Chapter 7. World-System Theory

Steve Hobden and Richard Wyn Jones

• Introduction

• The Origins of World-System Theory

• Wallerstein and World-System Theory

• The Modern World-System in Space and Time

• Politics in the Modern World-System: The Sources of Stability

• Crisis in the Modern World-System

• World-System Theory and Globalization

Reader's guide

This chapter will introduce, outline, and assess the approach to the study of world pol­itics known as world-system theory. This approach has its origins in Marxist thought and argues that world politics can only be correctly understood when viewed in the context of the structure of global capitalism. The chapter stresses that for world-system theorists, the features pointed to by proponents of the globalization thesis are hardly novel, indeed, they are merely the modern manifestations of centuries-old tendencies within the world-system.

Introduction

Compared to realism and pluralism, world-system theory presents a rather unfamiliar view of international relations. Whilst the former portray world politics in ways which resonate with those pre­sented in the foreign news pages of our newspapers and magazines, world-system theory aims to expose a deeper, underlying—indeed hidden— truth. This is that the familiar events of world politics—wars, treaties, international aid operations, etc.—all occur within a structure which shapes, determines, and defines those events. That structure is that of a world-system organized according to the logic of global capitalism. Thus . any attempt to understand world politics must be based on a broader understanding of the processes which operate within the world-system in addition to presenting a rather unfamiliar view of world politics, world-system theory is also discomforting, for it argues that the effect of the structure of the world system is to ensure that the powerful and wealthy continue to prosper at the expense of the powerless and the poor.

We are all aware that there is gross inequality in the world. Statistics concerning the human costs of poverty are truly numbing in their awfulness (see Box 7.1). Approximately a third of the world's pop­ulation use up the vast bulk of the world's resources with the rest having to make-do as best they can. Indeed, according to the 1996 United Nations Human Development Report, the total wealth of the world's 358 billionaires is equal to the com­bined incomes of the poorest 45 per cent of the world's population.

World-system theorists argue that the relative prosperity of the few is dependent on the destitution of the many. To state the case emotively: their claim is that the majority in the so-called 'Third World' must suffer so that we in the 'West' can continue to enjoy our privileged existence. The structure of a the world-system organized according to the logic of if global capitalism is such that the 'good life' of the I; few is dependent on the misery of the many. Here world-system theorists are reiterating an argument made by Karl Marx who claimed that:

Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the / same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality at the opposite pole.

Box 7.1. Indicators of World Inequality

• One-fifth of the world's 5.6 billion population are living in extreme poverty. • One-third of the world's children are undernour­ished. Half the world's population lacks regular access to the most essential drugs. • 12.2 million children under five die every year, 95% from poverty-related illness. 130 million children—80% of them girls—are denied the chance to go to school. In 70 countries average incomes are less than they were in 1980, and in 43 less than in 1970. Per-capita water supply in developing countries has dropped by two-thirds since 1970. In 1960 the richest 20% of the world's population were 30 times better off than the poorest 20%. By 1996 this figure had increased to 61 times wealth­ier. • The wealth of the world's 358 billionaires exceeds the combined incomes of countries with nearly half the world's population. • World military spending is $US 778 billion each year.

Sources: World Health Organization, United Nations, World Bank

The fact that world-system theorists echo the ideas of Marx should come as no surprise given that Marx, and Marxism more generally, have been major influences on the development of world-sys­tem theory. It is to this that we now turn in order to trace the origins of world-system theory.