Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory - The Contemporary World
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses Emmanuel Wallerstein's World Systems Theory, which explains global economic patterns and the unequal development among nations. It outlines the theory's categorization of countries into core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral based on economic dominance and labor conditions. The script also explores historical hegemonic shifts from the Netherlands to Britain and then to the United States, pondering the future of global economic power.
Takeaways
- 👕 T-shirts and many other products are often manufactured in developing countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and the Philippines due to lower labor and resource costs.
- 🌐 The concept of outsourcing production to save costs is a common practice among companies headquartered in developed countries.
- 📚 World Systems Theory, introduced by Emmanuel Wallerstein, aims to explain the patterns of economic development and the inequality in it.
- 🌍 This theory emphasizes the global economic dominance of the West, particularly the United States, and deemphasizes the role of individual countries or cultures.
- 🏛 The transition from feudalism to the modern world system occurred after the collapse of feudalism in the 15th century, leading to the rise of mercantilism and then the current global economy.
- 🔄 The modern world system is characterized by economic forces that pull people, states, and societies into worldwide economic transactions, creating a globalized economy.
- 🌟 Core countries, such as the United States, Australia, and those in Europe, are wealthy and dominate the global economy through financial institutions, technology, and industries.
- 🌱 Peripheral countries are often underdeveloped and serve the interests of core nations by providing raw materials and cheap labor.
- 🌎 Semi-peripheral countries like China, India, and Brazil act as intermediaries in trade and can provide both industrial manufacturing and cheap labor.
- 🌟 The concept of hegemony in the modern world system refers to a country's economic, political, and financial superiority, with the United States being the current hegemon.
Q & A
What is the primary reason for companies manufacturing products in developing countries like Bangladesh or Vietnam?
-Companies often choose to manufacture in developing countries due to the significantly lower labor and resource costs, which allows them to save money by outsourcing production overseas.
What does the term 'Outsourcing' refer to in the context of the script?
-Outsourcing refers to the practice of moving a company's production processes to another country, typically a developing nation, to take advantage of lower costs.
Who is Emmanuel Wallerstein and what is his contribution to the understanding of global economics?
-Emmanuel Wallerstein is a sociologist who developed World Systems Theory to explain the observed patterns in the world economy, focusing on why economic development is not equal and emphasizing the global economic dominance of the West.
How does World Systems Theory categorize countries in terms of their role in the global economy?
-World Systems Theory categorizes countries into core nations, semi-peripheral countries, and peripheral countries based on their economic dominance, labor conditions, and areas of specialization within the global economy.
What are the characteristics of core countries in the World Systems Theory?
-Core countries are typically wealthy and possess high technology, financial institutions, and industries. They dominate the modern world system by exploiting other nations and maintaining their dominance through various means.
What role do peripheral countries play in the international division of labor according to the script?
-Peripheral countries provide cheap labor and raw materials to core countries, often characterized as underdeveloped or semi-developed regions, and serve the interests of the core nations.
What is the significance of semi-peripheral countries in the World Systems Theory?
-Semi-peripheral countries straddle between core and peripheral nations, having substantial industrial or manufacturing sectors while also providing cheap labor or raw materials to core countries, and acting as intermediate trade areas.
How did feudalism influence the development of the modern world system?
-Feudalism, characterized by land ownership and a hierarchical social structure, decayed and was replaced by mercantilism, which led to the emergence of the modern world system based on economic domination.
What historical periods of hegemonic domination are mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions three periods of hegemonic domination: the Netherlands in the mid-17th century, Great Britain in the mid-19th century, and the United States in the mid-20th century.
What is the concept of 'hegemony' in the context of international relations as discussed in the script?
-Hegemony refers to a situation where one state combines economic, political, and financial superiority over other states, possessing military, cultural, economic, and political power, as exemplified by the United States in the modern world system.
What does the future of global hegemony look like according to the script?
-The script suggests that the future of global hegemony is uncertain, with countries like China, the Russian Federation, and India potentially emerging as the next superpowers, but only time can tell.
Outlines
🌍 Globalization and Outsourcing
The paragraph discusses the prevalence of t-shirts manufactured in developing countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic. It introduces the concept of outsourcing, explaining how companies from developed nations save costs by moving production to countries with cheaper labor and resources. The World Systems Theory by Emmanuel Wallerstein is mentioned as a framework to understand economic development disparities. The theory emphasizes global economic dominance, particularly of the West, and downplays individual countries' roles in favor of a global economic perspective. It categorizes countries into developed, developing, and least developed, akin to socioeconomic classes, with economic dominance being the primary factor in discussing economic development variations.
🏰 The End of Feudalism and the Rise of Mercantilism
This paragraph delves into the transition from feudalism to mercantilism. Feudalism, characterized by land ownership and the power of monarchs, lords, and knights, began to decay due to factors like agricultural productivity changes and the rise of centralized monarchies and nation-states. The modern world system, which relies on economic domination and worldwide economic transactions, emerged post-feudalism. It highlights how economic forces, such as trade and finance, connect people, states, and societies globally, leading to a globalized economy. The paragraph also introduces the concept of international division of labor, where different countries are categorized based on their labor conditions and areas of specialization, akin to the First, Second, and Third World countries.
🌐 The Structure of the Modern World System
The paragraph explains the structure of the modern world system as per Wallerstein's World Systems Theory. It categorizes countries into core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral based on their economic dominance. Core countries, which are wealthy and technologically advanced, exploit the system for their benefit. Peripheral countries, often the poorest, provide cheap labor and raw materials. Semi-peripheral countries lie between the two, sometimes providing cheap labor or raw materials while also having industrial sectors. The paragraph also discusses the concept of hegemony, where a single state, like the United States, dominates economically, politically, and culturally, and how power shifts over time, with the Netherlands, Britain, and the United States being historical examples of hegemonic powers.
🔄 The Dynamics of Core, Semi-Peripheral, and Peripheral Nations
This paragraph further elaborates on the roles of core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral nations within the modern world system. Core nations are depicted as the exploiters, using their technological and financial prowess to maintain dominance. Peripheral nations are seen as the exploited, supplying raw materials and cheap labor. Semi-peripheral nations straddle the line, acting as intermediate trade areas and sometimes providing cheap labor or raw materials to core nations while also having small manufacturing sectors. The paragraph also touches on the historical shifts in global hegemony, from the Netherlands to Britain and then to the United States, and speculates on potential future hegemonic powers, such as China, Russia, or India.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Outsourcing
💡World Systems Theory
💡Economic Dominance
💡International Division of Labor
💡Core Countries
💡Peripheral Countries
💡Semi-Peripheral Countries
💡Hegemony
💡Feudalism
💡Global Economy
Highlights
Many t-shirts are manufactured in developing countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and the Philippines due to lower labor costs.
Outsourcing production to developing nations allows corporations to save money by taking advantage of cheap labor and resource costs.
Emmanuel Wallerstein's World Systems Theory aims to explain the unequal economic development patterns observed globally.
The theory deemphasizes the role of individual countries, focusing instead on the global economic dominance of the West.
The modern world system is characterized by economic forces that drive worldwide transactions, leading to a globalized economy.
Feudalism, which emphasized land ownership and the role of monarchs, knights, and peasants, declined due to factors like agricultural changes and the rise of nation-states.
The modern world system emerged post-feudalism, with a focus on economic domination and international division of labor.
Core countries, like the United States and those in Europe, exploit the system through high technology, financial institutions, and industries.
Peripheral countries, often the poorest, provide cheap labor and raw materials to the core countries.
Semi-peripheral countries, such as China and India, have industrial sectors and can provide both cheap labor and manufactured goods.
The theory categorizes nations into core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral based on economic dominance, similar to Marx's classes of proletariat and bourgeoisie.
Hegemonic domination has shifted over time from the Netherlands in the 17th century to Britain in the 19th century, and currently, the United States.
The concept of hegemony combines economic, political, and cultural superiority, with the United States exemplifying this in the modern world system.
The future of global hegemony is uncertain, with potential contenders like China, Russia, or India.
The discussion concludes by emphasizing the interconnectedness of countries in the modern world system, regardless of their economic or political isolation.
Transcripts
there's a huge probability that the
t-shirt that you're wearing right now is
made or manufactured or
fabricated in Bangladesh Vietnam the
Dominican Republic Indonesia or even the
Philippines of course this begs the
question wouldn't it be more logical if
say those t-shirts that you're wearing
right now is manufactured or fabricated
in the country of which that company who
made the T-shirt or designed the t-shirt
is headquartered on or based on the
answer to that question of course is
surprisingly no because apparently as
we've learned in our previous
discussions labor and resource costs in
developing nations can of course be so
cheap that many corporations in the
developed world can save a lot of money
simply by moving production overseas so
we term that as
Outsourcing but why is this system in
the first place so the guy
responsible for today's topic or lesson
is Emmanuel walstein and we'll be
learning about the theory that was
introduced by him in several seconds
beginning
now hi I'm Michael C jaman and this is
of course the subject the Contemporary
world today we'll be talking about the
World Systems Theory specifically the
modern world system now Emmanuel
werstein um devis the so-called World
systems theory to try to explain the
patterns he observe in World economy so
basically this Theory seeks to answer
the question why is economic development
not
equal right so the world systems theory
then deemphasized es the role of
individual countries so that's why it's
a world system in the first place now
instead of the United States as a
superow for example no world systems
theory emphasizes the global economic
hemony or dominance of the West in
general of which of course the United
States is a part of now the modern world
system also downplays the role of
culture in favor of the impact of the
global economy so in fact guys no the
global definitions divisions I should
say that Define the modern world systems
theory are very similar in their own way
to the socioeconomic classes conceived
by KL Marx okay so you have the
proletariat and then you have the
bouri now the world systems theory
divides also countries into categories
that we will be learning and talking
about later so roughly these three
categories are analogous to our
socioeconomic concepts of the developed
developing and least developed parts of
the world but guys the important thing
to remember is that world systems theory
prioritizes economic dominance over any
other factor in it's a way of discussing
special variations in Economic
Development so let us begin then our
disc discussion on the wonderful world
of the modern world system but firstly
of
course here we go talking about
feudalism for some the system worked
others felt like it was prison monarchs
and the Lords were the ones with the
command Knights fought the battles The
Peasants W the land right so we are
referring here to the time period
between the early
say um 1900 17 700s to 19 to 900s uh to
1150 to the 1300s until the decay of
feudalism in the late
1500s so the So-Cal modern world system
that we know of today emerged of course
after the collapse of feudalism uh
between uh the 1150 to 1300 of course in
which Commerce centered and expanded
within the feudal system right so
basically the feudal society or the
feudal system talks or emphasizes the
role of lands or land ownership wherein
you have this so-called Kings or the
nobilities okay who owned all the land
in the country and of course being the
owners of this land made the loss so he
gave an area of land called the F to
reach Lords and Nobles and the Nobles of
course gave some land to professional
Soul soldiers so in return this Knights
or the Nobles or the nobility fought
for uh the Nobles and the King okay so
and then the peasants who te or work the
land okay for the Nobles and knights in
turn offered them protection so this is
how the feudal society Works back then
now what ended the feudal times or the
feudalism age for that matter so it
ended up with a lot of factors taken
into consideration like for example the
growing agricult ultural productivity at
that time or the diminishing
agricultural productivity due to climate
change at that time the rise of this
centralized monarchy and of course the
birth of the so-called nation states or
States so basically like I said the
feudal times or feudalism decayed or it
ended in the 15th
century
BC so of course it was replaced by
mercantilism and then of course after
that we now have the emergence of the
so-called modern world system now the
modern world system of course uh as we
have learned in our introduction relies
on economic domination so when we say
economic domination we have this
economic forces that are pulling people
States and societies toward toward
worldwide economic transactions so this
so-called economic uh transactions or e
ecomic forces then okay like for example
in the form of trade finance and so on
and so forth the so called economic
activities okay what pull together PE
what uh pull people and states and
societies together in order to connect
linkages or in order to affect linkages
or connections and thus when you have
this linkages or connections it then
paves the way for the creation of This
Global or globalized economy so it's not
only concentrated on you know say for
example a specific region or North
America or or or Africa or Europe for
that matter okay but because of this
linkages now because of this um
transactions or economic activities that
are
getting uh on worldwide or that are
going on worldwide so you now have the
so-called global economy and thus it
paved the way for the so-called
emergence of the modern world system so
today of course all countries in the
world are interconnected or
interdependent with one another
regardless of whether or not there there
are countries that are um economically
or politically isolated from the rest of
the world okay but regardless of that
fact okay majority of the countries in
the world now are interconnected or
interdependent with one
another all right so according to
Emanuel wallerstein okay the new
capitalist World system was based on
this idea of international division of
labor in that different regions or
different countries uh in the world are
categorized according to the types of
Labor condition or according to their
areas of
specialization okay so say for example
uh you have the first world country and
then you have the Second World countries
and then you have the so-called um third
world countries so as we all know when
we say First World countries these are
the rich countries the wealthy countries
the so-called uh Colonial Powers okay
the so-call used to be Colonial Powers
but then again of course until as of
this moment they are still very powerful
economically militarily and politically
wise okay so we are referring here to
countries such as Australia New Zealand
okay which are of course countries in
the Southern Hemisphere and then of
course majority of the countries in the
global North such as those countries in
uh Europe North America okay say for
example Canada the United States of
America the United Kingdom okay all the
Scandinavian countries and of course you
have South Korea Japan Taiwan and then
of course you have that little country
in Southeast Asia called Singapore so
these are First World
countries okay so uh when we speak of
Second World countries Nam okay so we
are referring here to those countries
that are more developed than the
developing parts of the world okay now
uh back then when we speak of Second
World countries this usually refer to
those countries such as China the USSR
okay Vietnam um Cuba and all those
former uh communist countries but those
were the old times know during the Cold
War when countries are categorized
whether or not you are allied with the
United States or the Allied Forces or
whether you are n nonaligned for that
matter so even to the point that the
Philippines used to be part of the first
world okay but now when we say first
second or third world we are referring
here to the economic or labor conditions
of the different regions or countries in
the world and then and basing from that
map majority of the countries in the
world do belong to this reion or
category called the third world okay so
majority of those countries are located
in Africa okay some parts of South
America and of course huge parts of Asia
including that of the
Philippines okay now uh in our
introduction earlier okay okay so we
were reminded that the world systems
theory are are are is somehow similar
with uh
the economic classes that were
introduced by Karl Marx no so you are
referring here to the the existence of
the proletariat and then the boury so
like I said the World Systems uh Theory
worked like that okay so now like I said
the world systems theory bases its
explanation on the categories or
divisions of nation according to
economic dominance for that matter okay
so you have the countries categorized
into three distinct uh levels okay so
you have the so-called core Nations so
you have the semi- peripheral regions or
countries and then you have the
peripheral countries or we term that as
nasaan in
Filipino okay so in general when we say
core countries these are of course the
rich countries like we said and and then
of course you have the peripheral
countries so these are the poorest parts
of the world okay so the peripheral
countries right here uh of course are
majority uh of the world now so uh we
are speaking here of countries such as
say
the the
Philippines okay and then of course
you have parts of Africa okay majority
of Africa okay South America okay
Central America and so on and so forth
so the peripheral countries in terms of
their role in the international division
of labor they mostly provide um cheap
labor and of course they are the source
of raw materials which are then sent of
course to semi peripheral or more often
that more often than not to the core
countries then of course these core
countries are the ones that are the
source of uh capital okay they possess
the financial institutions um
technological capacity High
technological sophistication and then of
course they have the means to exploit or
maintain their their domination or
dominance of the rest of the world via
this means or factors now the semi-
peripheral countries okay straddle
between the core and periphery in the
sense that that these so-called semi
peripheral countries are are uh have a
substantial industrial or manufacturing
sector but at the same time they they
can also be a provider of cheap labor or
raw materials to the core countries
that's why they are termed as semi-
peripheral countries okay so let us
delve on a full discussion about the
description or shall we say the function
s of the each of these categories in the
modern world system so we start first
with the core countries now as we have
already established in our discussion so
the core regions or nations try to
dominate the modern world system by
exploiting the rest of the system of
course like I said with their high
technology financial institutions and
industries so you have the traditional
core count such as the United States of
America America so these are all marked
in light Oran right here Australia New
Zealand Canada okay United Kingdom uh
most parts of Africa okay Japan and so
on and so forth so these are the core
regions or nations in the world so
remember they are like the capitalists
right so it reminds us of KL Marx uh uh
pointing to the So-Cal capitalists or
the boura or the middle
class and then of course we have at the
extreme end of the equation so you have
the peripheral countries so the
peripheral are often Cally termed as
underdeveloped or semi-developed
regions so the peripheral Nations lion
exists to of course like we said serve
the interests of the core Nations by
providing raw materials okay like in the
form of minerals agricultural crops or
products um actually goods and of course
uh the also the source of cheap labor
which is often characterized as being
Force okay so that's the peripheral
countries and then of course like I said
for the semi- peripheral countries so
they struggle between the core and the
peripheral so they lie between the
exploiting and the exploited or the core
and the peripheral area so this
countries this peripheral semi
peripheral Nations such as uh China the
Russian Federation okay um India Saudi
Arabia Brazil Argentina South Africa
Mexico so these regions or count serve
as intermediate uh trade areas between
the two regions the core and then and
then the periphery while also possessing
like I said small manufacturing sectors
either for local or International and
some s of chemical capital accumulation
and the semi- periperal uh countries can
also be providers of cheap labor to the
core Nations or core countries like for
example China and India of course are
often you know do s do often send out
their um people particularly this
professionals or semiskilled workers to
the rest of the world particularly to
those that developing or the developed
parts of the world or the developed
nations in the world
now uh when we speak of the so-called
core Nations or core regions in the
world okay so
wallerstein introduces this concept or
hemony so when you speak of hemony in IR
international relations terms Al of
course it refers to those situations in
which one static combines economic
political and financial superiority over
other state and therefore
this so-called
honies both have military and cultural
as well as economic and political power
like for example exemplified in the
cartoon there the United States exists
as the sole hemony in the modern world
system but countries of course are
trying so hard to be the global hemony
as exemplified in our next slide right
here so there are three periods of eon
hegemonic domination in the modern world
system so so you have the Netherlands
starting as the first hemony according
to historians and Scholars so they had
beg their hegemonic domination of the
world in the mid 17th century okay and
of course it was followed by Great
Britain or the United Kingdom in the mid
19th century until their power has
diminished right after the first and
second world war until uh the Great
Britain or the United Kingdom was
replaced of course by the United States
which had emerged as a global superpower
as a global heeson in the mid 20th
century right or preceding the or after
the so-called second world war so of
course um it cannot be help of course to
emphasize that uh Power is uh
not an infinite thing for the matter
because it begs the question
on who's going to be the next superpower
who's going to be the next Global heeson
so will it be China will it be the
Russian Federation will it be
India time can only
tell
so that's the end of my discussion
ladies and gentlemen thank you so much
for listening okay so again this is the
So-Cal Modern World System until then
goodbye
[Music]
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