"Discuss Whether The Concept Of The 'Third World' Still Has Any Validity". Assignment. Essay A: Firstly, in order to address this title, the term 'Third World' must first be defined in terms of it's origin and meaning. The industrial revolution in the nineteenth century led to Western-Europe and the United States becoming increasingly technological, industrialised and urbanised. This brought rise to the concept of a divided world; those nations that were developed and those that were more 'primitive'. The emergence of this concept of development led way for theories (which were generally accepted at the time) such as the development of nations happens in a linear process, and that