Alternative phrase in common use for the developing or underdeveloped parts of the world. It was coined by French economist Alfred Sauvy in an article published in Observateur in 1952 which compared the politically non-aligned countries (i.e. countries that had not taken a side in the Cold War) to the Third Estate (i.e. peasants and commoners) in France during the Revolution. His point was that like the peasants, the people of the Third World had very little material wealth, but had begun to assert their right to and desire for a better share of global resources. This became manifest as the process of decolonization began in earnest following the end of World War II. At the Bandung conference in 1955, at which the leaders of countries from Africa and Asia met to discuss their collective future, and possible forms of cooperation and collaboration between the 29 participating countries, the notion of the Third World became a rallying cry of solidarity. It was used to signal common cause and as an indictment on the First World (i.e. the former colonial powers, the present-day G8 countries). In more recent times, Postcolonial Studies has rejected the use of the term Third World for being both too generalizing and too demeaning. The argument against its use usually points out that countries in the First World have sections in them that are as poor as anywhere in the Third World (such as the garment district, or skid row, in downtown Los Angeles), and Third World countries like India have sections in them every bit as wealthy as First World cities (e.g. Mumbai). Further Reading: M. Denning Culture in the Age of Three Worlds (2004).