With subjects ranging from the global challenge of the AIDS epidemic to the role of family planning in developing nations, and the link between Central America's forests and North America's hamburgers, this interdisciplinary introduction by some of the world's foremost experts in development studies will be an essential text for courses in this area. It provides an exhaustive overview of the social, political, economic and population problems of countries in what is usually referred to as the Third World and, more recently, the Fourth World. Although colonialism is considered as a contributing factor to underdevelopment, emphasis in this volume is placed on the interrelation of major social institutions, their impact on economic and social development, and the effect of rapidly expanding industrialization on the ecosystem.