World Systems Theory

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the world system theory, a sociological approach to international economic and political relations that seeks to explain the world dynamics of the capitalist economy as a total system. According to the paper, the world-system theory evolved as a relatively recent response to global capitalism. The paper goes on to review Immanuel Wallerstein's 'The Modern World System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth Century'.

From the Paper:

"Core states were the primary beneficiaries of the new economic system. During the first period of the evolution of this multifaceted hierarchy of states, "much of northwestern Europe (England, France, Holland) developed as the first core region," because of these states' strong central governments, extensive bureaucracies, and large and powerful armies. (Halsall, 1997) Their level of armament enabled these states to obtain control over international commerce. Today, the parallels with these original core states are rather obvious--that of the United States most predominantly, Japan, the United Kingdom, and other powerful modern industrialized nations such as the European Community. While it is true that having a large standing army is not a feature of Japan, and the European Community is an economic conglomerate rather than a nation state, Wallerstien's theory is still quite applicable. Features of his systems theory may change, and military might may be relatively less important than economic infrastructures in the modern world, but the division of the world's states into a kind of international feudal hierarchy remains constant."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Globalization Theories." The Globalization Website. 2001. [20 Nov 2006] <http://www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/theories01.html>
• Halsall, P. "Modern History Sourcebook: Summary of Wallerstein on World System Theory." 1997. Modern History Sourcebook. [20 Nov 2006] <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html>
• Sobocinski, Mike. "Future Trends in the World System?" Comparative & HistoricalSociology. Vol. 15 No.2. Summer 2003 [20 Nov 2006]<http://www2.asanet.org/sectionchs/newsletter/chs03sum.pdf>
• Vela, Carlos A. Martinez. "World Systems Theory." MIT Notebook: World System. [20 Nov 2006]<http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/notebook/WorldSystem.pdf>

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