An interdependent system of countries linked by economic and political competition

World-System

World-system processes

• CORE – Industrialized capitalist countries or regions.

• PERIPHERY – Exploited countries and regions (“poor”)

• SEMI-PERIPHERY – Countries or regions with mixed processes.– Both exploited and exploiters.

Results of World-System

• The growth and strength of the Core is made possible by the exploitation of the rest of the world.

• The “poverty” in the Periphery is made possible by the exploitation by the rest of the world.

• Recent globalization has widened, not narrowed, the gap between Core and Periphery countries.

Globalization is nothing new(Flows of goods, capital, information)

World-System History

• European colonialism/ slave trade, 1500s-1800s

• Industrial Revolution/ wage labor, 1800s/ early 1900s

• World War II/ Cold War/ decolonization, mid-1900s

• Neocolonialism/ multinational corporations, late 1900s

Why Europe? • Early technical innovations– Armor, gunnery from wars among many small states– Shipbuilding and navigation

• Evangelical zeal– Crusades in Middle East– Missionaries in Americas

• Law of Diminishing Returns– Drive for gold/ money reached limits at home —Land divided by inheritance

Wars among small states

Elements of a map

Hegemony

• Domination over a region or the world

• Not just political or military control

• Most pervasive is economic and cultural control

Leadership cycles (competitive struggles)

• Netherlands and Portugal, 1400s-1500s

• Spain and Portugal, 1500s-1600s

• England and France, 1600s-early 1900s

• Germany and Japan, 1937-45

• United States and Soviet Union, 1945-1980s

• United States and ……? 1990s-2000s

• European Union and East Asian bloc, 2010s ?

Industrial Revolution• Early-1800s

– Britain (Hearth) --from slave cotton– Textiles, steam power, iron, canals

• Mid-1800s– Diffusion to Germany, France, Belgium– Steel, railroads, steamships, telegraph

• Late-1800s/ early-1900s– Spread to much of Europe, US, Japan– Electricity, oil, engines, roads, radio

International Division of Labor

• Core (colonial powers) need resources, labor

• Periphery (colonies) has labor, resources

• Colonies had “comparative advantages” in natural resources

• The Core “underdeveloped” the Periphery, which was not “poor” of its own accord

Imperialism, 1914 • Britain• France• Spain• Portugal• Netherlands • Germany• Russia• U.S.• Japan

• Italy

Geography Implicated

• Ethnocentrism and racism

• Imperialism and colonialism

• Environmental determinism

Imperialism: Formal Colonialism

• Colonies under direct control

• Core controls labor, resources, land

• Often indirect political rule through local leaders

Imperialism: Spheres of Influence

Core dominated, but

not controlled,

trade and resources

British opium war in China

World War II Begins contemporary globalization

Sudden shifts in economic hegemony, political power

Sudden technological innovations

Sudden growth of transportation,communications networks

Late 1940s: U.S. dominant

• Sole possession of atomic bomb to 1949

• War destroyed industries of Europe, Russia and Japan

• U.S. finances reconstruction

Nagasaki

Frankfurt

Anti-colonial revolts

• Colonial flags come down– Asia, 1940s-1950s, Africa 1960s-1970s

• “Neocolonialism” continues– Ex-colonial powers still dominate

economies, resources, cultures

Cold War, 1949-1989

• US-USSR “hot wars” fought in Periphery

• Periphery states competed for aid

• Arms race depleted global social resources

Multinational corporations

• Investments, activities transcend borders

• Subsidiaries in many Periphery/S-P countries

• Core domination, centralization outside state structure Cartoon on Standard Oil,

1904

World divisions, late 20th century

• First World - Industrialized capitalist countries of Western Europe, North America.

• Second World - Centrally-planned “socialist” countries such as former Soviet Union.

• Third World - Ex-colonial nations such as India, Malaysia, Iran, Brazil, etc.

• Fourth World - Poorest nations (and indigenous communities)

“North/South” Divisions

• Poor countries tend to be located in Southern Hemisphere.

• World Bank estimates more than 1.3 billion people (1/5 world population) live in acute poverty of < $1 (U.S.) per day.– 70% women and children– Self-Sustaining

Regions of the “World Village”

EastAsiansSouthAsiansAfricans

European

LatinAmer.NorthAmer.Oceania

In a world village of 1,000:• 333 East Asians• 274 South Asians• 132 Africans• 120 Europeans • 86 Latin Americans • 50 North Americans• 5 from Oceania

Household income

Less than$650$650-$35,000Over$35,000

• Average annual income $4,890

• 600 poor

• 300 marginal

• 100 well-off

Ownership/consumption

200richest800others

• 200 richest villagers own and consume

80% of goods

• Other villagers own and consume remaining 20%

Material World: A Global Family Portrait

JapanJapan

IcelandIcelandGuatemalaGuatemala

Philadelphia Infant MortalityRed area high thanat least 28 “ThirdWorld” countries, including:

JamaicaCubaCosta RicaMalaysiaPanamaSri LankaSouth KoreaTaiwanUruguayArgentinaChile

The Core

• Industrialized capitalist countries, led by former colonial powers

• Centers of trade, technology, productivity.

• Examples: Western Europe, North America, Japan, Australia

• Exploit the Periphery and Semi-periphery.

The Periphery

Poor, ex-colonial nations.

Tend to export resources and labor.

Examples: Kenya, Bolivia, Pakistan, etc.

Exploited by Core and by Semi-periphery

The Semi-periphery

• Partially industrialized ex-colonial countries.

• Both exporters and importers of goods.

• Examples: South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, etc. (parts of India, China?)

• Exploited by Core, but also exploit Periphery.

New International Division of Labor

• Industrial growth of Europe and Japan

• Internationalization of economic networks

• New global consumer markets

• New global technologies

Industrial growth of Europe, Japan

• European economic bloc– Expanding to east, will it include western Russia?

• Japan, other East Asian states– Four Tigers (Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong)– China as possible partner in new economic bloc?

• Relative decline of U.S. in “Tripolar Economy”

Internationalization of economics• TRADE

– “Free trade” agreements– Standards “race to bottom”

• FINANCES– 24/7 stock markets– Mobile investments

• PRODUCTION– Overseas “sweatshops”– Core automating, losing

industrial jobs

New consumer markets

• World products – Core luxury goods

• Media diffusion – CNN, MTV, Hollywood

• Semi-periphery consumers– Four Tigers, Oil states

New technological innovations

• Microelectronics• Personal computers• Internet• Satellites• Aircraft• Robotics (automation)• Biotechnology• Container ships/rail

Digital Divide

• Unequal access to telecommunications and information technology

• 80% of websites in North America

• 20% of population has 74% of phone lines

“Fast” vs. “Slow” worlds

• “Fast” (20%) has access to telecommunications, consumer goods, arts & entertainment.

• “Slow” (80%) has limited access, more resentment of elites.

• Search for “sense of place” in both areas to lessen alientation.