APHG.1.9 - Wallerstein's World System's Theory

Summary

This educational script delves into Wallerstein's World Systems Theory, explaining the core-periphery model that delineates economic disparities between developed and underdeveloped nations. It outlines the characteristics of core countries—urban, industrialized, and politically powerful—and contrasts them with periphery countries, which often rely on the core for resources and capital. The theory posits that capitalism drives a global system where core countries exploit periphery nations for cheap labor and raw materials, perpetuating global inequality. The script also introduces the concept of semi-periphery countries, which share traits of both core and periphery, and discusses the potential for regions within countries to act as cores or peripheries themselves.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The core-periphery model is a theory explaining the spatial distribution of economic, political, and cultural power across the globe, distinguishing between 'core' and 'periphery' countries.
• 🏙️ Core countries are characterized by urbanization, industrialization, strong governments, financial power, and robust education systems.
• 🌾 Periphery countries are typically rural, have a large primary sector economy, and suffer from low political, military, and economic power, often experiencing brain drain and low wages.
• 🔄 The semi-periphery consists of countries that exhibit characteristics of both core and periphery, often serving as a buffer or transitional zone between the two.
• 📊 The Brandt Line, or North-South divide, illustrates the division between the wealthy countries of the Northern Hemisphere and the poorer countries of the South.
• 🔄 World Systems Theory, developed by Immanuel Wallerstein, posits that the global economy is interdependent but structured in a way that perpetuates inequality between core and periphery countries.
• 🏭 Core countries dominate by exploiting peripheral countries for labor and raw materials, maintaining their status through control of transportation, communication, and capital.
• 🌱 Periphery countries are often dependent on core countries for capital, leading to a reliance on exporting raw materials and a focus on low-skill, labor-intensive production.
• 🌟 Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs), or semi-periphery countries, have a median standard of living and are transitioning towards more diverse economic activities, including manufacturing and services.
• 🌍 The core-periphery model can be applied at various scales, from global to regional and even within nations, highlighting the complex and multi-layered nature of economic development and dependency.

Q & A

What is the core-periphery model?

The core-periphery model is a concept used to describe the economic, political, or cultural power distribution across the globe. It distinguishes between 'core' countries, which are economically powerful and dominant, and 'periphery' countries, which are often dependent and less developed.

What are the characteristics of core countries according to the transcript?

Core countries are typically urban, highly industrialized, have powerful governments, financial power, strong education systems, and are dominant in global politics and economics.

What does the term 'semi-periphery' refer to in the context of the core-periphery model?

Semi-periphery countries have characteristics of both core and periphery countries. They may have some economic and political power but are not as dominant as core countries.

How is the Brand Line, or North-South divide, related to the core-periphery model?

The Brand Line, or North-South divide, is a representation of the division between wealthy core countries, mostly located in the Northern Hemisphere, and poorer periphery countries, often in the Southern Hemisphere.

What is the World Systems Theory developed by Wallerstein?

World Systems Theory is an approach to understanding world history and social change. It suggests that there is a global economic system where some countries benefit (core) and others are exploited (periphery), creating a hierarchy of economic power.

How does the World Systems Theory explain the relationship between core and peripheral countries?

The theory posits that core countries dominate and exploit peripheral countries for labor and raw materials, creating a global interdependence that perpetuates inequality.

What is the role of capitalism in the World Systems Theory?

Capitalism, with its competitive market forces determining the prices of goods, is argued to lead to a system where core countries exploit periphery countries, resulting in global inequality.

What are the implications of being a periphery country in the World Systems Theory?

Periphery countries often lack strong central governments, have little political or military power, and are economically dependent on core countries for capital and markets.

What is meant by 'external areas' in the context of the World Systems Theory?

External areas are regions that maintain their own economic systems and do not participate in the global economy as defined by the core-periphery model. They are self-sufficient and have their own labor and markets.

Can the core-periphery model be applied at different scales?

Yes, the core-periphery model can be applied at various scales, from global to regional, national, and even within cities, to understand the distribution of economic power.

How has the status of Russia changed in relation to the World Systems Theory?

Historically considered an external area, Russia has started to open its borders and economic system to foreign investment, moving away from being a self-sufficient entity to participating more in the global economy.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Core-Periphery Model in Global Development

The paragraph introduces the core-periphery model, a concept used to describe the economic, political, and cultural power distribution across the globe. It contrasts core countries, which are highly developed and dominant in world politics, with periphery countries, which are often dependent and less developed. The model is explained through the lens of urbanization, industrialization, government power, financial strength, and education systems in core countries, while periphery countries are characterized by rural populations, primary sector economies, and a lack of political and economic power. The concept of semi-periphery countries, which share characteristics of both core and periphery, is also mentioned. The paragraph concludes with a discussion of the Brand Line or North-South Divide, highlighting the historical impact of colonialism and imperialism on the current state of global development.

05:02

📚 Wallerstein's World Systems Theory

This section delves into Wallerstein's World Systems Theory, which expands upon the core-periphery model to explain economic interdependence and inequality on a global scale. The theory posits that the world economy is structured in a way that benefits core countries at the expense of peripheral ones. Core countries are described as those with the ability to exploit others for labor and raw materials, leading to a global hierarchy with a three-tiered system. The paragraph discusses how core countries create high-profit goods using cheap labor and materials from periphery countries, and how semi-periphery countries fit into this model. It also touches on the historical context of this economic system, which was prevalent in the 1800s, and the ongoing impact of capitalism as a driving force behind the global inequality.

10:03

🏭 Characteristics of Core and Periphery Countries

The paragraph explores the defining traits of core and periphery countries within the context of capitalism. Core countries are characterized by their dominance in capitalist markets, strong military power, and minimal dependency on other nations. They focus on high-skill, capital-intensive activities and have the means to secure cheap labor and raw materials from periphery countries. Examples of core countries include the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Japan, the United States, and most of Western Europe. The discussion also includes the concept of world cities, which are major urban centers that disproportionately influence the global economy. In contrast, periphery countries often lack strong central governments, may be controlled by others, and rely heavily on exporting raw materials to core countries. The paragraph concludes by noting that the core-periphery model can be applied at various scales, from global to regional, and even within individual nations.

15:05

🌱 Evolution of Periphery and Semi-Periphery Countries

This section discusses the evolution and current status of periphery and semi-periphery countries. It notes that historically, regions like Eastern Europe and Latin America were considered periphery, but many have since developed. The paragraph focuses on Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, as a modern example of periphery countries, characterized by a reliance on exporting raw materials and underdeveloped industries. Semi-periphery countries, or newly industrialized countries (NICs), are described as having a median standard of living with access to diverse economic activities, though income inequality remains significant. Examples include India, China, and Brazil, which are transitioning from periphery to semi-periphery status due to factors like growing consumer markets and technological advancements. The paragraph also introduces the concept of external areas, which are regions that maintain their own economic systems and do not participate in the global economy, using Russia as a historical example.

20:08

🌉 The Multi-Scale Application of Core-Periphery Model

The final paragraph emphasizes the applicability of the core-periphery model at various scales, from global to local. It provides examples of how the model can be used to analyze economic cores and peripheries within regions like Southern California or countries like Japan and South Africa. The paragraph also suggests that the United States can be analyzed in the same way, with some areas being industrial cores and others being periphery. The discussion concludes with the idea that the core-periphery model is a flexible tool for understanding economic disparities and development patterns at different geographical levels.

Keywords

💡Core-Periphery Model

The Core-Periphery Model is a theoretical framework used in the video to explain the spatial distribution of economic, political, and cultural power across the globe. It distinguishes between 'core' countries, which are economically powerful and dominant, and 'periphery' countries, which are often dependent and less developed. This model is central to understanding the video's theme of global economic interdependence and inequality. The video uses this model to illustrate the historical and ongoing relationships between developed and underdeveloped countries, highlighting how core countries have often exploited periphery countries for resources and labor.

💡Wallerstein's World Systems Theory

Wallerstein's World Systems Theory is introduced in the video as an approach to understanding the economic relationships between different regions of the world. It builds upon the Core-Periphery Model by suggesting that the global economy is interconnected in a way that some countries benefit while others are exploited. The theory emphasizes the historical impact of colonialism and imperialism in creating a global economic system where core countries maintain their dominance by exploiting peripheral countries for labor and raw materials. The video explains this theory as a way to analyze the current economic disparities and the historical processes that have led to them.

💡North-South Divide

The North-South Divide, also known as the Brand Line, is a concept discussed in the video that refers to the division between the wealthy, industrialized countries of the Northern Hemisphere and the poorer, often agricultural countries of the Southern Hemisphere. This divide is used to illustrate the geographic concentration of economic power and the historical legacy of colonialism that has contributed to the current state of global inequality. The video points out that this divide is not a natural reflection of resource distribution but rather a result of economic systems established by core countries to maintain their dominance.

💡Semi-Periphery Countries

Semi-Periphery Countries are nations that exhibit characteristics of both core and periphery countries. They are often caught in the middle, having some level of industrialization and economic development but still being dependent on core countries for capital and markets. The video describes these countries as 'newly industrialized countries' (NICs) and provides examples such as India, China, and Brazil, which are transitioning economies with a mix of developed and developing regions. The concept is important for understanding the fluidity and complexity of global economic relationships.

💡Industrial Core

An Industrial Core refers to regions within a country that are economically advanced and serve as the primary drivers of that country's economic growth. These areas are typically characterized by high industrialization, urbanization, and economic power. The video uses the example of the Tokyo-Yokohama district in Japan to illustrate how certain areas within a country can act as an industrial core, contributing disproportionately to the nation's overall economic strength.

💡Periphery Countries

Periphery Countries are those that are economically less developed and often dependent on core countries for various resources and capital. They typically have economies based on the export of raw materials and have lower standards of living compared to core countries. The video discusses how periphery countries are exploited for their cheap labor and natural resources, contributing to a global economic system that perpetuates inequality.

💡External Areas

External Areas, as mentioned in the video, are regions that maintain their own economic systems and do not significantly participate in the global economy as defined by Wallerstein's World Systems Theory. These areas have their own labor markets and produce goods primarily for domestic consumption. The video cites Russia as a historic example of an external area, although it notes that Russia's economic policies have been changing to encourage foreign investment and integration into the global economy.

💡Green Revolution

The Green Revolution is a term used in the video to describe a set of agricultural practices and technologies introduced in the mid-20th century to increase crop productivity, particularly in developing countries. The video implies that periphery countries often depend on core countries for the capital and technology needed to implement such agricultural advancements, which can have significant impacts on food security and economic development.

💡Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a business practice where companies contract out certain operations to external providers, often to reduce costs or to access specialized expertise. The video discusses how core countries may outsource manufacturing and other labor-intensive processes to periphery countries, taking advantage of cheaper labor costs and contributing to the economic development of those countries, albeit in a manner that often perpetuates their peripheral status.

💡Transnational Corporations

Transnational Corporations are businesses that operate across international borders, often playing a significant role in the global economy. The video highlights that these corporations are key drivers of the world economy and can be indicative of whether a country or region is a core player in the global economic system. The size and influence of these corporations can shape the economic landscape of the countries in which they operate, contributing to the development of core regions.

Highlights

Introduction to Wallerstein's World Systems Theory and its application to economic relationships between developed and underdeveloped countries.

Explanation of the core-periphery model as a way to describe economic, political, and cultural power distribution across the globe.

Description of core countries as economically powerful and dominant in world politics, in contrast to marginal or lesser developed countries.

Characteristics of core countries include urbanization, industrialization, strong governments, financial power, and robust education systems.

Periphery countries are typically rural, have less political and military power, and experience brain drain and low wages.

Semi-periphery countries exhibit characteristics of both core and periphery, often caught in the middle of global economic dynamics.

The Brand Line or North-South Divide is a concept illustrating the division between wealthy countries in the Northern Hemisphere and poorer countries in the South.

Imperialism and colonialism are historically significant factors contributing to the current economic disparities between core and periphery countries.

Wallerstein's theory posits that capitalism leads to a system where core countries exploit periphery countries for resources and labor.

Core countries benefit from cheap labor and raw materials from peripheral countries, which are then used to create high-profit goods.

Periphery countries are often dependent on core countries for capital and investment to stimulate their economies.

Semi-periphery countries, like India, China, and Brazil, are considered newly industrialized countries with a mix of economic activities.

External areas, such as historical Russia, maintain their own economic systems and are not significantly involved in the global economy.

The core-periphery model can be applied at various scales, from global to regional and even within individual nations.

The concept of world cities as the driving force behind core countries' economic power and global influence.

The importance of understanding regional differences within core countries and the role of transnational corporations in shaping the global economy.

Transcripts

everybody welcome back we are now going

to take a look at a specific facet of a

development called Waller scen World

systems theory which is a way in which

to describe the relationships between

developed and underdeveloped countries

so we got to start a little bit more

broadly with What's called the core

periphery model um it's this is not

particularly difficult to understand

because we've been talking all year

about most developed countries versus

least developed countries the corporate

free model is just a model that's used

to explain the economic political or

cultural power and or cultural power and

how it's spatially distributed across

the Earth in some places they're the

dominant economically powerful quote

unquote core countries and there's also

marginal or dependent countries that

depend upon others known as semi-

periphery or periphery countries more

simplistically there are core countries

most developed countries of the world

who are economically powerful and

dominant in World politics and there are

marginal or lesser developed countries

ldcs or developing countries who are

often dependent of on that core for all

kinds of materials and and are and

simply do not have as much Global power

so not not particularly difficult to

understand this concept of what the core

and periphery model are in some ways um

and I'm going to come back to this term

in a second there's some people argue

that the world has halves and Hales Nots

people who have things and people who do

not that's a enormous generalization but

we're going to work with the term as we

apply it to the world systems theory the

characteristics of the core this is not

difficult because this is also reflects

much of our class discussion the core

countries are Urban they're highly

industrialized they have powerful

governments they have Financial power I

also mentioned on the the um the graphic

on the right there's also strong

education systems the periphery um

there's primary there's the most people

are working in the primary sector of the

economy so you see their rural mining

forestry agriculture very little

political power very little military

power little economic power to an extent

um you see that the term coming back

from first from the second unit these

countries often experience brain drain

people often leave and do not come back

to further develop the country and

economically speaking people are earning

pretty low wages this m periphery which

is not represented necessarily on the

graphic here um are the the countries

that have characteristics of both that

they give some characteristics of a core

some characteristics of a periphery

country this is where that term Again

The Haves and Have Nots the idea that

there's countries that have resources

have power have influence and there's

countries that do not well we're going

to take a look now at this um well

actually I'm sorry I'm getting ahead of

myself there's actually something called

the brand line or the north south divide

and we brought this up earlier in the

year but I want to re revisit this um

looking at this concept of the core and

the periphery we're looking right now at

a North Polar projection map oh didn't

that feel good go back to first unit um

the north polar projection map is going

to be imagine right now the screen when

you're looking at this screen imagine

you're looking at the top of the earth

down that's that's the perspective that

we're looking at you see the North Pole

is in the middle there in fact I'm going

to point to it here

you see our North Pole right here in the

middle we got our North Pole this uh a

gentleman developed this in the 1960s

and it was the called the the brand line

or the north south divide which is a

reference to the fact that this if we

were to draw a line around approximately

30° north latitude imagine your Earth

okay imagine the Earth being round

here's our North Pole imagine again the

round earth and if we were going to go

the equator would be somewhere out

here if we were going to go to 30° north

and we really some it's 20 Dees North

but generally speaking we'll say 30°

north if you see around here that if we

generally drew a line then that and we

Encompass those countries in the middle

then those countries comprise the most

the the majority of the most developed

countries of the world as well as

Australia right makes sense here when we

consider that these are the co Colonial

Powers these are in Western Europe these

are the countries that went out and

colonized places like North America

places like South Pacific and in

Australia we'll come back to Latin

America momentarily but this this north

northern concentrated region is known as

the as or is not known as but is

represented by these wealthy countries

of Europe America Japan Japan is also

included here you see that's why we got

that 30 Dees to include

Japan um and generally outside of that

in the Southern Hemisphere or in the

poor countries of the world of Asia

Africa and Latin America and this is uh

actually you see here that the poorest

20% of the the world lives in the

southern hemisphere we're going to talk

about why because it's completely

inaccurate to say this is a reflection

of the distribution of the resources of

the world the majority of this really

comes back again to that colonialism and

that imperialism where these nations

went out and took over other places and

they created the systems whereby these

periphery countries think about

peripheral vision your side Vision so if

here's your core I think about that like

I don't your eyeball here your retina

and then you got here the periphery your

peripheral vision these core countries

created systems whereby the periphery

countries are dependent upon the core

these core countries would go out and

take raw materials from these regions

bring them back to the core manufacture

them and then sell them back that was a

system that was Define the economics of

the 1800s on the whole we just need to

know that this brand Line North South

divide is the division is a

representative representation of the

division between the wealthy countries

of Europe and America Japan and

Australia as a pertain to 30° north

latitude um versus the poorest countries

living on the periphery okay so that's

the that's the concept of the core and

the periphery on the whole mdc's ldcs

but we're using the terminology core and

periphery there's a gentleman named

wallerstein who in the 1960s came up

with utilizing this core periphery model

utilizing the same concept of where here

the most developed and the least

developed countries of the world he

developed something called the world

systems theory and the world systems

theory it was a way to

explain the the economic relationships

between these areas of the world and he

used this concept of essentially

answering what not why but expl

explaining how the entire world is

economically interdependent upon one

another and how that interdependence is

both unfair and how that interdependence

of the world perpetuates meaning

continues this idea that there are core

countries of the world and there are

periphery countries of the world so

wallerstein took the ideas of the core

periphery model and applied to the

economic systems that intertwine the

rest of this world so our definition

World systems theory was an approach to

world history into social change and it

suggests that there's a world economic

system a system of an economy that

connects everybody in which some

countries benefit those are the core

countries and others are exploited

exploited means take advantage of taken

advantage of so if you got exploited

sorry there's the Bell exploited on the

left and taken advantage of on the right

the core countries benefit the peripher

are taken advantage of that's again the

return of this concept of the halves and

the Have Nots the world econ the world

economy as you see here this is not

terribly different than the than the

concept of the core and periphery but

simply this idea is that there are some

who are taking advantage of others in

order to make themselves core

countries so we got a three- tiered

hierarchy we already explained this the

core countries they Dominate and they

exploit peripheral countries for labor

and raw materials let's look at this

graphic the core countries

are going to utilize the cheap labor and

the raw materials of the periphery

countries and those periphery countries

consider Outsourcing right they're going

to produce cheap labor and they're going

to uh we're going to take the raw

materials not we core countries are

going to take raw materials and they're

going to be brought to the core the core

is then going to manufacture or going to

create high-profit consumption Goods so

in the core is where you're going to see

um the creation of um even they're

manufactured in China some but you can

see like the iPhone here right there's

the iPhone because the core is

benefiting from the cheap labor and raw

materials of the periphery the core

countries are now able to create these

high-tech Industries and these high-tech

jobs in essence the core is able to

create a tertiary economy because the

per periphery is providing the resources

and the raw material peripheral

countries are dependent upon the core

for capital capital again we talked

about this we talked about Capital

intensive uh or Capital intensive

farming Capital again is the money right

needed for production so with that the

semi- periphery countries are the

countries that are going to depend upon

both so the that periphery oh I was that

definition there the capital is again

the money needed for um investment money

need to start up so simplistically

capital is money but generally speaking

you refer to Capital is the money you

need in order to do something you can't

just go out and well I guess unless

you're really rich but you can't really

just go out and just and start

businesses and industries you need

Investments you need Capital you need

money that can be used to invest in

things period periphery countries are

often dependent upon the core countries

for Capital they don't necessarily have

the money necessary for startups oh

there's that Bell again um so in that

that's that's kind of reminiscent of

what we talked about in political

geography when we talked about IMF the

international monetary fund and we

talked about the World Bank and we

talked about the way in which those

countries those institutions um

specifically the World Bank applies

loans to lesser veled countries of the

world to give them that Capital here is

x amount of money to build xbridge to

provide X services to

people semi- periphery countries are the

ones who share the characteristics of

both but in some what this entire system

is sort of rooted upon is this idea that

wall acknowledges that the system of

capitalism that the system of um D using

supply and demand to control the prices

of goods is ultimately going to lead to

the system of a core country exploiting

a periphery leading to General global

inequality that there will always be

this core of industrialized regions not

always but there'll be the core of

industrialized regions and there's going

to be an area that loses the

periphery so who are these core

countries what are the characteristics

so remember again before we go any

further the capitalism which we talked

about at the beginning of this of this

unit was the process of letting

competitive market Fork Market forces or

competitive markets determine the prices

of goods rather than the government

saying you will sell bread for this

price is to say private citizens I want

to start a bread company and I'm going

to sell it for this much and another

citizen saying well I want to Bo start a

bread company and I'm going to sell it

for $5 cheaper that's that's capitalism

it's it's natural competition of forces

of supply and demand both good and bad

but capitalism would be what wallerstein

is arguing is causing this system of The

Haves and the Have Nots as did Carl

marks um so core countries are the

dominant capitalist countries and they

they have strong military power you've

got a military to back up your force and

back up you what you want to do um

there's really little dependency upon

other countries in the sense of there's

dependency that capitalist countries

want or core countries excuse me want to

take cheap labor and raw materials but

if NE there there's no reason that

there's little reason that a core

country needs to answer to another

country is a good way to phrase it they

don't have the core country's economy is

not necessarily dependent it's not like

the core country's economy couldn't

stand on its own two feet um that was

very wordy but no dependence upon other

countries core countries surge the needs

of the higher class sorry so generally

speaking these are the more

economically uh Focus oh no

econ the the higher classes are often

benefiting the most from the economies

and the economy in the whole is focused

upon higher skill Capital intensive

inter activities just tertiary

activities so Capital intensive meaning

costs a lot of money cost a lot of money

to start up a Google right you need

people you need people who need to be

paid well you need people who are

educated and educated well to to go into

to creating some of these products so

those are those are kind of the core the

key characteristics of the core

countries and this is redundant so they

do not need to copy this down but we

just need to keep this in mind so the

core countries because of the power that

they have from all those characteristics

they can then obtain these lower prices

for raw material and cheap labor from

the periphery they can do it they can

demand it they can seek it and they have

the ability to take advantage of it they

have access to Transportation Systems

they have access to communication they

access to money that would allow that

would allow the core country to then

take advantage of the U materials of the

the periphery countries the very initial

examples provided again this was Theory

came up in the 1960s United Kingdom

France and Holland actually was another

one of the examples provided in modern

day we can add to those Japan the United

States Japan Germany most of Western

Europe uh Australia these are going to

be uh just generally speaking the most

developed countries of the world are the

core

countries the exist oh and there you go

again so the existing cores if we're

going to speak regionally of the world

economy we got North America we got

Europe and we've got Japan southeast

Asia but Japan's the core of that but

it's also important to know though this

is where we're coming back to this idea

of regional difference it's not as if

every single comp part of every single

one of these countries is extremely

developed rather this concept of the

world economy really operates through

what's called a network of world cities

it's the major cities of each of these

places that's driving this world

development this core development world

cities are cities with uh places that

have a disproportionate disproportionate

means does not match disproportionate

means more than um more than others okay

so places with a disproportionate share

of economic political and cultural

influence if you think about the United

States if you think about somewhere like

uh de Mo or you think about Fargo in

North North Dakota New York City has so

much more contribution to our industrial

World economy than those areas do is

that bad no but that's just simply a

regional difference in a core country

you can see there in the bottom map that

the the core cities the world cities of

these different regions Tokyo and Japan

is driving its World economy and it's

and its status as a core country um so

it's keep it's important to keep in mind

that there are cores within cores there

are core areas of countries within

cores um they do not need to copy this

down I just wanted to show you this is

kind of a cool

representation um of it says the 1300 13

the 1318 terrible phrasing 1, 318

transnational corporations that form the

core of the economy and super connected

companies are red and very connected

companies are in yellow the size of the

dot represents their revenue in other

words we have here that it's the trans

these transnational corporations all

over the world are often what's driving

whether or not a place is a core country

or not so that doesn't always

necessarily mean that the entire country

is part of um one of these particular

characteristics let's flip our

perspective to periphery countries

periphery countries lack a strong

central government and periphery

countries may be controlled by another

state may have be a colony May simply

have have an enormous dependence upon

another country so they're economically

controlled by another state um for the

vast majority of their economy is based

upon exporting raw materials to core

countries they may even depend upon the

core countries for Capital another

connection back to agriculture consider

Green Revolution that we're depending

upon mdc's for the capital or the core

countries for the capital to start Green

Revolution techniques but just generally

speaking um Agra business or commercial

agriculture on the whole usually there's

underdeveloped econ eom so excuse me

underdeveloped industry and on the whole

the economy is defined by low skill

labor intensive production so cheap

labor really is what that means the

labor that people are not necessarily

paid well and they're not necessar

necessarily doing High skilled

labor uh the Pere countries the initial

examples that were provided in this so

the historic examples were Eastern

Europe and Latin America now that we

cannot go further without saying that

that has now changed a lot of Eastern

Europe are now developing um countries

for sure particularly after the fall of

the Soviet Union when countries could

now go to capitalist States they can

rather than being communists and having

the government dictate their prices for

everything and control all parts of

their their country now these countries

are becoming um developing States

similarly ltin well similarly in that

Latin America is now almost entirely

developing countries of the world very

few part very few regions of Latin

America are considered now ldcs or

periphery countries now the most modern

ldcs um at it applies to Africa then

sadly the entirety of Africa but the uh

subsaharan Africa in particular Northern

Africa is more developed than um

subsaharian Africa uh South Africa is

not so regionally yes but in particular

the country of South Africa um is

particularly developed much of Central

Asia is considered to be less a

periphery country periphery countries

and the Pacific Rim Pacific Rim

referring to the nations in the Pacific

the um many of island nations there so

let's then what about semi- periphery

countries okay so semi- periphery

countries are often referred to as newly

industrialized countries nic's you've

seen that that I actually remember the I

think the AP exam had referred to them

that way last year maybe it was the year

before but newly industrialized

countries um these are they have a

median standard of living meaning

they're moderate the conditions of

living are um better than a periphery

but maybe not necessarily as developed

as a most developed country of the world

a core country

the citizens of the semi periphery

countries often have access to different

economic activities so uh let's think

about that like the citizens may have

the opportunity to go into a

manufacturing job they may have access

to some higher education but typically

there's a significant gap between the

rich and the poor there's certain groups

of people who are taking advantage of

these opportunities but the vast but the

society itself is still shifting

consider if we went all the way back for

a semi- periphery country we went back

to the discussion here about um

um there I'm going all the way back to

the sectors of the job you would see if

there's a country a shift in between

these two that there'd be um for for a

developing Nation for a semi- periphery

country you'd have fewer people in The

primary sector more in the secondary

sector and an increasing number in the

tertiary sector so that's sort of the

just logically the shift towards the

tertiary

Society sorry now I got go all the way

back here okay uh oh too far too far

okay um semi- periphery charact

countries again they experience the

characteristics of both um it could be

either a core region now I'm going to

say this I'm going to speak within a

country for a moment it could be a core

region that's in Decline so let's think

rustv for example or periphery region

that's undergoing development a per

semi- periphery country for the most

part would be one that's moving that's

progressing forward that the for the

most part that a semi- periphery country

be one that's developing if we were

going to apply the core periphery model

to country then we could consider an

area that's de-industrializing perhaps

as a semi- periphery country semi-

periphery region because it has

manufacturing but is decreasing okay key

examples of semi- periphery countries

these are ones that um probably

surprised you at the beginning of the

year but no longer will are India China

and Brazil just key key examples of

developing nations China may be what's

in your mind sticking out as a

particularly unique example but we're

going to and we'll dive much more deeply

in that in class but you can see I mean

China's GD p is certainly expanded as as

shown on those graphs there um and then

there's experiencing tremendous growth

but it cannot be you can't forget that

consider again this concept of regions

there there might be core regions of

China but that certainly doesn't mean

that every single person is experiencing

develop wealth and it certainly doesn't

mean that the entire country has shifted

out of I mean it's a com Still Remains a

communist country I mean whether that's

that's changing a lot of the regulations

are changing but that that that can't we

can't consider just because hear in the

news that China's economy is expanding

that doesn't necessarily mean it's

touching lives of all the people um

Brazil key as this is just a um article

probably give this one you in class

about a mo is should Brazil be the RO

role model for development how we can

see how Brazil has continued to to

Really Skyrocket and Lead the Way in

development in Latin

America um another example is just India

think about that Outsourcing video

that's India is still largely dependent

upon core countries for Capital so still

largely dependent upon that Outsourcing

of Industry from core countries but

that's also as we saw it's also has its

own emerging consumer market and growing

technology sector just like that

multiplier effect shows us as soon as

development came the development

continued so that's uh semi- periphery

region now there's an important other

characteristic which something that's

called the external areas and external

areas are regions that maintain their

own economic system so there external

areas are are places that wallerstein

said are outside of this World Systems

analysis and this world syst systems

theory that they're not participating in

this world economy places these places

would have their own labor market they

would have oh they' have their own

market for the goods I'm sorry if this

is typo here they have their own labor

source um so the people themselves are

not necessarily coming from other places

or nor are people from other places

producing goods for this country they

own their own uh they have their own

Market where they're selling their goods

and they create crops and goods for

their own people their own Market

redundant but the idea is that they the

this this um country essentially is

self-sufficient it operates on its own

and the historic example of that is

Russia um that historically Russia had a

power had a very has had a very powerful

government and the inter internal trade

the trade within the country has

superseded external trade they don't

have large scale um International

Development in Russia and the the goods

and the manufa that are being produced

in Russia for the most part were going

towards the Russian citizens now I have

to say that this is changed I mean this

is really changing there's an article um

back in was it I guess 2009 that was

really breaking down all of the

different the uh the introduction of

special economic zones in Russia so

Russia is now starting to introduce and

encourage foreign investment recognizing

that that's the only way that Russia

will ever move past a uh a secondary a

semi- periphery I guess you could well

it's not semi periphery a developing

Nation the only way it will become a

most developed nation is through opening

its borders and its economic system to

greater foreign investment so you can

see um on the top map there it shows you

some of the it says free economic zones

those are the special economic zones

where they're encourage they have

favorable tax rates and they're

encouraging for foreign development um

in order to drive their economy so

historically Russia was an example of an

external area not a participant in the

global economy and that's still on the

whole true but it's not necessarily as

true as it was 25 years

ago last concept here is that the core

periphery model and the wallerstein

model just generally speaking this

applies at many scales remember think of

think of zooming in on a City versus

zooming all the way out and taking a

look at the world if you forgot what

scale of analysis means which you should

not but if you did from the first unit

um you're familiar with this because

we've done it all year we're looking at

issues from various levels is this a

national problem is this a local problem

is this an international problem or is

international term so consider that

there can be cores at many scales here's

an example La is the core of Southern

California that in that way we're

looking regionally to see where's the

core Japan is the core of Southeast Asia

and then I included a map here but even

within Japan there is a core region so

the Tokyo Yak Yokohama District in Japan

is the industrial core of Japan um yo

Johannesburg is a core region of South

Africa so if we're looking at it on the

national scale if you're talking about

the United States that's one of your

analysis questions we looked at this of

the industrial core regions and which

areas would be semi- periphery and which

areas would be periphery regions of the

United States so this core periphery

model applies to countries but it also

applies within the borders of a given

country okay there it is so three

relatively simple analysis questions for

the first three number four um is it I

want some I want some real analysis here

which regions of the United States would

you argue are industrial cores oh that's

not

complete and which areas are our

periphery okay so that's what I need to

see from you

go ahead and pause these and you will be

using this to complete your industrial

um economic analysis of your geopolitics

Team all right that's

it