THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW: FORTY YEARS OF SOCIAL & ECONOMIC CHANGE IN THE TROPICAL THIRD WORLD

Although the last 40 years have witnessed enormous changes within the Third World, many of these have been uneven in their intensity and impact. Indeed, the widening differences between developing countries beg the question as to whether they constitute a cohesive collectivity. This essay makes a comparison between the tropical Third World of the 1950s and that of the 1990s. In many ways the former was much more set and predictable in its relationships and structure than today. However, the changes which have taken place over the last 40 years have not always been to the advantage or lasting benefit of the majority of people in the Third World. A realistic appraisal of future problems and how these might be addressed is thus a central theme of this discussion.