World-systems theory

A world map of countries by their supposed trading status in 2000, using the world system differentiation into core countries (blue), semi-periphery countries (yellow) and periphery countries (red). Based on the list in Chase-Dunn, Kawana, and Brewer (2000).[1]
A world map of countries in 1965 colour-coded into 'blocks' based on trade, military interventions, diplomats and treaties:[2]
  Block A
  Block B
  Block C & with dashed lines indicates colonies of Block C countries
  Block C'
  Block D
  Block D'
  Block E
  Block E'
  Block F
  Block F'
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World-systems theory (also known as world-systems analysis or the world-systems perspective)[3] is a multidisciplinary approach to world history and social change which emphasizes the world-system (and not nation states) as the primary (but not exclusive) unit of social analysis.[3] World-systems theorists argue that their theory explains the rise and fall of states, income inequality, social unrest, and imperialism.

"World-system" refers to the inter-regional and transnational division of labor, which divides the world into core countries, semi-periphery countries, and periphery countries.[4] Core countries have higher-skill, capital-intensive industries, and the rest of the world has low-skill, labor-intensive industries and extraction of raw materials.[5] This constantly reinforces the dominance of the core countries.[5] This structure is unified by the division of labour. It is a world-economy rooted in a capitalist economy.[6] For a time, certain countries have become the world hegemon; during the last few centuries, as the world-system has extended geographically and intensified economically, this status has passed from the Netherlands, to the United Kingdom and (most recently) to the United States.[5]

Immanuel Wallerstein is the main proponent of world systems theory.[7] Components of the world-systems analysis are longue durée by Fernand Braudel, "development of underdevelopment" by Andre Gunder Frank, and the single-society assumption.[8] Longue durée is the concept of the gradual change through the day-to-day activities by which social systems are continually reproduced.[8] "Development of underdevelopment" describes the economic processes in the periphery as the opposite of the development in the core. Poorer countries are impoverished to enable a few countries to get richer.[8] Lastly, the single-society assumption opposes the multiple-society assumption and includes looking at the world as a whole.[8]

  1. ^ Chase-Dunn, Christopher; Kawano, Yukio; Brewer, Benjamin D. (2000). "Trade Globalization since 1795: Waves of Integration in the World-System". American Sociological Review. 65 (1): 77–95. doi:10.2307/2657290. ISSN 0003-1224. JSTOR 2657290. S2CID 147609071. See appendix with the country list ("Table A2"). Some countries with a population of less than one million were excluded from the analysis.
  2. ^ Snyder, David; Kick, Edward L. (1979-03-01). "Structural Position in the World System and Economic Growth, 1955–1970: A Multiple-Network Analysis of Transnational Interactions". American Journal of Sociology. 84 (5): 1096–1126. doi:10.1086/226902. ISSN 0002-9602. S2CID 144895613. Archived from the original on 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  3. ^ a b Immanuel Wallerstein, (2004), "World-systems Analysis." In World System History, ed. George Modelski, in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK
  4. ^ Barfield, Thomas, ed. (1998). The dictionary of anthropology. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 498–499. ISBN 1-57718-057-7. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference glob was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Wallerstein, Immanuel Maurice (2004). World-systems analysis: An introduction. Duke University Press. pp. 23–24.
  7. ^ Chirot, Daniel; Hall, Thomas D. (1982). "World-System Theory". Annual Review of Sociology. 8: 81–106. doi:10.1146/annurev.so.08.080182.000501. ISSN 0360-0572. JSTOR 2945989.
  8. ^ a b c d Flint, C.; Taylor, P. J. (2018). Political Geography: world-economy, nation-state, and locality (7 ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781138058262.