¶ … Globalization plays a major role in the economy and sociology today. It is important to understand what globalization is, how the world-systems theory explains inequalities between different parts of the world, and what is meant by core, semiperiphery and periphery. It is also important to understand the relevance of the history of European colonialism.
Defining Globalization
Globalization "describes the increased mobility of goods, services, labor, technology and capital throughout the world. Although globalization is not a new development, its pace has increased with the advent of new technologies, especially in the area of telecommunications (www.canadianeconomy.gc.ca/english/economy/globalization.html)."
World-Systems Theory
The development of the world system served to "increase trade in the 15th and 16th century; led to the colonialization of the Americans with the extraction of gold and silver, conquest and slave labor; and created the plantation economy in the Americas and South-East Asia with a monocrop production to supply Europe (www.clas.ufl.edu/users/bkimura/worldsystemfall.htm)."
With colonialism there was a "search for resources and new markets; two ways of governing colonies-indirect rule through local power structures and direct rule by imposing new governments; and the occurrence of a major phase after the industrial revolution (www.clas.ufl.edu/users/bkimura/worldsystemfall.htm)."
It is felt that the world-systems theory is similar to "Adam Smith's explanation of economic development, which emphasized a rise in trade, division of labor, and the underlying belief in the importance of homo economics in guiding capitalism toward a naturally unfolding end (Cefalu)."
Under this system, the world can be divided into three categories with different amounts of economic and political power (www.clas.ufl.edu/users/bkimura/worldsystemfall.htm)."
These categories, known as the core, semiperiphery, or periphery, are how the inequalities in different parts of the world are explained. The system is more complex than the First and Third World division of nations, and "attempts to integrate a large number of variables into one general scheme (Hoeschele)."
The Core, Semiperiphery, and Periphery
The countries which are the core regions have "benefited the most from the capitalist world economy (www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html)." The regions that are in the peripheral zones are economic opposites of the core. They "lack strong central governments or are controlled by other states, export raw materials to the core, and rely on coercive labor practices. The core expropriates much of the capital surplus generated by the periphery through unequal trade relations (www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html)." In the middle of these two economic levels is the semi-periphery. These regions "represent either core regions in decline or peripheries attempting to improve their relative position in the world economic system. The often also serve as buffers between the core and the peripheries (www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html)."
A study concerning democracy and economic development of 138 countries between 1972 and 1992 showed that…
