the modern world-system
The history of colonialism inspired
American sociologist Immanuel
Wallerstein model of he called “the
capitalist world economy” .
He described high-income nations as
the “core” of the world economy. This
core is the manufacturing base of the
planet where resources funnel in to
become the technology and wealth
enjoyed by the western world today.
“Periphery” Wallerstien called as low income
countries, whose natural resources and labor support
the wealthier countries, first as colonies and now by
working for multinational corporations under
neocolonialism.
Middle income countries such as India or Brazil, are
considered the Semi-periphery due to their closer ties
to the global economic core.
In Wallerstein model, the periphery remains economically dependent on
the core in a number of ways, which tend to reinforce each other.
First, poor nations tend to have few resources to export to rich
countries. However corporations can buy these materials cheaply and
then process and sell them in richer nations. As a result, the profits tent
to bypass the poor countries.
Poor countries are also more likely to lack industrial capacity, so they
have import expensive manufactured goods from richer nations.
All of these unequal trade patterns lead to poor nations owing lots of
money to richer nations and creating debt that makes it hard to invest in
their own development. In sum, under dependency theory, the problem
is not that there is a lack of Global wealth; it is that we do not distribute
it well.
Critics argue that the world economy is not a zero-sum game-one
country getting richer does not mean other countries are getting
poorer. Innovation and technological growth can spill over to other
countries, improving all nations’ well-being and not just the rich.
Also, colonialism certainly left scars, but it is not enough, on its
own, to explain today’s economic disparities.
Some of the poorest countries in Africa, like Ethiopia, were never
colonized and had very little contact with richer nations. Likewise,
some former colonies, like Singapore and Sri Lanka, now have
flourishing economies. In direct contrast to what dependency
theory predicts, most evidence suggests that, nowadays, foreign
investment by richer nations helps and do not hurt poorer countries.
Dependency theory is also very narrowly focused.
It points the finger at the capitalist market system as the
sole cause of stratification, ignoring the role of things like
how culture and political regimes play in impoverishing
countries. There is also no solution to global poverty that
comes out of dependency theory- most dependency
theorists just urge poor nations to cease all contact with the
rich nations or argue foe a kind of global socialism.
However, these ideas do not acknowledge the reality of the
modern world economy, which make them not very useful
for combating the real pressing problem of global poverty.
The growth of the world economy and expansion of world trade
have coincided with rising standards of living worldwide, with even
the poorest nations almost tripling in the last century. But with
increased trade between countries, trade agreements such as the
North American Free Trade agreement (NAFTA) have become a
major point of debate.
By learning about economic globalization, we are able to know
about the issues and debates about it. We are also able to think
critically about solutions to the various problems brought by
globalization. Questions about how to deal with global
stratification are certainly far from settled..
Quiz: ½ sheet of paper
1-3 give the three global stratification according to
modern world system theory of Wallerstein
Can you describe the relation of Philippines to modern
world economy and what do you think are the
advantages and disadvantages of being a part of such?
