it's for management students.

1. World Systems Theory
Kimberly Martin, Ph.D.
Sociology 370

2. Capitalism
• Based on industrialism and intensive agriculture
• Supply and Demand depends on continuous growth of production
and consumer markets
• Ideology of materialism
• Those who own capital can make increasingly large profits thru
mechanization
• These profits depend on having consumers to buy
• Capitalists share profit by larger wages and middle class grows,
democracy develops
• Rising wages mean less profit
• Capitalists seek cheaper resources and labor in other countries
• Dependent countries are drained of resources
• Dependent countries want a share of the standard of living, but
cannot afford to get the “stuff”

3. World Systems Theory
• There is a single world economy
• There are three types of countries in the WSYS:
1. Core – dominant modern industrialized capitalist countries
with large multinational corporations
2. Peripheral – dependent countries that are
preindustrialized and export natural resources and labor
3. Semi-peripheral – countries with an upper class that is
industrialized and the remainder of the population is
preindustrialized
• It is extremely difficult to move up in the world system.

4. Core Countries
Imperialist in one of two ways:
1. Colonialism – control of dependent societies
by force
2. Neocolonialism – control through
multinational corporations and economic,
economic aid and “puppet governments”

5. Hegemony
• Core countries that become the dominant force in
the WSYS are called hegemons and their control is
called hegemony
• Three hegemons in the history of the WSYS: The
Netherlands, The British and the U.S.
• U.S. hegemony peaked in the 1970s and we are on
the way down
• It is not clear whether there will be a new hegemon,
or whether power will be shared in the WSYS in the
future

6. The End of Hegemony?
What happens to end the reign of a hegemon?
• Environmental degradation
• Expense of maintaining hegemony (wages, standard
of living, military)
• Competition between Core countries for hegemonic
superiority
• Resentment on the part of dependent (peripheral
and semi-peripheral) societies at their inability to
attain Core lifestyle

7. The End of Growth
• Resources are depleted
• We are currently using at 125% of the
earth’s ability to replenish resources.
• There will be a steady decrease in jobs
over time.
• Steady state economy?
• Green economy?
• Socially responsible industry?