World Systems Theory

Established during the 1970s through the work of sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, world systems theory has been a fundamental challenge to the way in which social scientists think. The underlying premise of world systems theory is that society and social change should be defined at the broadest scale of social interaction, namely the historical social system. Three types of historical social systems were identified: mini-systems (e.g., small tribes), world empires (e.g., the Roman Empire, feudal Europe), and the capitalist world economy (the contemporary and sole existing social system). Beginning in Europe in the mid-1400s, the capitalist world economy has diffused across the whole globe, incorporating mini-systems (e.g., the tribes of Africa) and world empires (e.g., Chinese dynasties, feudal Japan) in the process. Wallerstein detailed the creation and diffusion of the capitalist world economy in a three-volume study, but it is the conceptual ingredients of the capitalist world economy that have captured the attention of human geographers.

Five main concepts from world systems theory have been incorporated into human geography: core– periphery, the challenge to developmentalism, geographic scale, hegemony, and world cities.

Wallerstein identified two sets of processes in the capitalist world economy: core and periphery. Core processes are associated with high-end economic activities, high salaries, and high levels of consumption. Periphery processes are the opposite. Areas of the world where the former predominate may be called core areas, and those where the latter predominate may be called periphery areas. For example, in the United States, core processes predominate, although it is also possible to find areas of low-paying jobs and poverty. The opposite may be said for, say, Sudan. In some parts of the world, say, Brazil and Russia, there exists a relatively even balance of core and periphery processes and these areas are identified as the semiperiphery. The areas are connected in that the core exploits the semiperiphery and periphery, whereas the periphery is exploited by both the core and semiperiphery. It is important to remember that it is not the geographic areas that are inherently core or periphery; instead, the geographic zones are defined by the processes within them. Hence, a particular part of the globe may change its status over time. The United States initially was incorporated into the capitalist world economy as a colonial periphery. Over time, it has become home to some of the most important core processes such as the international finance center of Wall Street. Geographers have been able to map different manifestations of the spatial pattern of core and periphery processes and their implications—poverty, demographics, political systems, and types of warfare.

The mapping of core and periphery processes relates to world systems theory's challenge to developmentalism. During the 1950s and 1960s, geographers and other social scientists were using models that contended that each and every country could follow a singular path to development if it so desired. The economic, population, and political characteristics of the “undeveloped” countries were given set stages that they could pass through until they gained the appearance of “developed” countries. The stages and final outcome were taken from the historical paths of Great Britain and the United States. World systems theory challenged developmentalism. Each country was not a separate unit that could willingly follow the path of, for example, the United States. Peripheral countries possessed many burdens. Especially their position within the periphery of the world economy tied them into the exploitive interests of powerful countries and businesses. The choices that developmentalism[Page 545] posited did not exist in reality. Instead, the undeveloped countries were the poorest areas of the world economy, a system requiring a core–periphery hierarchy. Although some countries have been able to improve the livelihood of their populations relative to other countries, on the whole, peripheral countries have remained peripheral.

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