by Mbuto Milando, first secretary of the
Tanzanian
High Commission, in conversation with
George Manuel, Chief of the National Indian Brotherhood (now the
Assembly 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."
Since publication of Manuel's ''The Fourth World: An Indian Reality'' (1974), the term ''Fourth World'' became synonymous with stateless, poor, and marginal nations. Since 1979, think tanks such as the
Center for World Indigenous Studies The Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS) is an independent, Nonprofit 501(c)3 founded in 1979 by Rudolph C. Ryser, PhD (Oneida/Cree) and Chief George Manuel (Secwepemc). CWIS is a global community of Indigenous Studies activists and scholars ...
have used the term in defining the relationships between ancient,
tribal, and non-industrial nations and modern industrialised nation-states. With the 2007 UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP or DOTROIP) is a legally non-binding resolution passed by the United Nations in 2007. It delineates and defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including th ...
, 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.
In the Indian left movement, Dr.
M. P. Parameswaran
M. P. Parameswaran is an Indian nuclear engineer and educationist, who played an important role in the Indian Nuclear program. In 2022, he was honoured with Kerala Awards, Kerala Sree Award, third highest civilian award given by the Government o ...
's ideas on the fourth world caused widespread debates, which eventually led to his expulsion from the
Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 2004.
See also
*
Least developed countries
*
National wealth
References
Further reading
*
External links
Fourth World JournalInternational Movement ATD Fourth WorldFourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politicsat University of Colorado at Denver
on archive.orgFourth World Eye
Fourth World Documentation Program
{{Global economic classifications
Economic country classifications
Imperialism studies