Global+core+and+periphery

**WORLD SYSTEM ANALYSIS**

World systems approach is identified with Immanuel Wallerstein (1974). It is a way of looking at economic, social and political dev’t. The world systems analysis sees the world as a single unit and any analysis of dev’t must be seen from a capitalist world economy. Wallerstein argued that any analysis which looked at individual countries was too simplistic and suffered from developmentalism.

According to Wallerstein, the capitalist world system has three main characteristics: The tiers are identified as: The basic principle of the 'Core-Periphery' theory is that as general prosperity grows worldwide, the majority of that growth is enjoyed by a 'core' region of wealthy countries despite being severely outnumbered in population by those in a 'periphery' that are ignored. The disparity of wealth between core and periphery countries is staggering, with 15% of the global population enjoying 75% of the world's annual income. **The Core**
 * A global market
 * Many countries, which allow political and economic competition
 * Three tier countries
 * Core (mostly MEDCs)
 * Periphery (mostly LEDCs)
 * Semi-periphery (countries with class struggle and social change e.g Latin America in the 1980s and Eastern Europe in the late 80s and 1990s)
 * The 'core' consists of Europe (excluding Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus), the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Israel. Within this region is where most of the positive characteristics of globalization typically occur: //transnational links, modern development (i.e. higher wages, access to healthcare, adequate food/water/shelter), scientific innovation, and increasing economic prosperity.// These countries also tend to be highly industrialized and have a rapidly-growing [|service (tertiary) sector].


 * The top twenty countries ranked by the United Nations Human Development Index are all in the core. The opportunities created by these advantages perpetuate a world driven by individuals in the core. People in positions of power and influence around the world are often brought up or educated in the core (nearly 90% of world "leaders" have a degree from a Western University).

**The Semi-Periphery** **Periphery**
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Between the two extremes lie the semi-peripheries.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">These areas represented either core regions in decline or peripheries attempting to improve their relative position in the world economic system. Good examples of declining cores that became semi-peripheries include Portugal and Spain. Other semi-peripheries at this time were Italy, southern Germany, and southern France.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Economically, these regions retained limited but declining access to international banking and the production of high-cost high-quality manufactured goods. Unlike the core, however, they failed to predominate in international trade and thus did not benefit to the same extent as the core. According to Wallerstein, the semi-peripheries were exploited by the core.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The //'periphery'// consists of the countries in the rest of the world: Africa, South America, Asia (excluding Japan and South Korea), and Russia. Although some parts of this area exhibit positive development (especially Pacific Rim locations in China), it is generally characterized by //extreme poverty and a low standard of living.//
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Health care is non-existent in many places, there is less access to potable water than in the industrialized core, and poor infrastructure endangers slum conditions.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Population is skyrocketing in the periphery. Many people living in rural areas perceive opportunities in cities and take action to migrate there, even though there are not enough jobs or housing to support them.The majority of population growth around the world is occurring in the periphery.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The rural-to-urban migration and high birth rates of the periphery are creating both [|megacities], (urban areas with over 8 million people), and hyper cities, (urban areas with over 20 million people). These cities, such as Mexico City or Manila, have little infrastructure and feature rampant crime, massive unemployment, and a huge informal sector.


 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Theories of Globalization **

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">1. The World Economy Theory (Hyperglobalisationism)
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Hyperglobalists define globalization as the process by which the capitalist world-system spreads across the entire globe.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">They argue that the global market place is becoming so advanced and integrated that the nation-state is becoming obsolete.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">They are of the view that the market is more rational than governments
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">On the other hand they think that corporate power is less compassionate than governments, who are usually accountable to the people who voted them to power
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">With the operation of capitalist market in many parts of the world, hyperglobalist argue that globalisation has reached its geographical limit in the 1990s.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">They are of the view that the world economy is now a single world market and a single labor force.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Core countries in the world economy are MEDCs who concentrate on highly skilled labor force, operate capital intensive methods of production, have a strong army and consume much of the profits of the world
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The periphery countries focus on low skilled workers, operate on labour intensive methods, producers of raw materials for MEDCs with a weaker army.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">There are semi-peripheral areas which are less dependent on the core than the periphery. They have a stronger military force and a more diversified economy.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">2. The Regional Bloc Theory (Global Scepticism)
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Global Sceptics disagree with the hyperglobalists view.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The theory suggest that globalization is the result of growing regional blocs, e.g ECOWAS, NAFTA, EU etc.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It views globalization as a strategy to extend capitalism to other parts of the world, which sometimes results in violent protests.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It suggests that there is no gov’t interference in the globalization process.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">They are of the view that the root cause of globalization is the unquestioning nature of the subject.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">That capitalism not compassionate and therefore not friendly to the poor; it however stresses on competition and financial efficiency.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">3. The Third Way Theory (or Transformationalism)
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It examines the link between economic processes globally.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It looks for ways of transforming the powers of the nation-state to cope with the pressures of globalisation.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It challenges existing institutions to transform or restructure.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It is linked to a political agenda in the EU called the ‘the third way’.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It is summarized in the saying “ //Think globally, Act locally//<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">”.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">4. World-Culture Theory <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">[|Blank outline world map] <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Mapping Global Core – Internet Map <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">Areas without internet coverage
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">It sees globalization in terms of the increasing uniformity or homogenization of cultures around the world.
 * <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">This theory will be discussed later in detail in IB2.