This document provides an overview of three major development theories: modernization theory, dependency theory, and world systems theory.
1. Modernization theory emerged in the 1950s and viewed development as a linear process where traditional societies modernize by adopting Western values like industrialization, capitalism, and secularism. It was criticized for being ethnocentric and ignoring that development can occur through different paths.
2. Dependency theory arose in the 1950s-1960s as an alternative to modernization theory. It argues that underdeveloped countries are not backward but rather dependent on developed countries that exploit them as suppliers of cheap labor and raw materials. This hinders their development and benefits core nations.
3. World systems theory,
The document provides an overview of neoliberalism and its rise as the dominant ideology since the 1970s. It discusses key figures who promoted neoliberal policies like Thatcher, Reagan, Deng and Pinochet. It also summarizes critiques of neoliberalism from scholars like Harvey, Kelsey and analyses of the crisis of the welfare state and neoliberal critiques of state intervention in the economy.
This document compares the theories of neorealism and neoliberalism in international relations. It defines neorealism as focusing on the structure of the international system and how it shapes outcomes, while neoliberalism believes states pursue absolute gains rather than relative gains over other states. The document outlines some key similarities and differences between the two theories, such as their views on international cooperation and priorities of states. It concludes that while the theories have differences in focus, they share underlying assumptions about the international system and nation states.
Liberalism emphasizes the multiplicity of international actors like states, international organizations, and transnational groups. Liberals see states as important actors but not the only ones, and prefer the term "world politics" over "international relations". They view states as battlegrounds for domestic and transnational interests rather than unitary, rational actors. Global civil society refers to voluntary organizations, women's groups, human rights organizations, environmental activists, and chambers of commerce. Liberals believe international cooperation is possible between states and other actors through decisive actions by both state and nonstate groups.
Liberalism is a paradigm that believes applying reason and universal ethics to international relations can lead to a more orderly, just and cooperative world. It assumes anarchy and war can be reduced through institutional reforms that empower international law. Liberalism focuses on international institutions, collective security, and increasing cooperation through international regimes and interdependence between states.
Realism is the most dominant school of thought in international relations. It views states as unitary, rational actors concerned with military security above all else. Realists believe human nature is selfish and states are inherently aggressive or obsessed with security. Key realist theorists include Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, E.H. Carr, and Hans Morgenthau. Realism values maintaining the status quo and is criticized for ignoring non-state actors and other forces like ethics.
The document discusses several key aspects of liberal theories in international relations. It covers:
1) Early liberal thinkers like Kant who argued that states could cooperate through international organizations and that democracies are more peaceful.
2) 19th century liberalism focused on free trade increasing interdependence and making war less likely.
3) Wilsonian idealism promoted collective security and international law to prevent war.
4) Neoliberal institutionalism sees states cooperating through international regimes when it is in their self-interest to do so and institutions help address collective action problems.
5) Concepts like collective security, international regimes, and the democratic peace theory are discussed as key aspects of modern liberal
The document provides an overview of neoliberalism and its rise as the dominant ideology since the 1970s. It discusses key figures who promoted neoliberal policies like Thatcher, Reagan, Deng and Pinochet. It also summarizes critiques of neoliberalism from scholars like Harvey, Kelsey and analyses of the crisis of the welfare state and neoliberal critiques of state intervention in the economy.
This document compares the theories of neorealism and neoliberalism in international relations. It defines neorealism as focusing on the structure of the international system and how it shapes outcomes, while neoliberalism believes states pursue absolute gains rather than relative gains over other states. The document outlines some key similarities and differences between the two theories, such as their views on international cooperation and priorities of states. It concludes that while the theories have differences in focus, they share underlying assumptions about the international system and nation states.
Liberalism emphasizes the multiplicity of international actors like states, international organizations, and transnational groups. Liberals see states as important actors but not the only ones, and prefer the term "world politics" over "international relations". They view states as battlegrounds for domestic and transnational interests rather than unitary, rational actors. Global civil society refers to voluntary organizations, women's groups, human rights organizations, environmental activists, and chambers of commerce. Liberals believe international cooperation is possible between states and other actors through decisive actions by both state and nonstate groups.
Liberalism is a paradigm that believes applying reason and universal ethics to international relations can lead to a more orderly, just and cooperative world. It assumes anarchy and war can be reduced through institutional reforms that empower international law. Liberalism focuses on international institutions, collective security, and increasing cooperation through international regimes and interdependence between states.
Realism is the most dominant school of thought in international relations. It views states as unitary, rational actors concerned with military security above all else. Realists believe human nature is selfish and states are inherently aggressive or obsessed with security. Key realist theorists include Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, E.H. Carr, and Hans Morgenthau. Realism values maintaining the status quo and is criticized for ignoring non-state actors and other forces like ethics.
The document discusses several key aspects of liberal theories in international relations. It covers:
1) Early liberal thinkers like Kant who argued that states could cooperate through international organizations and that democracies are more peaceful.
2) 19th century liberalism focused on free trade increasing interdependence and making war less likely.
3) Wilsonian idealism promoted collective security and international law to prevent war.
4) Neoliberal institutionalism sees states cooperating through international regimes when it is in their self-interest to do so and institutions help address collective action problems.
5) Concepts like collective security, international regimes, and the democratic peace theory are discussed as key aspects of modern liberal
The document discusses some of the hidden dangers of using Facebook based on an expert's analysis. It outlines 5 main risks: 1) personal information being shared with third parties through applications and connections; 2) privacy settings reverting to less safe defaults with site redesigns; 3) ads potentially containing malware; 4) friends unintentionally exposing personal information; and 5) profile information retention even after deleting accounts. The expert warns that Facebook's business practices sometimes compromise users' privacy for marketing goals.
Classical liberalism focused on individual freedom and free trade between nations. During the Industrial Revolution, classical liberal values like private property and economic freedom led to growth in capitalism across Europe. However, early industrialization also brought poor working conditions, low wages, child labor and growing inequality that classical liberalism alone did not address. Over time, governments implemented new laws and welfare programs to protect workers' rights and improve living standards, moving toward a modern liberal approach.
Realism is a theory of international relations based on the assumption that states act in their own self-interest and pursue power above all else. Key realist scholars include Thucydides, Hobbes, and Morgenthau. Realism sees world politics as an anarchic struggle for power between self-interested states. It assumes human nature is imperfect and states will do what is necessary to achieve their interests and security. There are different types of realism that focus on factors like human nature, the absence of global governance, and domestic variables that influence foreign policy. Core concepts of realism include self-help, relative gains, national interest, security dilemmas, and balance of power.
The document discusses the key assumptions and logic of the realist paradigm in international relations. It outlines 10 basic points of realism, including that anarchy exists in the international system, states are sovereign and rational actors, and security requires self-help. It focuses on explaining the structural realist perspective, particularly the assumptions of anarchy, sovereignty, and states as rational unitary actors. Anarchy is significant because in its absence of government, it creates a perpetual state of insecurity similar to a state of nature, requiring states to prioritize self-help and security.
The document discusses several theories related to development and underdevelopment, including neoliberalism, dependency theory, and world systems theory. It provides background on the key figures and concepts within dependency theory, such as Andre Gunder Frank and Fernando Henrique Cardoso. It also summarizes Wallerstein's world systems theory, which divides countries into cores, semi-peripheries, and peripheries. Modernization theory is discussed as well, including its assumptions about development as a progressive, homogenizing process. Criticisms of these theories are noted, such as that development is not necessarily unidirectional and traditional and modern values can co-exist.
Liberalism theory,Types of liberalism,and criticismTallat Satti
Liberalism is an international relations theory that focuses on cooperation between states. Key assumptions of liberalism include a positive view of human nature and belief in progress through cooperation. Classical liberalism thinkers like Grotius and Kant believed states could cooperate despite anarchy. Modern liberalism includes interdependence liberalism, which sees increased economic interdependence reducing conflict, and institutional liberalism, which argues international institutions help states cooperate by reducing fears and encouraging trust. Neoliberal institutionalism posits that institutions mediate cooperation among self-interested states.
This document provides an overview of realism and liberalism as major international relations theories. It discusses key thinkers and principles of political realism such as Hans Morgenthau, E.H. Carr, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Realism focuses on the state as the key actor and priorities of survival and self-help under conditions of anarchy. It also discusses structural realism and the differences between defensive and offensive structural realism. The document then discusses liberalism, highlighting Immanuel Kant's idea of a federation of free states and Richard Cobden's views on free trade promoting peace. It provides a four-fold definition of liberalism and discusses how its principles can be applied to international relations.
Kenneth Waltz examines theories of international politics and approaches to construct a theory. He discusses reductionist theories that explain outcomes through internal forces and systemic approaches that emphasize how the international system structure shapes state behavior and outcomes. Waltz defines political structures as the arrangement of units within a system and how anarchy and the distribution of capabilities form the international system structure. States act to ensure their survival within the anarchic system.
This document provides an introduction to liberalism and the liberal internationalism and democratic peace propositions. It outlines some of the key authors and thinkers in liberalism like Kant, Rousseau, Fukuyama and others. It discusses the liberal preconditions for peace, including democracy, free trade, and collective security. It also examines the democratic peace proposition that democracies are less likely to go to war with each other. Finally, it briefly discusses the new international arena and liberalism's role in promoting peace through interdependence today.
The document provides an overview of realism and idealism in international relations. [1] Realism emphasizes that nation-states are motivated by national interests and pursue power, while idealism stresses peace and cooperation between states. [2] The document outlines the key assumptions and types of realism, and discusses thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and the Peloponnesian War. [3] It also defines idealism as promoting universal ethics, peace, and limiting the use of military force between states.
Liberalism has profoundly shaped modern societies through its core beliefs of political freedom, democracy, individual liberty and equality before the law. After the Cold War, some believed liberal democracy and capitalism had triumphed globally as the final form of human government. However, realists argue that nation-states remain the most powerful actors in international relations and prioritize their own security over other concerns like free trade or human rights. While liberals see globalization and institutions as increasing cooperation, realists are skeptical that anarchy and self-interest do not allow states to fully cooperate or limit their sovereignty.
This document provides an overview of world systems theory, which examines how structures shape the flow of people, goods, and ideas globally. It discusses key concepts such as the core, semi-periphery, and periphery of the global economic system. World systems theory views the global economy as a single world-economy larger than any political unit, with economic relations between parts being most important. It also examines resistance to the world system, modernity, global flows of different types, and the central role of media and cultural imagination.
This document summarizes key concepts in international relations theory, comparing realist and liberal perspectives. It discusses concepts like anarchy, sovereignty, self-help, and the security dilemma from a realist viewpoint. Liberal concepts discussed include Kantian ideals of democracy, trade, and international institutions promoting cooperation. Realists are skeptical that institutions can significantly influence state behavior motivated by power and national interests in an anarchic system.
International relations theories aim to explain global politics and relations between states. Realism is a prominent theory that views states as rational actors competing for power in an anarchic international system. According to realism, states pursue power to ensure their own security in the absence of a higher authority. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia established the modern system of sovereign states interacting within this anarchic structure. Realism posits that states will continue seeking to maximize their share of power to survive within this self-help system.
This document provides an overview of the topics and structure of an International Relations course. It discusses:
1) The course will cover major theories of IR like realism and liberalism as well as topics like globalization, non-state actors, and specific issues relating to development, the environment, and human rights.
2) Assessments will include a mid-term test, group presentations, and a final exam.
3) Different theories of IR like realism, liberalism, and constructivism are introduced, which offer different perspectives on states, power, and the role of non-state actors in global politics.
This document provides an overview of different perspectives on idealism and liberalism in international relations theory. It begins by defining idealism as the view that ideas have power and can motivate social and political action. It then discusses liberalism as the modern incarnation of idealism, noting key liberal assumptions around absolute gains and the iterated prisoner's dilemma. The document outlines different variants of liberalism, including liberal institutionalism, commercialism, and internationalism. It emphasizes liberalism's view of pluralism and how different actors shape foreign policy. Overall, the document aims to comprehensively introduce the basic principles and assumptions of idealism and liberalism.
Relations among states take place in the absence of a world government. For realists, this means that the international system is anarchical. International relations are best understood by focusing on the distribution of power among states. Despite their formal legal equality, the uneven distribution of power means that the arena of international relations is a form of ‘power politics’. Power is hard to measure; its distribution among states changes over time and there is no consensus among states about how it should be distributed. International relations is therefore a realm of necessity (states must seek power to survive in a competitive environment) and continuity over time. When realists contemplate change in the international system, they focus on changes in the balance of power among states, and tend to discount the possibility of fundamental change in the dynamics of the system itself.
The following key thinkers all subscribe to these basic assumptions in their explorations of the following questions:
(1) What are the main sources of stability and instability in the international system?
(2) What is the actual and preferred balance of power among states?
(3) How should the great powers behave toward one another and toward weaker states?
(4) What are the sources and dynamics of contemporary changes in the balance of power?
Despite some shared assumptions about the nature of international relations, realists are not all of one voice in answering these questions, and it would be wrong to believe that shared assumptions lead to similar conclusions among them. In fact, there is sharp disagreement over the relative merits of particular balances of power (unipolarity, bipolarity and multipolarity). There is also much debate over the causal relationship between states and the international pressures upon them, and the relative importance of different kinds of power in contemporary international relations.
Theories of International Relations essayNatasha Alves
This document discusses and compares classical realism and neorealism as international relations theories. It defines the key differences between the two approaches, including that classical realism views power as an end in itself driven by human nature, while neorealism sees power as a means to ensure state survival in an anarchic system. The document uses the 2003 US invasion of Iraq as a case study to illustrate how classical realism and neorealism would explain the motivation for the invasion differently, with classical realism focusing more on individual leaders and neorealism emphasizing structural factors of maintaining a balance of power. Overall, the document argues that while classical realism and neorealism share realist assumptions, there are significant
The document provides an overview of neo-liberalism, which advocates for free market capitalism and reduced restrictions on trade. It discusses how neo-liberalism emerged in response to economic crises in the late 20th century and was advanced by powerful international institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and WTO. While neo-liberalism aims to maximize profits and economic growth, the document notes it can negatively impact inequality, public services, and local industries in developing countries.
This document defines neoliberalism and outlines its history and critical analysis. Neoliberalism promotes free market capitalism and limited government intervention. Key institutions like the IMF, World Bank and WTO were established post-WWII to promote neoliberal policies and open markets. However, critics argue these institutions primarily serve developed countries' interests and impose conditions that spread neoliberal ideology rather than balance global economic power. The WTO in particular maintains inequalities despite a democratic structure.
Neoliberalism promotes individual freedom through free markets. It supports defense, police, and law, but limits welfare, health, education, science, and environmental programs. Neoliberalism empowers the wealthy through social Darwinism while repressing the poor. It gives power to employers over unemployed youth by promoting the ideology that individuals must seek jobs to receive assistance through programs like job commitment bonuses and relocation payments.
The document discusses some of the hidden dangers of using Facebook based on an expert's analysis. It outlines 5 main risks: 1) personal information being shared with third parties through applications and connections; 2) privacy settings reverting to less safe defaults with site redesigns; 3) ads potentially containing malware; 4) friends unintentionally exposing personal information; and 5) profile information retention even after deleting accounts. The expert warns that Facebook's business practices sometimes compromise users' privacy for marketing goals.
Classical liberalism focused on individual freedom and free trade between nations. During the Industrial Revolution, classical liberal values like private property and economic freedom led to growth in capitalism across Europe. However, early industrialization also brought poor working conditions, low wages, child labor and growing inequality that classical liberalism alone did not address. Over time, governments implemented new laws and welfare programs to protect workers' rights and improve living standards, moving toward a modern liberal approach.
Realism is a theory of international relations based on the assumption that states act in their own self-interest and pursue power above all else. Key realist scholars include Thucydides, Hobbes, and Morgenthau. Realism sees world politics as an anarchic struggle for power between self-interested states. It assumes human nature is imperfect and states will do what is necessary to achieve their interests and security. There are different types of realism that focus on factors like human nature, the absence of global governance, and domestic variables that influence foreign policy. Core concepts of realism include self-help, relative gains, national interest, security dilemmas, and balance of power.
The document discusses the key assumptions and logic of the realist paradigm in international relations. It outlines 10 basic points of realism, including that anarchy exists in the international system, states are sovereign and rational actors, and security requires self-help. It focuses on explaining the structural realist perspective, particularly the assumptions of anarchy, sovereignty, and states as rational unitary actors. Anarchy is significant because in its absence of government, it creates a perpetual state of insecurity similar to a state of nature, requiring states to prioritize self-help and security.
The document discusses several theories related to development and underdevelopment, including neoliberalism, dependency theory, and world systems theory. It provides background on the key figures and concepts within dependency theory, such as Andre Gunder Frank and Fernando Henrique Cardoso. It also summarizes Wallerstein's world systems theory, which divides countries into cores, semi-peripheries, and peripheries. Modernization theory is discussed as well, including its assumptions about development as a progressive, homogenizing process. Criticisms of these theories are noted, such as that development is not necessarily unidirectional and traditional and modern values can co-exist.
Liberalism theory,Types of liberalism,and criticismTallat Satti
Liberalism is an international relations theory that focuses on cooperation between states. Key assumptions of liberalism include a positive view of human nature and belief in progress through cooperation. Classical liberalism thinkers like Grotius and Kant believed states could cooperate despite anarchy. Modern liberalism includes interdependence liberalism, which sees increased economic interdependence reducing conflict, and institutional liberalism, which argues international institutions help states cooperate by reducing fears and encouraging trust. Neoliberal institutionalism posits that institutions mediate cooperation among self-interested states.
This document provides an overview of realism and liberalism as major international relations theories. It discusses key thinkers and principles of political realism such as Hans Morgenthau, E.H. Carr, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Realism focuses on the state as the key actor and priorities of survival and self-help under conditions of anarchy. It also discusses structural realism and the differences between defensive and offensive structural realism. The document then discusses liberalism, highlighting Immanuel Kant's idea of a federation of free states and Richard Cobden's views on free trade promoting peace. It provides a four-fold definition of liberalism and discusses how its principles can be applied to international relations.
Kenneth Waltz examines theories of international politics and approaches to construct a theory. He discusses reductionist theories that explain outcomes through internal forces and systemic approaches that emphasize how the international system structure shapes state behavior and outcomes. Waltz defines political structures as the arrangement of units within a system and how anarchy and the distribution of capabilities form the international system structure. States act to ensure their survival within the anarchic system.
This document provides an introduction to liberalism and the liberal internationalism and democratic peace propositions. It outlines some of the key authors and thinkers in liberalism like Kant, Rousseau, Fukuyama and others. It discusses the liberal preconditions for peace, including democracy, free trade, and collective security. It also examines the democratic peace proposition that democracies are less likely to go to war with each other. Finally, it briefly discusses the new international arena and liberalism's role in promoting peace through interdependence today.
The document provides an overview of realism and idealism in international relations. [1] Realism emphasizes that nation-states are motivated by national interests and pursue power, while idealism stresses peace and cooperation between states. [2] The document outlines the key assumptions and types of realism, and discusses thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and the Peloponnesian War. [3] It also defines idealism as promoting universal ethics, peace, and limiting the use of military force between states.
Liberalism has profoundly shaped modern societies through its core beliefs of political freedom, democracy, individual liberty and equality before the law. After the Cold War, some believed liberal democracy and capitalism had triumphed globally as the final form of human government. However, realists argue that nation-states remain the most powerful actors in international relations and prioritize their own security over other concerns like free trade or human rights. While liberals see globalization and institutions as increasing cooperation, realists are skeptical that anarchy and self-interest do not allow states to fully cooperate or limit their sovereignty.
This document provides an overview of world systems theory, which examines how structures shape the flow of people, goods, and ideas globally. It discusses key concepts such as the core, semi-periphery, and periphery of the global economic system. World systems theory views the global economy as a single world-economy larger than any political unit, with economic relations between parts being most important. It also examines resistance to the world system, modernity, global flows of different types, and the central role of media and cultural imagination.
This document summarizes key concepts in international relations theory, comparing realist and liberal perspectives. It discusses concepts like anarchy, sovereignty, self-help, and the security dilemma from a realist viewpoint. Liberal concepts discussed include Kantian ideals of democracy, trade, and international institutions promoting cooperation. Realists are skeptical that institutions can significantly influence state behavior motivated by power and national interests in an anarchic system.
International relations theories aim to explain global politics and relations between states. Realism is a prominent theory that views states as rational actors competing for power in an anarchic international system. According to realism, states pursue power to ensure their own security in the absence of a higher authority. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia established the modern system of sovereign states interacting within this anarchic structure. Realism posits that states will continue seeking to maximize their share of power to survive within this self-help system.
This document provides an overview of the topics and structure of an International Relations course. It discusses:
1) The course will cover major theories of IR like realism and liberalism as well as topics like globalization, non-state actors, and specific issues relating to development, the environment, and human rights.
2) Assessments will include a mid-term test, group presentations, and a final exam.
3) Different theories of IR like realism, liberalism, and constructivism are introduced, which offer different perspectives on states, power, and the role of non-state actors in global politics.
This document provides an overview of different perspectives on idealism and liberalism in international relations theory. It begins by defining idealism as the view that ideas have power and can motivate social and political action. It then discusses liberalism as the modern incarnation of idealism, noting key liberal assumptions around absolute gains and the iterated prisoner's dilemma. The document outlines different variants of liberalism, including liberal institutionalism, commercialism, and internationalism. It emphasizes liberalism's view of pluralism and how different actors shape foreign policy. Overall, the document aims to comprehensively introduce the basic principles and assumptions of idealism and liberalism.
Relations among states take place in the absence of a world government. For realists, this means that the international system is anarchical. International relations are best understood by focusing on the distribution of power among states. Despite their formal legal equality, the uneven distribution of power means that the arena of international relations is a form of ‘power politics’. Power is hard to measure; its distribution among states changes over time and there is no consensus among states about how it should be distributed. International relations is therefore a realm of necessity (states must seek power to survive in a competitive environment) and continuity over time. When realists contemplate change in the international system, they focus on changes in the balance of power among states, and tend to discount the possibility of fundamental change in the dynamics of the system itself.
The following key thinkers all subscribe to these basic assumptions in their explorations of the following questions:
(1) What are the main sources of stability and instability in the international system?
(2) What is the actual and preferred balance of power among states?
(3) How should the great powers behave toward one another and toward weaker states?
(4) What are the sources and dynamics of contemporary changes in the balance of power?
Despite some shared assumptions about the nature of international relations, realists are not all of one voice in answering these questions, and it would be wrong to believe that shared assumptions lead to similar conclusions among them. In fact, there is sharp disagreement over the relative merits of particular balances of power (unipolarity, bipolarity and multipolarity). There is also much debate over the causal relationship between states and the international pressures upon them, and the relative importance of different kinds of power in contemporary international relations.
Theories of International Relations essayNatasha Alves
This document discusses and compares classical realism and neorealism as international relations theories. It defines the key differences between the two approaches, including that classical realism views power as an end in itself driven by human nature, while neorealism sees power as a means to ensure state survival in an anarchic system. The document uses the 2003 US invasion of Iraq as a case study to illustrate how classical realism and neorealism would explain the motivation for the invasion differently, with classical realism focusing more on individual leaders and neorealism emphasizing structural factors of maintaining a balance of power. Overall, the document argues that while classical realism and neorealism share realist assumptions, there are significant
The document provides an overview of neo-liberalism, which advocates for free market capitalism and reduced restrictions on trade. It discusses how neo-liberalism emerged in response to economic crises in the late 20th century and was advanced by powerful international institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and WTO. While neo-liberalism aims to maximize profits and economic growth, the document notes it can negatively impact inequality, public services, and local industries in developing countries.
This document defines neoliberalism and outlines its history and critical analysis. Neoliberalism promotes free market capitalism and limited government intervention. Key institutions like the IMF, World Bank and WTO were established post-WWII to promote neoliberal policies and open markets. However, critics argue these institutions primarily serve developed countries' interests and impose conditions that spread neoliberal ideology rather than balance global economic power. The WTO in particular maintains inequalities despite a democratic structure.
Neoliberalism promotes individual freedom through free markets. It supports defense, police, and law, but limits welfare, health, education, science, and environmental programs. Neoliberalism empowers the wealthy through social Darwinism while repressing the poor. It gives power to employers over unemployed youth by promoting the ideology that individuals must seek jobs to receive assistance through programs like job commitment bonuses and relocation payments.
The presentation is on neoliberalism in international relations. The emergence of neoliberalism and convergence and difference of neoliberalism and structural realism as well as barriers to international cooperation is presented.
This document provides an overview and summary of Michael A. Peters' book "Neoliberalism and After? Education, Social Policy and the Crisis of Western Capitalism". The book examines the rise of neoliberalism in Western countries like New Zealand and its impact on education and social policy. It discusses key aspects of neoliberalism like privatization, deregulation, and the shrinking of the welfare state. It also analyzes criticisms of neoliberalism and arguments about whether its influence is waning in the face of problems like rising inequality and the global financial crisis.
This document discusses neoliberalism and its effects. It defines neoliberalism as both an ideological set of ideas about the relationship between economy and government as well as a political movement that implemented reforms based on those ideas. Key neoliberal ideas include letting the economy prosper without interference, individual responsibility for poverty, and applying economic rationales like competition to social programs. The document then gives examples of how neoliberalism manifests through policies like structural adjustment programs, the shift to service industries, increasing economic polarization, and the expansion of the security and non-profit sectors in cities.
neoliberalism, gender and Marxist theory ray17457402
This document discusses several topics related to class, gender, and power in education. It first summarizes Connell's argument that neoliberal models of education do not acknowledge class differences. Next, it discusses intersectionality in feminism and how approaches that only consider white, middle-class experiences do not represent all women. Finally, it briefly notes that Marxists believe workers can theoretically bargain wages before signing an employment contract, though most do not due to desperation for jobs.
This document discusses society's structure and the relationship between the central zone and membership. It argues that the central zone is a phenomenon of symbols, values, beliefs, and actions rather than geography. Society consists of subsystems like the economic system and polity, each comprising networks of organizations with elites who make decisions. The central value system contains the core judgments and values held sacred in a society and espoused by authorities. While affirmation of this value system varies, elites have authority to attribute affinity to sacred elements and act as custodians. Order is maintained through appreciation for authority and institutions as legitimized by the central value system.
The document provides information on the causes of the French Revolution in 4 sections: political causes, social causes, economic causes, and spread of new ideas. Politically, France was an absolute monarchy ruled by King Louis XVI who had total power. Socially, French society was divided into estates with the first and second estates (nobility and clergy) exempt from taxes. Economically, France was bankrupt from wars and only the third estate paid high taxes. The spread of new ideas like liberty, equality, and democracy further fueled discontent among the common people who lacked political rights and power.
This document aims to understand perceptions of the North and South of England by challenging stereotypes. It discusses how the North and South are traditionally divided, and presents maps showing economic differences like unemployment, home ownership, and health. Stereotypical images of the industrial North and modern London are shown. Students identify adjectives to describe each, and consider positives and negatives. While the South is generally wealthier, it faces issues like high housing costs and long commutes. Overall the document explores perceptions and realities regarding differences between Northern and Southern England.
The document outlines different positions on the political spectrum from left to right. It describes anarchism as demanding the end of government, capitalism and religion through direct action and violence. Radicals are described as supporting socialist ideas through revolutionary means. Liberals are described as trusting government to reform society through policies promoting equality, regulation and social welfare. Moderates are described as valuing compromise and problem solving over ideology. Conservatives are described as seeking to preserve tradition and being skeptical of change, while reactionaries demand a return to past ideals through extreme nationalism, authority and intolerance of differences.
This document discusses the key concepts and principles of neoliberalism. It defines neoliberalism as an ideology that prioritizes free markets and private enterprise over state intervention, and maximizes entrepreneurial freedoms through deregulation and privatization. It asserts that neoliberal policies exacerbate inequality between social classes by privileging capitalist interests. Specifically, it argues that financialization, privatization, management of crises, and reduction in social services redistribute wealth upwards in a manner that benefits the ruling capitalist class.
The second presentation in the series called "Simply Politics". Political Ideologies - Left-Centre-Right is suitable for History and International Relations from Year 9 to university level. It contains the following: ideology, liberal, conservatives, socialist, fascists, ecologists and religious perspectives. Examples of countries, political ideas and ideologies.
This is the last lecture of the British Civilisation program. It covers the origins and developments of the welfare system, as well as current issues in health, education and other social programs.
The document discusses left and right wing political views. It explains that left wing views typically support higher taxes, more government regulations, welfare programs, and protections for minorities. Right wing views typically support lower taxes, less regulations on business, less government involvement, and are tougher on crime. It also discusses more extreme views like libertarianism, socialism, far right, and far left ideologies. The key political parties in the US and UK are also outlined in terms of their left or right leaning views.
Rural health posts offer basic health checks and services for about 4,000 people. Health centers serve larger rural populations of around 7,000 people and provide primary care services including minor surgeries. Urban polyclinics offer general practice services, screening, treatment for chronic illnesses and specialists depending on their size. Special focus polyclinics specifically treat children up to age 19. The document also lists various social welfare benefits provided by the state including pensions, maternity pay, child benefits, unemployment benefits, family credit, invalidity pensions, and mobility allowances for disabled people.
This document discusses left and right wing politics in the UK in the 1970s and 1979. The left wing supported policies like nationalization of industries, communism, and collectivism under Labour. The UK had many nationalized industries in the 1970s that benefited people through profits funding schools. In 1979, Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives pursued more right wing policies of privatization, individualism, and allowing people to buy their council houses, giving them money to start businesses. This marketization approach allowed more choice and benefited the working class.
The document discusses the theory of core and periphery as it relates to economic geography. The core-periphery model proposes that as one region grows economically, it becomes the core, while surrounding areas become the periphery. At the global scale, developed nations form the economic core and developing nations the periphery. Core nations control global markets and benefit more, while periphery nations depend on the core and receive a disproportionately small share of global wealth. The relationship between core and periphery can have both positive "spread effects" and negative "backwash effects" on the periphery.
This document discusses the concept of global stratification and divides. It describes how societies have historically stratified groups through factors like class, economic status, and race. This stratification led to power imbalances that disadvantaged some groups. In the modern world, global stratification still exists between countries, referred to as the "global divide". The document reviews several theories for explaining global stratification and outlines the historical divisions of the world into the First, Second, and Third Worlds during the Cold War era. It also summarizes the key perspectives of the influential Brandt Report and subsequent analyses on addressing global economic inequalities.
World-systems theory views the world as a single historical system with three types of countries: core countries that control global capitalism, semi-peripheral countries that have some characteristics of both core and peripheral countries, and peripheral countries that focus on low-skilled labor and resource extraction. This international division of labor reinforces the dominance of core countries over time. World-systems theory emerged in the 1970s as an alternative to modernization theory, criticizing its focus only on states and assumption of a single development path. Dependency theory, influenced by world-systems theory, holds that the global capitalist system serves to maintain underdevelopment in peripheral and semi-peripheral countries.
Dezhao Chen Week 6 DiscussionCOLLAPSETop of FormQ1. Given LinaCovington707
Dezhao Chen
Week 6 Discussion
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
Q1. Given the similarities and differences of three contending theories (Marxism, Neoclassical and Keynesianism) that you have learned in the class, briefly analyze the key factors that contributed to the decline of economic systems under Marxism in the late 20th century in the countries of Eastern Europe and East Asia. Give specific examples as part of your answers
The Marxist theory’s most fundamental principle is that it, ‘… sought to transform capitalist Europe into a cooperative commonwealth of freethinkers, and often called “socialism” or “communism.” (p. 135). The theory was that everyone would work for the better good of the state and others. The major pillars of Marxism and production are culture, politics and the natural climate. Marxism created tension in these three spheres as Wolff and Resnick (2012) say,
This in turn implies that the economy is always in a state of tension and change. A change in climate will favor some kinds of production and distribution and inhibit others. Changing political trends will favor and inhibit certain kinds of production and distribution. Changing cultural patterns too will stimulate some kinds of production and distribution and stifle others. (p. 144)
Besides the tension in the three spheres, another reason why Marxism collapsed especially in Russia is due to mismanagement and corruption. Marxism states that the fundamental power is to be given to workers and overproduction is supposed to benefit them. However this was not the case in Russia whereby greedy heads of government took over the benefits that came with the laborer’s work.
Q2. In understanding the process of rapid transformation of economic systems in many nations in the world from the beginning of 1990s, briefly explain why freedom to choose the right theoretical foundations still do matter to develop an appropriate economic system for economic growth and better income distribution of a society.
The freedom to choose the right theoretical foundations to follow as a nation whether neoclassic, Marxism or Keynesian theory is fundamental because it affects how people in the country see the world. For example Americans who live in a capitalist society view the world differently to Russians who are socialists and communists. Wolff and Resnick (2012) say that,
It follows that individuals will likely act differently depending on which theory they use in thinking about the economic aspects of their lives and social surroundings. As with theories people use to understand other objects of interest. to them (love, nature, politics, etc.), economic theories have conscious and unconscious effects on how people think and act. (p. 348)
Due to the fact that the economic system that the people of a country will choose will affect their lives, they should be the ones to develop an economic system that they feel will be of most benefit to them.
References
Wolff, R. D., & Resnick, S. A. (2012). Contendi ...
This document discusses global divides and stratification. It begins by defining key terms like social stratification and global divide. It then discusses perspectives on global stratification, including modernization theory and the impact of the Cold War in dividing the world into Western and Eastern blocs. The document also summarizes critiques of the Brandt Report from 1980 regarding its recommendations to address imbalances between the global North and South. It concludes by acknowledging improvements in living standards globally but that disparities still exist between and within nations.
Centripetal and centrifugal forces shape the international system. Centripetal forces that promote integration include economic blocs, collective security organizations, and globalization which standardize culture and expand markets. Centrifugal forces that promote dispersion include nationalism which can spur secessionism, irredentism, or autonomism, as well as alterglobalism opposing large corporations and fundamentalism taking a strict interpretation of religious or ideological texts. Terrorism also works against integration by using violence to create panic and seize control.
This document provides an overview and introduction to Dependency Theory. It discusses:
- The origins of Dependency Theory under Raul Prebisch in response to unequal economic growth between rich and poor countries.
- Core propositions of Dependency Theory including that underdevelopment results from external influences that favor rich countries over poor ones in a dependent relationship.
- Debates around whether dependency results more from capitalism or disparities in power between countries.
- The policy implications of Dependency Theory, which rejects growth models based on rich countries and favors self-reliance over greater integration into the global economy by poor states.
This article aims to analyze the genesis of the wealth and poverty of nations and to point out solutions for poor nations to develop. The world began to face many years ago with the existence of very few rich countries that present advanced economic and social development alongside the vast majority of poor countries with precarious economic and social development. Many ask: what is the explanation for the central capitalist countries having reached a high level of economic and social development and the other countries not? There are several answers to this question. One of them is that the core capitalist countries have developed essential competences to promote economic, scientific and technological development. But the main answer is that the central capitalist countries accumulated a large volume of capital during colonialism from the 14th to the 17th centuries and imperialism from the 18th to the 20th centuries with the looting they carried out in the countries they dominated and also in the current stage of neoliberal globalization. The relationship of dependence of poor, peripheral and semi-peripheral countries on world capitalism will only come to an end with the disappearance of the capitalist world system and the adoption throughout the world of a new model of society that ensures economic and social progress for all countries and not just for a very few countries. This new model would require the existence of a world government to ensure the functioning of a new world order that guarantees equity in the development process of nations and the implementation of the Welfare State along the lines of that practiced in Scandinavian countries with the necessary adaptation to each country because it is the most successful social system ever implemented in the world..
Dependency theory argues that poorer countries are prevented from developing due to their economic dependence on richer countries. It was popularized in the 1960s by Raúl Prebisch and other Latin American economists and theorists. They proposed that poorer countries pursue import substitution to reduce reliance on manufactured goods from richer nations. However, this was difficult due to smaller internal markets, lack of control over primary commodities, and insufficient political will. Major dependency theorists like Andre Gunder Frank, Theotonio dos Santos, Samir Amin, and Immanuel Wallerstein expanded on these ideas, arguing that underdevelopment is generated by capitalism and the unequal power dynamics between core and peripheral nations.
Global Political Economy: How The World Works?Jeffrey Harrod
These are the slides which are displayed by the lecturer Jeffrey Harrod in the on-line Lecture Course "Global Political Economy: How the World Works" which is available free on his website http://www.jeffreyharrod.eu/avcourse.html.
The purpose it to make the slides available to download which at the moment cannot be done from the on-line lecture. Many of the slides provide data which may be useful in presentations and research papers. Other slides are the points addressed in the lecture.
The course covers all the material conventionally found in courses on international political economy. The approach is critical and realist and seeks to understand or explain
power rather than functions which surround the world economy.
The lectures and slides cover investment, trade, finance , migration and labour paying special attention to the multinational corporation and the agencies of states as the central power players in the global economy.
Developmental state and africa elly series 2013.Should Africa Learn from Asia...Elly Twineyo Kamugisha
Is Africa currently in the developmental stage? Is it on its way to economic success and ultimately development and liberal democracy?
Does the role of the state in the development of East Asian countries offer good examples for Africa?
Is the state in developed countries supporting or subsiding key private companies in their economies?
Each of your responses must be no lessthan one paragraph.1. BaAlyciaGold776
This document provides an overview of theories of social inequality and social class. It discusses several key theories of social inequality, including world systems theory. World systems theory divides countries into core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral categories based on their level of economic development and influence. Core countries tend to have higher standards of living and life expectancies compared to peripheral countries. The document also discusses how social class is determined and can differ based on factors like access to various types of capital. It provides context on the rise and fall of previous world powers like the Dutch and British empires.
The document discusses several key concepts in international relations:
1) The Treaty of Versailles imposed harsh penalties on Germany after WWI and established the League of Nations, but its terms are argued to have contributed to the rise of fascism and WWII.
2) The Iron Curtain divided Europe between the Western and Eastern blocs during the Cold War, with the Berlin Wall as a visible symbol.
3) The Marshall Plan provided US economic aid to rebuild Western Europe after WWII to prevent the spread of communism amid poverty and instability.
This document provides an overview of international political economy (IPE). It discusses the meaning and nature of IPE, focusing on the political and economic dimensions. It outlines three major theoretical perspectives on IPE: mercantilism/economic nationalism, liberalism, and Marxism. Differences in national political economy systems are examined through case studies of the US, Japan, and Germany. Finally, core issues in IPE governance are discussed, specifically international trade and the role of the World Trade Organization.
Is it possible accomplishing the national development independentFernando Alcoforado
The failure in promoting economic and social development of almost all peripheral and semi-peripheral countries of the world must be attributed to the fact that the governments of these countries outline strategies to promote national development dissociated from the evolution of the capitalist world-system. In his book Unthinking Social Science, the American sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein states that it is necessary to review the current paradigms of social sciences and going to think otherwise in the XXI century. Wallerstein argues for the adoption of a new theoretical and methodological framework in social science based on analysis of the capitalist world-system to understand how each national system it is inserted in order to promote their economic and social development. The new theoretical analysis of the economic system of a nation taking into account the capitalist world-system proposed by Wallerstein is opposed to the current Cartesian method approach that formulates the development of the national economic system of isolated and dissociated form of the analysis of the insertion of the national economy in the world capitalist system.
Why International Relation Is Imporatanthadaitullah
The document provides an overview of key concepts in international relations including geopolitics, geo-economics, realism, idealism, Marxism, feminism, postmodernism, and constructivism. It then discusses the emergence of the modern nation-state in Europe following the Thirty Years' War and Treaty of Westphalia, which established principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention. Political and economic revolutions in Europe led to the development of democracy, nationalism, and industrialization.
The United States is the chief executive organization of the world capital empire. It is in the United States that the fascist state stands in defense of globalized capitalism. The United States Government carries out drone killings, occupies foreign countries, creates and supports terrorist guerrillas around the world, such as the Islamic State. The United States government oppresses and investigates its own domestic population. It does all this for service, not for nationalist aggrandizement, but at the service of global capital.
Chapter 9. Development Myths and RealitiesLearning Objectives.docxbissacr
Chapter 9. Development: Myths and Realities
Learning Objectives
· 1Explain the concept of development in the study of politics and economics.
· 2Discuss the challenges involved in building a new nation-state.
· 3Compare and evaluate India and Nigeria as models of economic development.
· 4Identify and elaborate on five obstacles to development.
· 5Choose one failed state, describe how it failed, and analyze the failure.
· 6Explain why failed states pose problems for regional stability and world order.
This chapter focuses on the problems arising in the context of too little development too late, rather than too much too soon. We use the term least developed countries (LDCs), a term adopted by the United Nations, instead of “developing countries” (see Table 9.1). LDCs encompass the poorest of the poor.
Table 9.1.
The World’s Least Developed Countries*
Africa (33)
1
Angola
2
Benin
3
Burkina Faso
4
Burundi
5
Central African Republic
6
Chad
7
Comoros
8
Democratic Republic of the Congo
9
Djibouti
10
Equatorial Guinea
11
Eritrea
12
Ethiopia
13
Gambia
14
Guinea
15
Guinea-Bissau
16
Lesotho
17
Liberia
18
Madagascar
19
Malawi
20
Mali
21
Mauritania
22
Mozambique
23
Niger
24
Rwanda
25
São Tomé and Príncipe
26
Senegal
27
Sierra Leone
28
Somalia
29
Sudan
30
Togo
31
Uganda
32
United Republic of Tanzania
33
Zambia
Asia and Pacific (15)
1
Afghanistan
2
Bangladesh
3
Bhutan
4
Cambodia
5
Kiribati
6
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
7
Myanmar
8
Nepal
9
Samoa
10
Solomon Islands
11
Timor-Leste
12
Tuvalu
13
Vanuatu
14
Yemen
15
Maldives
Latin America and the Caribbean (1)
1
Haiti
SOURCE: United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries. http://www.unohrlls.org/en/home/.
During the second half of the last century, the West lumped Africa, Asia, and Latin America together into what was commonly called the Third World. In this narrative, the First World was epitomized by the United States, Western Europe and Japan, plus Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—rich countries with stable societies and well-established democratic political institutions. The citizens of these fortunate states were free to criticize the government. The communist states—Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe—comprised the Second World. All the rest were known as the Third World, collectively referred to as “underdeveloped” or “less developed” countries.
Today it is considered politically incorrect to use such pejorative terms. Indeed, the term “developing countries” is rarely used to describe the former colonies. Many of these countries now have diversified economies, meaning they are no longer simply agrarian or nomadic but have industries and service sectors as well. Indeed, major companies in the United States and Europe outsource manufacturing and services to China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia where labor costs (wages) are low.
In fact, all countries are developing, no matter how rich or how poor. Indeed, if some countries are not developed enough to sustain them.
The document discusses the roles of a social worker in helping clients obtain resources and navigate systems. A social worker must be knowledgeable about available resources to guide clients to solutions for their problems. They also ensure resource organizations and services are responsive to client needs. Additionally, social workers can influence and contribute to improving social policies by sharing experiences and client feedback with policymakers.
This document discusses developing definitions for faith-based and community initiatives. It provides sample definitions for faith-based organizations (FBOs) and grassroots community-based organizations (CBOs) that have been used in previous efforts. Developing clear and consistent definitions has proven difficult because different approaches work for different locations. The document examines definitions of FBOs from several sources, noting they should be inclusive while allowing flexibility in how organizations define themselves.
The document outlines Tarlac City's disaster preparedness and response plan, which divides the city into 5 sectors and establishes an organizational structure and responsibilities for the City Disaster Coordinating Council, Emergency Operations Center, Incident Command Post, and response teams to coordinate preparation, response, and recovery efforts in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. The plan is intended to maximize resource utilization and minimize loss of life and injuries by outlining procedures, roles, and coordination across relevant government agencies and organizations.
The document summarizes the administrative structure and functions of the local government of Tarlac City. It details the various departments that make up the city government including the Mayor's Office, Vice Mayor's Office, Sangguniang Panlungsod, Budget Office, Treasurer's Office, Assessor's Office, and others. It provides an overview of the personnel distribution across departments and describes the general duties and responsibilities of each department in coordinating services and programs for the constituents of Tarlac City.
The feminist movement has occurred in three waves. The first wave in the late 19th/early 20th century focused on rights like voting, property ownership, and divorce. The second wave from the 1960s-1980s extended civil rights to include things like equal pay, education, reproductive healthcare, and more women in politics. The third wave since the 1990s challenges some assumptions of the second wave and focuses on a more nuanced understanding of gender, sexuality, and identity.
This document discusses and compares several approaches to understanding and addressing poverty:
1. The Basic Needs Approach (BNA) focuses on providing minimum requirements for food, shelter, etc. The Capabilities Approach (CA) aims to empower people through developing their capabilities.
2. Other approaches discussed include social exclusion approaches, participatory poverty approaches, and monetary approaches.
3. A faith-based perspective sees poverty as multidimensional and emphasizes compassion for those in poverty, as well as relationships and virtues within communities.
Manuel C. Hidalgo was born on July 22, 1987 in Tarlac City, Philippines. He is currently 26 years old and single. Some of his hobbies include celebrating his birthday with his mother and grandmother in Plaza Tarlac when he was 3 years old, and participating in a Mr. & Ms. daycare competition where he was the first runner up at age 5.
The document outlines the policies of the City Social Welfare and Development office in Tarlac, Philippines. It details programs to support: 1) day care services and community-based care for children and youth, 2) emergency assistance for disaster victims and those in crisis, 3) self-employment assistance, 4) services for people with disabilities, 5) drug rehabilitation and senior citizen programs, and 6) services for disadvantaged women. The office aims to provide social services, rehabilitation, and support to vulnerable groups in the community as mandated by Philippine law.
The second year social work students from the Ecumenical Christian College are requesting permission to conduct a study on the policies, programs, and services of the Tarlac City Mayor's office. This study is a partial requirement for their social welfare policy, programs, and services course. They are requesting permission to study the Mayor's office to complete this course requirement. Their instructor has noted and approved their request.
This document summarizes key aspects of Republic Act 8353, also known as the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 in the Philippines. It expands the legal definition of rape, reclassifies rape as a crime against persons, and amends the Revised Penal Code to include stronger penalties for rape including death under certain aggravating circumstances. It also defines rape and sexual assault and outlines the new penalties imposed based on the nature and circumstances of the crimes committed.
A second year social work student from Ecumenical Christian College is requesting permission from the Tarlac City Mayor to conduct a study on the policies, programs, and services of the City Social Welfare and Development Office for a class project. The student needs to analyze a social welfare agency as a requirement. The letter asks for the mayor's approval through the officer-in-charge of the CSWDO so the student can complete the class project requirement.
This document outlines key provisions of an Act to provide special protection to children from abuse, exploitation, and discrimination. It defines terms like "child" and "child abuse". It establishes a comprehensive program to protect children from child prostitution, trafficking, obscene materials, and other acts of abuse. It prescribes penalties for engaging in child prostitution, trafficking, and exploiting children in obscene exhibitions. It also sanctions establishments that promote activities constituting child abuse. The Act provides guidelines for child employment and non-formal education for working children.
Neoliberalism is a political ideology that blends liberal values with an emphasis on economic growth and free markets. It believes the economy will prosper if left alone without government intervention and that individuals are responsible for their own poverty. Neoliberal policies include structural adjustment programs, free trade, privatization, deregulation, and reducing government spending on social programs. The result is increasing economic polarization, a growing surplus population, more dominance of private corporations and consumerism in public spaces, and intensified racial inequality.
This film review summarizes the 2013 film Rush directed by Ron Howard. It stars Chris Hemsworth as English Formula 1 driver James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Austrian driver Niki Lauda who had a rivalry in the 1970s. The film depicts their contrasting personalities and driving styles, as well as Lauda's near-fatal crash during the 1976 season that resulted in a newfound respect between the two great drivers. The reviewer provides details on the cast, characters, settings, plot, and their rating of key elements of the film.
The US pursued neo-liberal policies like deregulation and trade liberalization to restructure the world economy and ensure its dominance. Deregulation limited government control over markets while liberalization eliminated import quotas and reduced tariffs to create new markets for US surplus products and excess capital.
Neoliberal education in the philippines by manuelmanuel hidalgo
This document discusses the history of education in the Philippines under colonial rule. It describes how education during the Spanish colonial period aimed to pacify the native population and make them obedient to colonial authorities. The Americans later used the English language as a tool to ensure Filipinos accepted their occupation. Elite Filipinos who collaborated with the Americans were the first to receive English education and be exposed to American culture through scholarship programs. Overall, the document argues that education under colonial powers aimed to control and subjugate the native population rather than truly educate them.
Freshworks Rethinks NoSQL for Rapid Scaling & Cost-EfficiencyScyllaDB
Freshworks creates AI-boosted business software that helps employees work more efficiently and effectively. Managing data across multiple RDBMS and NoSQL databases was already a challenge at their current scale. To prepare for 10X growth, they knew it was time to rethink their database strategy. Learn how they architected a solution that would simplify scaling while keeping costs under control.
Ivanti’s Patch Tuesday breakdown goes beyond patching your applications and brings you the intelligence and guidance needed to prioritize where to focus your attention first. Catch early analysis on our Ivanti blog, then join industry expert Chris Goettl for the Patch Tuesday Webinar Event. There we’ll do a deep dive into each of the bulletins and give guidance on the risks associated with the newly-identified vulnerabilities.
Main news related to the CCS TSI 2023 (2023/1695)Jakub Marek
An English 🇬🇧 translation of a presentation to the speech I gave about the main changes brought by CCS TSI 2023 at the biggest Czech conference on Communications and signalling systems on Railways, which was held in Clarion Hotel Olomouc from 7th to 9th November 2023 (konferenceszt.cz). Attended by around 500 participants and 200 on-line followers.
The original Czech 🇨🇿 version of the presentation can be found here: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/hlavni-novinky-souvisejici-s-ccs-tsi-2023-2023-1695/269688092 .
The videorecording (in Czech) from the presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/WzjJWm4IyPk?si=SImb06tuXGb30BEH .
Taking AI to the Next Level in Manufacturing.pdfssuserfac0301
Read Taking AI to the Next Level in Manufacturing to gain insights on AI adoption in the manufacturing industry, such as:
1. How quickly AI is being implemented in manufacturing.
2. Which barriers stand in the way of AI adoption.
3. How data quality and governance form the backbone of AI.
4. Organizational processes and structures that may inhibit effective AI adoption.
6. Ideas and approaches to help build your organization's AI strategy.
Skybuffer SAM4U tool for SAP license adoptionTatiana Kojar
Manage and optimize your license adoption and consumption with SAM4U, an SAP free customer software asset management tool.
SAM4U, an SAP complimentary software asset management tool for customers, delivers a detailed and well-structured overview of license inventory and usage with a user-friendly interface. We offer a hosted, cost-effective, and performance-optimized SAM4U setup in the Skybuffer Cloud environment. You retain ownership of the system and data, while we manage the ABAP 7.58 infrastructure, ensuring fixed Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and exceptional services through the SAP Fiori interface.
Trusted Execution Environment for Decentralized Process MiningLucaBarbaro3
Presentation of the paper "Trusted Execution Environment for Decentralized Process Mining" given during the CAiSE 2024 Conference in Cyprus on June 7, 2024.
This presentation provides valuable insights into effective cost-saving techniques on AWS. Learn how to optimize your AWS resources by rightsizing, increasing elasticity, picking the right storage class, and choosing the best pricing model. Additionally, discover essential governance mechanisms to ensure continuous cost efficiency. Whether you are new to AWS or an experienced user, this presentation provides clear and practical tips to help you reduce your cloud costs and get the most out of your budget.
Driving Business Innovation: Latest Generative AI Advancements & Success StorySafe Software
Are you ready to revolutionize how you handle data? Join us for a webinar where we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest advancements in Generative AI technology and discover how leveraging FME with tools from giants like Google Gemini, Amazon, and Microsoft OpenAI can supercharge your workflow efficiency.
During the hour, we’ll take you through:
Guest Speaker Segment with Hannah Barrington: Dive into the world of dynamic real estate marketing with Hannah, the Marketing Manager at Workspace Group. Hear firsthand how their team generates engaging descriptions for thousands of office units by integrating diverse data sources—from PDF floorplans to web pages—using FME transformers, like OpenAIVisionConnector and AnthropicVisionConnector. This use case will show you how GenAI can streamline content creation for marketing across the board.
Ollama Use Case: Learn how Scenario Specialist Dmitri Bagh has utilized Ollama within FME to input data, create custom models, and enhance security protocols. This segment will include demos to illustrate the full capabilities of FME in AI-driven processes.
Custom AI Models: Discover how to leverage FME to build personalized AI models using your data. Whether it’s populating a model with local data for added security or integrating public AI tools, find out how FME facilitates a versatile and secure approach to AI.
We’ll wrap up with a live Q&A session where you can engage with our experts on your specific use cases, and learn more about optimizing your data workflows with AI.
This webinar is ideal for professionals seeking to harness the power of AI within their data management systems while ensuring high levels of customization and security. Whether you're a novice or an expert, gain actionable insights and strategies to elevate your data processes. Join us to see how FME and AI can revolutionize how you work with data!
How to Interpret Trends in the Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart.pdfChart Kalyan
A Mix Chart displays historical data of numbers in a graphical or tabular form. The Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart specifically shows the results of a sequence of numbers over different periods.
Digital Marketing Trends in 2024 | Guide for Staying AheadWask
https://www.wask.co/ebooks/digital-marketing-trends-in-2024
Feeling lost in the digital marketing whirlwind of 2024? Technology is changing, consumer habits are evolving, and staying ahead of the curve feels like a never-ending pursuit. This e-book is your compass. Dive into actionable insights to handle the complexities of modern marketing. From hyper-personalization to the power of user-generated content, learn how to build long-term relationships with your audience and unlock the secrets to success in the ever-shifting digital landscape.
Building Production Ready Search Pipelines with Spark and MilvusZilliz
Spark is the widely used ETL tool for processing, indexing and ingesting data to serving stack for search. Milvus is the production-ready open-source vector database. In this talk we will show how to use Spark to process unstructured data to extract vector representations, and push the vectors to Milvus vector database for search serving.
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/temporal-event-neural-networks-a-more-efficient-alternative-to-the-transformer-a-presentation-from-brainchip/
Chris Jones, Director of Product Management at BrainChip , presents the “Temporal Event Neural Networks: A More Efficient Alternative to the Transformer” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
The expansion of AI services necessitates enhanced computational capabilities on edge devices. Temporal Event Neural Networks (TENNs), developed by BrainChip, represent a novel and highly efficient state-space network. TENNs demonstrate exceptional proficiency in handling multi-dimensional streaming data, facilitating advancements in object detection, action recognition, speech enhancement and language model/sequence generation. Through the utilization of polynomial-based continuous convolutions, TENNs streamline models, expedite training processes and significantly diminish memory requirements, achieving notable reductions of up to 50x in parameters and 5,000x in energy consumption compared to prevailing methodologies like transformers.
Integration with BrainChip’s Akida neuromorphic hardware IP further enhances TENNs’ capabilities, enabling the realization of highly capable, portable and passively cooled edge devices. This presentation delves into the technical innovations underlying TENNs, presents real-world benchmarks, and elucidates how this cutting-edge approach is positioned to revolutionize edge AI across diverse applications.
Generating privacy-protected synthetic data using Secludy and MilvusZilliz
During this demo, the founders of Secludy will demonstrate how their system utilizes Milvus to store and manipulate embeddings for generating privacy-protected synthetic data. Their approach not only maintains the confidentiality of the original data but also enhances the utility and scalability of LLMs under privacy constraints. Attendees, including machine learning engineers, data scientists, and data managers, will witness first-hand how Secludy's integration with Milvus empowers organizations to harness the power of LLMs securely and efficiently.
TrustArc Webinar - 2024 Global Privacy SurveyTrustArc
How does your privacy program stack up against your peers? What challenges are privacy teams tackling and prioritizing in 2024?
In the fifth annual Global Privacy Benchmarks Survey, we asked over 1,800 global privacy professionals and business executives to share their perspectives on the current state of privacy inside and outside of their organizations. This year’s report focused on emerging areas of importance for privacy and compliance professionals, including considerations and implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, building brand trust, and different approaches for achieving higher privacy competence scores.
See how organizational priorities and strategic approaches to data security and privacy are evolving around the globe.
This webinar will review:
- The top 10 privacy insights from the fifth annual Global Privacy Benchmarks Survey
- The top challenges for privacy leaders, practitioners, and organizations in 2024
- Key themes to consider in developing and maintaining your privacy program
1. Neoliberalism
is a political philosophy whose advocates support economic liberalizations, free
trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation, and enhancing the role of the
private sector in modern society
DEPENDENCY THEORY AND WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY
PART ONE: THE DEPENDENCY THEORIES
I.THE CLASSICAL DEPENDENCY THEORY
A.HISTORY
a.What lead to the emergence of this theory?
b.Who are the key figures/proponents of this theory?
B.THE DEPENDENCY CONCEPT
a.What is the theory all about?
b.What is the concept of development in this theory?
c.What are the elements of this theory and their relationship?
d.Case Study: Towards a New Economic Order and the Conquest of Mass Povertye.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of this theory?
PART TWO: THE WORLD SYSTEM THEORIES
I.HISTORY
II.THE WORLD SYSTEM CONCEPT
a.The Core
b.The Semi Periphery
c.The Periphery
d.The World System Structuree.
Critique in the World System Theory
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I.The Classical Dependency Theory
A.The History
The dependency theory came about during late 1950s and was only accepted by the Western
by1960s. Dependency theory was a response to the modernization theory. A theory stating that in order
for countries to develop, they should change their traditional ways by engaging themselves in
newtechnologies, focusing production by means of machine and not by labour of humans or animals.
Themodernization theory also states that countries who are still focusing in agricultural sector would
mean as abackward or a primitive country. Thus, dependency theory is a result of critiquing the said
modernizationperspective by Western.
The theory’s idea of development is based on e conomic measures.(Frank, 1969)
2. B.The Proponentsa.
Andre Gunder Frank Andre Gunder Frank was born in Berlin, Germany, 1929 and died last
2005. Heis one of the key figures under the Dependency Theory. Also, he is the first
dependencytheorist who wrote in English.
(Wallerstein, 2006)
In his writings,
(Frank, 1969)
he explained two (2) elements of the theory;
the Metropolitans and the Satellites.
Metropolitans are countries that are considered as the colonizers or developed countries and
the satellites on the other hand are t he coloniesand considered underdeveloped countries. He
argues that the reason why LDCs are getting poorer is because the exploitation it experiences
from the DCs such as extracting raw materials from the LDCs while the DCs manufacture,
deliver and sell the final product to LDCs with a price hitting the ceiling.In his famous writing
entitled as
“
The Development of Underdevelopment (1969),
he discussedthe following key points:
1. Dependency theory claims that the relation of imperialism and domination trapped
poor nations at the bottom of the global economy.
2. The role of capitalism in the economy among countries is divided into two effects:
It could lead to development but;
It could also lead to underdevelopment.
3. Developed countries may have been undeveloped before but never underdeveloped.
Inprevious theories, they assumed that the underdeveloped countries histories are
thesame with the developed countries. Thus, applying the same strategy which they
thought could lead to the advancement of the economy.
4. If we would look closely, most, if not all of the underdeveloped countries were colonies
which was never a chapter to any developed countries.
5. With that, we will see the relation of the colonizers to their colonies where colonies
[underdeveloped countries] are only seen as an “extension” of
the colonizers [developed countries].
3. 6.Underdeveloped countries could have been developed countries if only they are
properly integrated in the global economy.
b.Fernando Henrique CardosoFernando Henrique Cardoso was born in Rio De Janiero, Brazil
in June 18,1931. He is not only known for his political contribution but he is also seen as an
educator who aims to enrich his knowledge profusely.
(The Globalist, 2000)
For him, he made another classification of the dependency theory. As seen with Andre Gunder
Frank, it sees the division in both global level and national level. With that,he affirms that the
relationship between Metropolitan and Satellite can also be seen withinthe society. If developed
countries exploit least developing countries, then rich peoplewithin a country also exploit the
unfortunate class.The following are his main key points in relation to dependency theory:
PART TWO: THE WORLD SYSTEM THEORIES
I.HISTORY AND PROPONENT
a. Immanuel Wallerstein
Wallerstein, born September 28, 1930 in New York City and is known as
asociologist, scientist and a world system analyst. Wallerstein agreed with the concept
of thedependency theory though he added more elements and viewed the interaction of
the threeelements as a process towards development. As such, we may say that the
interaction among thethree elements is not exploitation; rather it is aiding one another to
uplift each
other’s
role.In his known writings entitled,
“ The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System:Concepts for Comparative
Analysis ” , 2003,
the following were his main points:
Wallerstein divided countries into three categories; core, semi periphery and
periphery.
These three elements are said to be interdependent to each other such that one
supports theother in attaining economic growth and underdevelopment.
The power and the integration of countries in international economy is changing.
Such changemay mean that a country may be powerful and be considered as a
core country by now andmay change over time. [same goes with the other
elements in the framework]
4. III. THE WORLD SYSTEM CONCEPT ACCORDING TO WALLERSTEIN, 2003a)
a. The Core
Defines the difference between developed countries and developing
countries,characterized e.g. by power or wealth. The core refers to developed
countries.Core countries are well equipped with machines, tools, a stable capital to
supporttheir economy. Often times, they are the exploiter of the Semi Peripheries
andPeripheries.
b.The Semi Peripherya.
Defines states that are located between core and periphery, they benefit from
theperiphery through unequal exchange relations. At the same time, the corebenefits
from the semi-periphery through unequal exchange relations. The SemiPeriphery may
act as a mediator of the Core and the Periphery. They have anample amount of labour
to do job, average capital to support their economy andmay have some of the advanced
tools to manufacture goods.
c)The Peripherya.
Periphery is a synonym for the dependent developing countries. Peripheries
arecountries that are exploited by Cores and Semi Peripheries. They have cheaplabour
and low skilled workers and has no or barely having technologicaladvancement to have
a stable economy.
d)The World System Structure
Fig. 2: The framework of the World System Theory according to Wallerstein.
5. e)Critique in the World System TheoryIn this theory, I would like to acknowledge the fact
that there is still development in the process of exploitation. But I do believe that in order
to further develop the peripheries; they should be able to maximize their network with
Semi Peripheries and Core Countries. One of my concerns in this theory is that it did
not even open the theory towards control of aid or trade among the three elements. I do
believe that the integration of the three elements, though changing should have a limit
for them to be able to discover their own strengths. The concept of development in this
theory is thru abusing the weakest. The World System Theory is still a power social
interaction in the world of international trade.
1. . Theory of Modernization
According to Alvin So, there are three main and historical elements which were favorable to the inception
of the modernization theory of development after the Second World War.
First, there was the rise of the United States as a superpower. While other Western nations, such
as Great Britain, France, and Germany, were weakened by World War II, the United States
emerged from the war strengthened, and became a world leader with the implementation of the
Marshall Plan to reconstruct war-torn Western Europe. (2)
Second, there was the spread of a united world communist movement. The Former Soviet Union
extended its influence not only to Eastern Europe, but also to China and Korea.
Third, there was the disintegration of European colonial empires in Asia, Africa and Latin
America, giving birth to many new nation-states in the Third World. These nascent nation-states
were in search of a model of development to promote their economy and to enhance their political
independence. (3)
According to the modernization theory, modern societies are more productive, children are better
educated, and the needy receive more welfare. According to Smelser’s analysis, modern societies have
the particular feature of social structural differentiation, that is to say a clear definition of functions and
political roles from national institutions. Smelser argues that although structural differentiation has
increased the functional capacity of modern organizations, it has also created the problem of integration,
and of coordinating the activities of the various new institutions. (4)
In a political sense, Coleman stresses three main features of modern societies:
a) Differentiation of political structure;
b) Secularization of political culture -with the ethos of equality-, which
c) Enhances the capacity of a society’s political system. (5)
The major assumptions of the modernization theory of development basically are: Modernization is a
phased process; for example Rostow has 5 phases according to his theory of economic development for
a particular society, and I will mention them later. Modernization is a homogenizing process, in this
sense, we can say that modernization produces tendencies toward convergence among societies, for
example, Levy (1967, p. 207) maintains that : “as time goes on, they and we will increasingly resemble
one another because the patterns of modernization are such that the more highly modernized societies
become, the more they resemble one another”.
6. Modernization is a progressive process which in the long run is not only inevitable but desirable.
According to Coleman, modernized political systems have a higher capacity to deal with the
function of national identity, legitimacy, penetration, participation, and distribution than traditional
political systems. Finally, modernization is a lengthy process. It is an evolutionary change, not a
revolutionary one. It will take generations or even centuries to complete, and its profound impact
will be felt only through time.
These assumptions are as follows:
a) Modernization is a systematic process. The attribute of modernity forms a consistent whole, thus
appearing in a cluster rather than in isolation;
b) Modernization is a transformative process; in order for a society to move into modernity its traditional
structures and values must be totally replaced by a set of modern values;
c) Modernization is an imminent process due to its systematic and transformative nature, which builds
change into the social system.
One of the principal applications of the modernization theory has been the economic field related to
public policy decisions. From this perspective, it is very well known that the economic theory of
modernization is based on the five stages of development from Rostow’s model. In summary, these five
stages are: traditional society, precondition for takeoff, the takeoff process, the drive to maturity, and high
mass consumption society. According to this exposition, Rostow has found a possible solution for the
promotion of Third World modernization. If the problem facing Third World countries resides in their lack
of productive investments, then the solution lies in the provision of aid to these countries in the form of
capital, technology, and expertise.
the modernization perspective is the analytical framework. Authors assume that Third World
countries are traditional and that Western countries are modern. In order to develop, those poor nations
need to adopt Western values.
Modernization theory, on the other hand, was popular in the 1950s, but was under heavy attack at the
end of the 60s. Criticisms of the theory include the following:
First, development is not necessarily unidirectional. This is an example of the ethnocentricity of Rostow’s
perspective.
Second, the modernization perspective only shows one possible model of development.
A second set of critiques of the modernization theory regards the need to eliminate traditional values.
A second aspect for criticism here is the fact that traditional and modern values are not necessarily
always mutually exclusive: China, for example, despite advances in economic development continues to
operate on traditional values and this appears to be the same situation in Japan.
The similarities between classical modernization studies and new modernization studies can be
observed in the constancy of the research focus on Third World development; the analysis at a national
level; the use of three main variables: internal factors, cultural values and social institutions; the key
concepts of tradition and modernity; and the policy implications of modernization in the sense that it is
considered to be generally beneficial to society as a whole.
7. 3. Theory of Dependency
The foundations of the theory of dependency emerged in the 1950s from the research of the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean -ECLAC-. One of the most representative authors was
Raul Prebisch. The principal points of the Prebisch model are that in order to create conditions of
development within a country, it is necessary:
a) To control the monetary exchange rate, placing more governmental emphasis on fiscal rather than
monetary policy;
b ) To promote a more effective governmental role in terms of national development;
c) To create a platform of investments, giving a preferential role to national capitals;
d) To allow the entrance of external capital following priorities already established in national plans for
development;
e) To promote a more effective internal demand in terms of domestic markets as a base to reinforce the
industrialization process in Latin America;
f) To generate a larger internal demand by increasing the wages and salaries of workers, which will in
turn positively affect aggregate demand in internal markets;
g) To develop a more effective coverage of social services from the government, especially to
impoverished sectors in order to create conditions for those sectors to become more competitive; and
h) To develop national strategies according to the model of import substitution, protecting national
production by establishing quotas and tariffs on external markets. (17)
The Prebisch and ECLAC’s proposal were the basis for dependency theory at the beginning of the
1950s. (18) However, there are also several authors, such as Falleto and Dos Santos who argue that the
ECLAC’s development proposals failed, which only then lead to the establishment of the dependency
model. This more elaborated theoretical model was published at the end of the 1950s and the mid
1960s. Among the main authors of dependency theory we have: Andre Gunder Frank, Raul Prebisch,
Theotonio Dos Santos, Enrique Cardozo, Edelberto Torres-Rivas, and Samir Amin. (19)
The theory of dependency combines elements from a neo-marxist perspective with Keynes’ economic
theory - the liberal economic ideas which emerged in the United States and Europe as a response to the
depression years of the 1920s-. From the Keynes’ economic approach, the theory of dependency
embodies four main points: a) To develop an important internal effective demand in terms of domestic
markets; b) To recognize that the industrial sector is crucial to achieving better levels of national
development, especially due to the fact that this sector, in comparison with the agricultural sector, can
contribute more value-added to products; c) To increase worker’s income as a means of generating
more aggregate demand in national market conditions; d) To promote a more effective government role
in order to reinforce national development conditions and to increase national standards of living. (20)
According to Foster-Carter (1973), there are three main differences between the classic orthodox Marxist
movement and the neo-marxist positions, the latter providing a basis for the dependency theory. First,
the classical approach focuses on the role of extended monopolies at the global level, and the neomarxist on providing a vision from peripheral conditions. Second, the classical movement foresaw the
need for a bourgeois revolution at the introduction of national transformation processes; from the neomarxist position and based on current conditions of Third World countries, it is imperative “to jump” to a
socialist revolution, mainly because it is perceived that national bourgeoisies identify more strongly with
elite positions rather than with nationalistic ones. Third, the classical Marxist approach perceived the
industrial proletariat as having the strength and vanguard for social revolution; the neo-marxist approach
emphasized that the revolutionary class must be conformed by peasants in order to carry out an armed
revolutionary conflict. (21)
Although the modernization school and the dependency school conflict in many areas, they also have
certain similarities, the most important being: a) A research focus on Third World development
circumstances; b) A methodology which has a high-level of abstraction and is focused on the
8. development process, using nations-state as a unit of analysis; c) The use of polar theoretical structural
visions; in one case the structure is tradition versus modernity -modernization-, in the other it is core
versus periphery -dependency-. (22)
The major hypotheses with regard to development in Third World countries according to the dependency
school are the following: First, in contrast to the development of the core nations which is self-contained,
the development of nations in the Third World necessitates subordination to the core. Examples of this
situation can be seen in Latin America, especially in those countries with a high degree of
industrialization, such as Sao Paulo, Brazil which Andre G. Frank uses as a case study.
Second, the peripheral nations experience their greatest economic development when their ties to the
core are weakest. An example of this circumstance is the industrialization process that took root in Latin
America during the 1930s, when the core nations were focusing on solving the problems that resulted
from the Great Depression, and the Western powers were involved in the Second World War. (23)
A third hypothesis indicates that when the core recovers from its crisis and reestablishes trade and
investments ties, it fully incorporates the peripheral nations once again into the system, and the growth of
industrialization in these regions is stifled. Frank in particular indicates that when core countries
recuperate from war or other crises which have directed their attention away from the periphery, this
negatively affects the balance of payments, inflation and political stability in Third World countries. Lastly,
the fourth aspect refers to the fact that regions that are highly underdeveloped and still operate on a
traditional, feudal system are those that in the past had the closest ties to core. (24)
However, according to Theotonio Dos Santos, the basis of dependency in underdeveloped nations is
derived from industrial technological production, rather than from financial ties to monopolies from the
core nations. In addition to Dos Santos, other classical authors in the dependency school are: Baran,
who has studied conditions in India in the late 1950s; and Landsberg, who has studied the processes of
industrial production in the core countries in 1987. (25)
The principal critics of the dependency theory have focused on the fact that this school does not provide
exhaustive empirical evidence to support its conclusions. Furthermore, this theoretical position uses
highly abstract levels of analysis. Another point of critique is that the dependency movement considers
ties with transnational corporations as being only detrimental to countries, when actually these links can
be used as a means of transference of technology. In this sense, it is important to remember that the
United States was also a colony, and this country had the capacity to break the vicious cycle of
underdevelopment. (26)
The new studies of dependency theory are due to the work of Enrique Cardozo (1979), and Falleto
(1980). These authors take into account the relations that exist in a country in terms of its systemic external-, and its sub-systemic -internal- level, and how these relationships can be transformed into
positive elements for the development of peripheral nations. O’Donell studied the case of relative
autonomy between economic and political elements within conditions of Third World countries, especially
those in South East Asia. Evans studied the comparative advantage that Brazil has with its neighbors in
South America, and Gold studied the dependency elements which were operating at the beginning of the
process by which Taiwan constituted itself in a country. (27)
A predominant point of the new dependency studies is that while the orthodox dependency position does
not accept the relative autonomy of government from the powerful elites, the new authors of this school
perceive a margin of movement of national governments in terms of pursuing their own agenda. These
arguments originated mainly from the writings of Nikos Poulantzas. For this political scientist,
governments in Third World countries have a certain amount of autonomy from the real axis of power
within the nation. (28)
9. One of the main current critiques of the theory of dependency and the theory of modernization is that
they both continue to base their assumptions and results on the nation-state. This is an important point
that allows us to separate these aforementioned schools from the theoretical perspective of worldsystems or globalization theory. These last movements have focused their attention mostly on the
international connections among countries, especially those related to trade, the international financial
system, world technology and military cooperation.
4. Theory of World Systems
A central element from which the theory of world-systems emerged was the different form that capitalism
was taking around the world, especially since the decade of the 1960s. Starting in this decade, Third
World countries had new conditions in which to attempt to elevate their standards of living and improve
social conditions. These new conditions were related to the fact that the international financial and trade
systems began to have a more flexible character, in which national government actions were having less
and less influence. Basically these new international economic circumstances made it possible for a
group of radical researchers led by Immanuel Wallerstein to conclude that there were new activities in the
capitalist world-economy which could not be explained within the confines of the dependency
perspective. These new features were characterized mainly by the following aspects:
a) East Asia (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore) continued to experience a
remarkable rate of economic growth. It became more and more difficult to portray this East Asian
economic miracle as “manufacturing imperialism”;
b) There was a widespread crisis among the socialist states which included the Sino-Soviet split, the
failure of the Cultural Revolution, economic stagnation in the socialist states, and the gradual opening of
the socialist states to capitalist investment. This crisis signaled the decline of revolutionary Marxism;
c) There was a crisis in North American capitalism which included the Vietnam War, the Watergate
crisis, the oil embargo of 1975, the combination of stagnation and inflation in the late 1970s, as well as
the rising sentiment of protectionism, the unprecedented governmental deficit, and the widening of the
trade gap in the 1980s, all signaling the demise of American hegemony in the capitalist world-economy.
(29)
These elements created the conditions for the emergence of the world-systems theory. This school had
its genesis at the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economics, Historical Systems, and Civilization
at the State University of New York at Binghamton. Having originated in sociology, the world-systems
school has now extended its impact to anthropology, history , political science, and urban planning. I.
Wallerstein is considered one of the most important thinkers in this theoretical field. At the beginning of
his career he studied the development problems that the recently independent African nations needed to
face taking into account the new capitalist economic and political conditions of the world in the 1960s.
(30)
Wallerstein and his followers recognized that there are worldwide conditions that operate as determinant
forces especially for small and underdeveloped nations, and that the nation-state level of analysis is no
longer the only useful category for studying development conditions, particularly in Third World countries.
Those factors which had the greatest impact on the internal development of small countries were the new
global systems of communications, the new world trade mechanisms, the international financial system,
and the transference of knowledge and military links. These factors have created their own dynamic at
the international level, and at the same time, these elements are interacting with the internal aspects of
each country. (31)
The main assumptions of the world-systems theory establish that: a) There is a strong link between
social sciences - especially among sociology, economics and political disciplines. This school recognizes
that more attention is usually given to the individual development of each one of these disciplines rather
10. than to the interaction among them and how these interactions affect in real terms the national conditions
of a given society; b) Instead of addressing the analysis of each of the variables, it is necessary to study
the reality of social systems; c) It is necessary to recognize the new character of the capitalist system.
For example, the approach followed by the classical political economy perspective is based on the
conditions of the capitalist system during the industrial revolution in the United Kingdom. There was
concrete evidence to support open competition, more productive patterns in the industrial sector, and
wide groups of population which provided labor for the new established factories. (32)
Today this is not the situation especially when we consider the important economic role of transnational
corporations, the international political climate, the interdependence that affects the governments of poor
nations, and the role of speculative investments. For the world-systems school, present economic
conditions are not fully explainable within traditional development theories. This criticism of the capitalist
system has been present since its birth. Under current international conditions, there are specific
features of monopoly capital, its means of transaction, and its concrete operations worldwide which have
affected international relations among nations to a considerable degree.
The principal differences between the world-systems approach and the dependency studies are: a) The
unit of analysis in the dependency theory is the nation-state level, for the world-system it is the world
itself; b) Concerning methodology, the dependency school posits that the structural-historical model is
that of the boom and bust of nation states, the world systems approach maintains the historical dynamics
of world-systems in its cyclical rhythms and secular trends; c) The theoretical structure for the
dependency theory is bimodal, consisting of the core and the periphery; according to the world systems
theory the structure is trimodal and is comprised of the core, the semiperiphery and the periphery; d) In
terms of the direction of development, the dependency school believes that the process is generally
harmful; however, in a world systems scenario, there is the possibility for upward and downward mobility
in the world economy; e) The research focus of dependency theorists concentrates on the periphery;
while world systems theorists focus on the periphery as well as on the core, the semiperiphery and the
periphery. (33)
Given the aforementioned characteristics, the world-systems theory indicates that the main unit of
analysis is the social system, which can be studied at the internal level of a country, and also from the
external environment of a particular nation. In this last case the social system affects several nations and
usually also an entire region.
The world systems most frequently studied in this theoretical perspective are systems concerning the
research, application and transference of productive and basic technology; the financial mechanisms, and
world trade operations. In terms of financial resources, this development position distinguishes between
productive and speculative investments. Productive investments are financial resources which reinforce
the manufacturing production in a particular nation, while speculative investments normally entail fast
profits in the stock market, they do not provide a country with a sustainable basis for long term economic
growth, and therefore are more volatile.
When the world-systems theory considers trade mechanisms, it distinguishes between the direct
transactions, which are those who have a greater, more significant and immediate effect on a country;
and those operations which are indirect trade transactions, such as future trade stipulations, and the
speculations on transportation costs, combustibles prices, and forecasts on agricultural crops, when they
depend on weather conditions to obtain their productivity and yield. (34)
5. Theory of Globalization
The theory of globalization emerges from the global mechanisms of greater integration with particular
emphasis on the sphere of economic transactions. In this sense, this perspective is similar to the worldsystems approach. However, one of the most important characteristics of the globalization position is its
11. focus and emphasis on cultural aspects and their communication worldwide. Rather than the economic,
financial and political ties, globalization scholars argue that the main modern elements for development
interpretation are the cultural links among nations. In this cultural communication, one of the most
important factors is the increasing flexibility of technology to connect people around the world. (35)
The main aspects of the theory of globalization can be delineated as follows:
a) To recognize that global communications systems are gaining an increasing importance every day,
and through this process all nations are interacting much more frequently and easily, not only at the
governmental level, but also within the citizenry;
b) Even though the main communications systems are operating among the more developed nations,
these mechanisms are also spreading in their use to less developed nations. This fact will increase the
possibility that marginal groups in poor nations can communicate and interact within a global context
using the new technology;
c) The modern communications system implies structural and important modifications in the social,
economic and cultural patterns of nations. In terms of the economic activities the new technological
advances in communications are becoming more accessible to local and small business. This situation is
creating a completely new environment for carrying out economic transactions, utilizing productive
resources, equipment, trading products, and taking advantage of the “virtual monetary mechanisms”.
From a cultural perspective, the new communication products are unifying patterns of communications
around the world, at least in terms of economic transactions under the current conditions;
d) The concept of minorities within particular nations is being affected by these new patterns of
communications. Even though these minorities are not completely integrated into the new world systems
of communications, the powerful business and political elites in each country are a part of this interaction
around the world Ultimately, the business and political elite continue to be the decision makers in
developing nations;
e) Cultural elements will dictate the forms of economic and social structure in each country. These
social conditions are a result of the dominant cultural factors within the conditions of each nation. (36)
The main assumptions which can be extracted from the theory of globalization can be summarized in
three principal points. First, cultural factors are the determinant aspect in every society. Second, it is not
important, under current world conditions to use the nation-state as the unit of analysis, since global
communications and international ties are making this category less useful. Third, with more
standardization in technological advances, more and more social sectors will be able to connect
themselves with other groups around the world. This situation will involve the dominant and nondominant groups from each nation.
The theory of globalization coincides with several elements from the theory of modernization. One
aspect is that both theories consider that the main direction of development should be that which was
undertaken by the United States and Europe. These schools sustain that the main patterns of
communication and the tools to achieve better standards of living originated in those more developed
areas. On this point it is important to underline the difference between the modernization perspective and
the globalization approach. The former follows a more normative position -stating how the development
issue should be solved-, the latter reinforces its character as a “positive” perspective, rather than a
normative claim. (37)
Another point in which the modernization and the globalization theories coincide is in terms of their
ethnocentric point of view. Both positions stress the fact that the path toward development is generated
and must be followed in terms of the US and European models. Globalization scholars argue that this
circumstance is a fact in terms of the influence derived from the communications web and the cultural
spread of values from more developed countries.
Globalization theories emphasize cultural factors as the main determinants which affect the economic,
social and political conditions of nations, which is similar to the “comprehensive social school” of Max
Weber’s theories. From this perspective, the systems of values, believes, and the pattern of identity of
12. dominant -or hegemony- and the alternative -or subordinate- groups within a society are the most
important elements to explain national characteristics in economic and social terms. (38) It is obvious that
for the globalization position this statement from 1920s Weberian theory must apply to current world
conditions especially in terms of the diffusion and transference of cultural values through communication
systems, and they are increasingly affecting many social groups in all nations.
Based on the aforementioned elements it is clear that the globalization and world-systems theories take
a global perspective in determining the unit of analysis, rather than focusing strictly on the nation-state as
was the case in the modernization and dependency schools. The contrasting point between worldsystems theory and globalization, is that the first contains certain neo-marxist elements, while the second
bases its theoretical foundations on the structural and functionalist sociological movement. Therefore the
globalization approach tends more toward a gradual transition rather than a violent or revolutionary
transformation. For the globalists authors, the gradual changes in societies become a reality when
different social groups adapt themselves to current innovations, particularly in the areas of cultural
communication. (39)
The globalization and world-systems theories take into account the most recent economic changes in
world structure and relations that have occurred in the last couple of decades, for example: a) In March
1973, the governments of the more developed nations, began to operate more flexible mechanisms in
terms of exchange rate control. This situation allowed for a faster movement of capital among the world’s
financial centers, international banks, and stock markets; b) Since 1976 trade transactions base their
speculations on the future value of the products, which is reinforced through the more flexible use of
modern technology in information, computers, and in communication systems; c) The computer
revolution of the eighties made it possible to carry out faster calculations and transactions regarding
exchange rates values and investments, which was reinforced by the general use of the fax machine; d)
During the nineties the main challenge is from the Internet which allows the achievement of more rapid
and expansive communication. The Internet is increasingly creating the conditions to reinvigorate the
character of the “virtual economy” in several specific markets.
Under the current conditions, the main aspects that are being studied from the globalization perspective
are: a) New concepts, definitions and empirical evidence for hypotheses concerning cultural variables
and their change at the national, regional and global level; b) Specific ways to adapt the principles of
“comprehensive sociology” to the current “global village” atmosphere; c) Interactions among the different
levels of power from nation to nation, and from particular social systems which are operating around the
world; d) How new patterns of communications are affecting the minorities within each society; e) The
concept of autonomy of state in the face of increasingly flexible communication tools and international
economic ties, which are rendering obsolete the previous unilateral effectiveness of national economic
decisions; and f) How regionalism and multilateralism agreements are affecting global economic and
social integration.