WALLERSTEINS WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY Melina F May T

WALLERSTEIN’S WORLD -SYSTEMS THEORY Melina F. May T. Jordan R.

WHO IS IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN? Ø Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein was born in New York City on September 28 th, 1930. Ø He gained an interest in global affairs at a young age, Ø particularly the anti-colonial movement of India at the time. Ø Attended Columbia University in 1951 Ø Has received a Bachelor’s Degree, Masters Degree in 1954 and a Ph. D. in 1959 Ø Based his studies on his trips to Africa Ø Works in international relations and global sociological studies

WHAT IS THE WORLD-SYSTEMS THEORY? Wallerstein’s World-Systems Theory is a dependency theory based on capitalism. The theory states that there are unequal economic and political relationships in which some industrialized nations and their global corporations dominate the core of the world’s economic system. There are three basic types of social systems and nations. This theory is seen as a more radical view of the world.

WHAT LEGACY DID COLONIALISM LEAVE? Colonialism had an affect on every nation. Whether it was obtaining land, which would secure it’s position as a core state, or it was being colonized, which could cause a country to become a peripheral state. Colonialism also lead to imperialism, a system that widened the gap between LDCs and MDCs giving more power to future capitalist core nations. Colonialism also created a dependency on few natural resources or raw materials that they exported to the empire. The dependent peripheries’ economies fail because they are unable to produce anything else.

WHAT IS CAPITALISM AND HOW IS IT RELATED TO THE WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY? Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. The system started in Europe but has spread throughout the world. Core States promote capitalism through taxes, government, and supporting the development of infrastructure. Capitalism is important to the world-system because it created the system. Wallerstein believes that capitalism is a necessary to reach the final phase of economic development, which he calls the “end of history”

WHAT ARE THE 3 TYPES OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS? CORE NATIONS Ø Industrialized, capitalist countries on which periphery and semi-periphery countries depend Ø Benefit from and control the global market Ø Wealthy nations with a wide variety of resources due to geographical advantage (Usually North American or Europe) Ø Have strong state institutions, powerful military, and political alliances Ø Today core countries are mostly developed countries Ø Examples: Australia, Canada, Japan, United States

WHAT ARE THE 3 TYPES OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS? SEMI-PERIPHERY NATIONS Ø Semi-peripheral-Countries that share characteristics of both core and periphery countries. Ø Major exporters and focus on manufacturing Ø Always originate from previous core countries Ø Major contributors to the world's economy Tend to have unmanaged poverty and lack the economic power to rise to core standards. Ø Were able to go from peripheral to semi-peripheral countries but are very unlikely to become core countries

WHAT ARE THE 3 TYPES OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS? PERIPHERY NATIONS Ø Least developed countries Ø Often exploited countries for their labor, natural resources, and agricultural production Ø The majority of the world’s countries are periphery countries Ø Some periphery countries have moved to semi-periphery countries, but it will be difficult for them to become core countries Ø Capitalism and debts to core countries keep them from becoming core countries Ø Countries lacking a strong central governments or are under the control of another state Ø Examples: Bolivia, El Salvador, Rwanda, Cambodia, Peru, and most of Sub-Saharan Africa

WHAT ARE THE 3 BASIC TYPES OF WORLD-SYSTEMS WORLD-EMPIRE Ø Were the dominant form of historical systems from the earliest civilizations until about 1500 A. D. Ø The defining characteristic is a single political center or structure Ø Creates an extensive division of labor and a wide range of cultural patterns

WHAT ARE THE 3 BASIC TYPES OF WORLD-SYSTEMS WORLD-ECONOMY Ø Have no unified political systems Ø Dominance is not based on military power Ø Based on the exporting of surplus from outlying districts to central districts Ø Large, uneven integrated production structures from through division of labor and commercial change

WHAT ARE THE 3 BASIC TYPES OF WORLD-SYSTEMS MINI-SYSTEM Ø Small, homogenous societies Ø Hunter/gatherers/horticulturalist Ø Have a self-contained economy Ø Produce all of their goods and services within their economic system Ø Do not participate in trade with other societies Ø Mini-systems largely correspond to the pre-agricultural era. Ø Tend to be small in space and brief in time. Ø Were highly consistent in terms of cultural and governing structures and they split up when they became too large.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THE WORLD-SYSTEMS Ø World-system has declining since the Vietnam War era due to pressures (social, anti-Wall street, and leftist movements) Ø Dependency on a single resource or core country by peripheral nations

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RESOURCES Ø https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Kb. S 1 Vk. X 3 CP 0&spfreload =1 Ø http: //www. faculty. rsu. edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Es says/Wallerstein 1. htm Ø http: //legacy. fordham. edu/halsall/mod/Wallerstein. asp Ø https: //www. boundless. com/sociology/textbooks/boundlesssociology-textbook/global-stratification-and-inequality 8/sociological-theories-and-global-inequality-72/worldsystems-theory-429 -537/ Ø http: //web. mit. edu/esd. 83/www/notebook/World. System. pdf