The aim of the course is to familiarize students with the developing world and the living conditions prevailing in it, i.e. where the majority of the world's population lives. Through the analysis of the development-hyper-development dichotomy, students will understand the basic peculiarities that govern the countries of the "Third World" and its interaction with the West, examining how the latter has over time influenced the societies, political systems and, in general, the economic and political institutions of the former. On a theoretical level, the course aims to familiarize students with concepts and theoretical approaches such as those of modernization, dependency and postcolonial studies, and to link them to the specific characteristics and temporal evolution of the "Third World".