An Introduction To The World-system Perspective: Second Edition

by Shannon,Thomas R

• ISBN13: 9780813324524
• ISBN10: 0813324521
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1996-02-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In this second edition, Thomas Shannon extends his overall assessment of the world-system perspective to include the new theoretical and empirical developments in the field since 1989. Incorporating most leading arguments of world-system theorists, he addresses the fall of the Eastern Bloc as well as such current topics as relations with indigenous peoples, cultural analysis, methodology, women, and race. He discusses world-system analysis as a flexible and changing paradigm and considers future directions in the field.This advanced undergraduate and graduate-level text is the only book that provides an introduction to the world-system approach to the study of modern social change. Tracing the general antecedents of world-system theory and describing its major tenets, Shannon focuses on the basic characteristics and components of the world-system and the economic and political relationships within it. He characterizes changes within the system, including social and economic trends, cycles of great power leadership, and events and policies by which states rise or fall in importance.

Author Biography

Thomas R. Shannon is professor of sociology at Radford University and the author of Urban Problems in Sociological Perspective and American Social Structure.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Illustrations	ix	(2)
Preface to the Second Edition	xi	(2)
Preface to the First Edition	xiii	(2)
Acknowledgments for the Second Edition	xv	(2)
Acknowledgments for the First Edition	xvii
1 The Origins of World-System Theory	1	(22)
Structural-Functionalism and Modernization Theory	2	(6)
Classical Marxism	8	(4)
Lenin on Imperialism	12	(1)
The Annales School	13	(2)
The Dependency Approach	15	(5)
Summary and Conclusion	20	(3)
2 World-System Structure	23	(22)
General Features	23	(4)
Components of the System	27	(5)
Processes and Relationships Within the System	32	(11)
Summary and Conclusion	43	(2)
3 World-System Structure: The Early Centuries	45	(40)
The World in 1400	45	(6)
The World-System in 1560	51	(10)
The World-System in 1763	61	(10)
The World-System in 1900	71	(11)
Summary and Conclusion	82	(3)
4 The Contemporary World-System	85	(42)
The Core	85	(7)
The Periphery	92	(16)
The Semi-Periphery	108	(9)
Former Socialist States in the World-System	117	(7)
Summary and Conclusion	124	(3)
5 World-System Dynamics	127	(28)
Secular Trends	127	(4)
Economic Cycles	131	(5)
Cycles of Hegemony	136	(4)
Correlates of Hegemonic Cycles	140	(6)
Ascent and Decline in the World-System	146	(3)
Application: Directions of Change in the Contemporary World-System	149	(4)
Summary and Conclusion	153	(2)
6 Criticisms of the Theory	155	(32)
The Basis of the System: One Logic or Two?	155	(4)
The Nature of the State	159	(3)
Peripheral Societies: Dependency or Mode of Production?	162	(3)
The Nature of Unequal Exchange	165	(2)
Market Exploitation or Market Interference?	167	(2)
The Significance of Peripheral Exploitation for the Core	169	(3)
Emiseration of the Periphery?	172	(1)
Global Polarization?	173	(2)
Crisis of Capitalism?	175	(1)
Historical Accuracy	176	(1)
Operationalizing Cycles	177	(2)
Comparability of Cycles	179	(1)
Teleogical Arguments	180	(1)
The Holistic Assumption	181	(1)
Is a Theory Possible?	182	(2)
Summary and Conclusion	184	(3)
7 New Directions in World-System Analysis	187	(22)
Issues of Gender	187	(4)
Racism	191	(4)
Premodern World-Systems	195	(7)
Methodology	202	(2)
Cultural Analysis	204	(3)
Summary and Conclusion	207	(2)
8 An Assessment of World-System Theory	209	(10)
Strengths	210	(3)
Weaknesses	213	(1)
Other Directions in the Study of Global Change	214	(4)
Summary and Conclusion	218	(1)
Notes	219	(4)
Bibliography	223	(16)
About the Book and Author	239	(2)
Index	241