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The Modern World-Systems Theory

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Karl Marx’s legacy in social theory does not lie in his predictions of future utopias but it rather lies in his analyses of the contradictions, as well as the workings, of capitalism. Within contemporary sociology, this tradition is very much alive in world-systems analysis, it is a perspective that has been developed by Immanuel Wallerstein in the 1970’s. The Modern World-Systems (MWS) theory is a macroscale and multidisciplinary approach to world history, as well as, social change. The MWS theory emphasizes the world system, as opposed to nation states, as the primary unit of social analysis, but it is not the sole unit of social analysis. According to Wallerstein, the modern nation state lies in a broad political, economic and legal framework …show more content…

Modern nation states are all a part of the world-system of capitalism, and Wallerstein seeks to understand this world-system. According to Immanuel Wallerstein’s MWS theory, which can also be known as the world-systems analysis or the world-systems perspective, Global poverty and inequality are not natural and is not inevitable. On the contrary, the current problems of inequality and poverty are the outcomes of long historical process of uneven global development. This essay will discuss the key features of the world systems theory, it will then illustrate, using examples, how the MWS theory describes the North-South relations and explains prevailing global …show more content…

The capitalist world-system is said to have begun in Europe in about the 1500’s and it expanded over the next few centuries to cover the whole world, as a result of the significant accumulation of capital. This significant accumulation of capital in Europe was enabled as a result of the capitalist world-economy being created by establishing long-distance trade in goods and linking production processes worldwide. In the process of this expansion the capitalist world system has consumed small mini-systems, world empires, as well as competing world-economies. But, these economic relationships were not created in a vacuum. The modern nation state was created in Europe along with capitalism to protect and to serve the interests of the capitalists. It was in the interests of early European capitalists to establish an economy based on an extremely unequal division of labour between European states and the rest of the system, and it was also in the interests of the early European capitalists to establish strong European states that had the political power and military power to enforce this inequality. For Wallerstein, the capitalist world-economy is a mechanism of excess embezzlement that is both subtle, as well as, efficient. The capitalist world-economy relies on the creation of excess through constantly expanding productivity, it then extracts this excess in

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Thomas McCormick’s essay titled The World-System, Hegemony, and Decline, presents some relevant questions that I am unable to answer by just reading his work. Firstly, alluding to economic freedom and freedom of the seas as main U.S. objectives with regards to foreign policy might not be entirely accurate. It is true that the United States have used and will continue to use its elements of national power to protect economic interests all around the world, but are these the only instances where the United States fight for other freedoms? Is Uncle Sam our capitalistic egomaniac above anything else? Additionally, McCormick seems to be disappointed when he writes about how labor compensation differs between core, semi periphery, and periphery countries (Merrill and Paterson, 2010, 4).

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This essay will attempt to analyze and discuss the ways tycoons and corporations could be exploitative without government intervention. One of the main ways capitalism could be seen as exploitative

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The author explained how the Mongols were incorrectly perceived in history. Much of the crimes blamed on Genghis Khan were actually committed by Timur, a Turkic warrior who claimed to be descended from Genghis Khan. Timur ruthlessly slaughtered the people of his conquered cities, and enjoyed torturing and humiliating his prisoners. European historians tied Timur’s actions to Genghis Khan. Myths grew around him, nurtured by Anti-Asian spirit during the Enlightenment .

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The United States has undergone major transitional phases in order to become the country it is today. One of its greatest periods of change occurred in the years 1865 to 1940, in which the U.S.’s growing emphasis on strong economic policy changed its interactions with foreign countries, its image to foreign countries, and what role it’s willing to play in the world. These tireless efforts to become an economic powerhouse was a major driving force in the U.S. actions during this time and ultimately allowed it to change its image on the global stage from a new. To begin to understand what caused these dramatic changes in the how the U.S. interacts with the rest of the world, it is imperative to understand the origins of its more capitalist roots,

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The Industrial Revolution cast its shadow upon European cities and towns. Some enjoyed this shade while others suffered tremendously because of it. Those who enjoyed the luxuries and wealth that the Industrial Revolution provided, the bourgeoisie, depended on the needs of the poor, the proletarians, to increase the size of their monstrous factories and ultimately their wealth and influence. In “The Communist Manifesto” Karl Marx discusses the effects of the Industrial Revolution in further dividing society by creating new social and economic hierarchies. In addition to his observation of the division of labor, Karl Marx believed, that due to the technological shift from craftsmanship to machinery this also caused division of labor and the appreciation of proletarian handmade goods was disregarded.

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Capitalism is a highly dynamic system which brought immense material wealth to the human society. This essay traces the historical dynamism of capitalism from its minority status to its majority status in term of demand and supply of investment capital. The emergence of capitalism as a mode of production out of pre-capitalist mode of production was fully formed by the mid-nineteenth century (Hobsbawn, Age of Capital: 1848-1875) this in no way implies that it was quantitatively dominant mode of production.

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Many western countries are now shying away from globalism as a whole. Globalist and nationalist have begun to clash and argue with each other, leaving the world asking which system the world should follow. In order to ensure prosperity and success for every country, globalism is needed over nationalism to an extend. Since the majority of trade any country does is international, and it’s been shown that individual economies are interdependent on each, the current state of everyone’s economy is global.

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Globalization, as observed in today’s modern era, is very much profound in our society. It is commonly defined as the increasing incorporation and interdependence of domestic and overseas markets heartrending the world or others say- interconnectedness of states as general. We can view this in all possible aspects not only in the field of economics but also in terms of politics, arts, sciences, technologies, and culture. This let us exist in an epoch ‘when the walls started falling all around the world, and integration, and the backlash to it, went to a whole new level’ as what Friedman says in his book. In the international arena, globalization had undeniably become the soul of every state to maintain its connections to other states as evident but more than that, we can also see individuals being affected by this so called ‘world-changer’.

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Capitalism is understood to be the “economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.” In modern society, capitalism has become the dominant economic system and has become so integrated that it has resulted in a change in the relationships individuals have with other members of society and the materials within society. As a society, we have become alienated from other members of society and the materials that have become necessary to regulate ourselves within it, often materials that we ourselves, play a role in producing. Capitalism has resulted in a re-organization of societies, a more specialized and highly segmented division of labour one which maintains the status quo in society by alienating the individual. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim theorize on how power is embodied within society and how it affects the individuals of society.

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The Twenty Years’ Crisis 1919-1939: An Introduction to the study of International Relations, the book for which E.H. Carr is perhaps most remembered was written just prior to the outbreak of World War Two (WWII). This particular work of Carr’s is primarily a study of the fundamentals of International Relations, which is exemplified especially by the events of the two decades before 1939, the year the book was published. In the Twenty Years Crisis, E.H. Carr explores the interplay of the worldview between Utopians and Realists. Carr’s work examines why the League of Nations and the peace as implemented by the Treaty of Versailles failed, ultimately resulting in WWII.

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In this essay I will compare and contrast Marx and Weber’s theories on social change and the rise of modern capitalism. Firstly I will provide a brief outline of Marx’s theories relating to social change and capitalism. I will then briefly outline Weber’s theories on social change and the rise of modern capitalism. Finally I will give my own critique of the theories outlining which one I prefer and the reasons for my choice.

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Is the present global order merely less beneficial than it might be? Here the author responds to the objection: we are not just doing enough collectively and individually to reduce poverty, but the world order is not a cause of poverty. To do this he uses its narrow concept of human rights, the violation of human rights where a violation of human right is only positive action that violates a negative duty.

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In the following, I will use the conflict theory, which operates on the macro-level, as well as the symbolic interactionist theory, which focuses on the micro-scale of society, to explain the influence of globalization and the associated phenomena of inequality and conflict on the individual and society. The conflict theory approaches society on the macro-level. It was established by Karl Marx, who believed that social conflict stands at the center of sociocultural realities. His evolutionary theory came to be known as one of the most significant early contributions to sociology. Marx emphasizes the idea that “society is based on the struggle for scarce resources” (Module 1, 2015) and asserts that inequality and unequal conditions set forth forces that may end in conflict, which in turn contributes to change.

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1322 Words | 6 Pages

World-system theory is a macrosociological perspective that seeks to explain the dynamics of the “capitalist world economy” as a “total social system”(Vela, 2001). It is also known as the world-systems analysis or the world-systems perspective. Its first major connection is associated with Immanuel Wallerstein, who in 1974 published what is regarded as a seminal paper, “The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis”; in 1976 Wallerstein published “The Modern World System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century” (Wallerstein, 1974). This is Wallerstein’s landmark contribution to sociological and historical thought and it triggered numerous reactions, and inspired many others to build on his ideas. Image One: Immanuel Wallerstein (St. Rosemary Institution, N/D) "World-system" refers to the inter-regional and transnational division of labor, which divides the world into core countries, semi-periphery countries, and the periphery countries(Barfield, 1997)

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Why do many neorealists liken states in the international system to firms in a capitalist market?  How valid is that analogy? Neorealism has emerged as a contemporary theory that attempts to explain the interaction of states on an international level. Oftentimes neorealists compare states in the international system and firms in a capitalist market. There are a number of factors that can be described as similarities or differences between the two and for the sake of brevity, only a few will be discussed below.

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