The Modern World

SOC 370: Social ChangeDr. Kimberly Martin

Global Modern Society

The modern world system is a capitalist world system, which has developed along two lines:

1. a system of political/economic relations between societies (nation-states).

2. a system of relations within each

society - modern (capitalist) social institutions.

Expansion and Deepening

There are two long-term dynamic processes

in the world economy.

1. The world economy has continually expanded over the last 500 years and now is nearly 100% global. (mostly by force – coercion – “opening up markets” and “free trade”)

2. The world economy has continually “deepened” over the last 500 years, extending the main forms of capitalist culture into institutions. (This is an increasingly global process.)

Euphemism 1“Opening Up Markets “

In 1977 Nestle Corporation began advertising breast milk substitutes (infant formula) in Africa and other peripheral regions as superior to breast milk. Mothers in these regions could not afford formula, and had no clean water to mix with the formula powder but used it anyway. The result was that millions of babies died. In 1984, boycotters forced Nestlé to change its practices.

Euphemism 2“Free Trade”NAFTA (The North American Free

Trade Agreement) removed all tariffs for the movement of goods across U.S./Mexican border, including corn over the past 14 years. The U.S. has dumped millions of tons of subsidized corn each year into the Mexican economy driving down the price of corn so small farmers could no longer make a living.

Deepening Mechanisms

Deepening occurs through a. Commodification – making things that

have never been sold into productsb. Mechanization – the use of machines

in productionc. Contract model – the application of formal

(legal) contracts to human relationshipsd. Proletarianization – the move from forced labor to wage labore. Polarization – widening gap between core and

peripheral states

Forms of Imperialism

Neocolonialism vs Colonialism

Extensive economic penetrationWithout formal With formal political rule political rule

Corporations ColoniesFree Trade, etc

“Hegemony”• The everyday practices and shared beliefs

of a dominant class/country are absorbed by those who are dominated, causing them to cooperate in their own domination.

• Nation-state hegemony occurs when superiority over all other nations in production, commerce and finance and the hegemon is able to compete domestically in all other societies as well as internationally.

• “Once Were Warriors”

Cycles in World Systems

Two cyclical dynamics -- Kondratieff Waves and Hegemony cycles.

Kondratieff Waves - 50 year cycles involving a boom cycle that crests after about 25 years, followed by a bust cycle that bottoms out after about 25 years, then a boom cycle starts again

1930 – 1955 – 1980 – 2005 – 2030 ?

Hegemony cycles - three “hegemons” (sort of a modern version of empires) have risen and fallen over the last 400 years –

Holland in the 1600’s, England in the 1800’s, U.S. in the 1900’s.

The Interstate System

Is the group of nation-states that make up the world economy.

Dominated by CORE nations that work

together while jointly trying to extend capitalism ("open markets“ “democracy”) while competing for dominance.

Over the last 500 years, boom-and-bust

cycles, wars, and hegemons have come and gone while the interstate system has continuously expanded its scope.

World Systems DevelopmentFOUR STAGES IN DEVELOPMENT OF WORLD SYSTEMS

1. 1450 -1640 The World System began to emerge from the collapse of feudalism (England & Japan)

- Spain and Portugal were first COREs followed by Netherlands in about 1625 - Latin America and Eastern Europe were peripheral - Rest of the world was external2. 1640 – 1760 Consolidation of world systems - Competition between Netherlands and French/English challenge of their

hegemony - North America, Caribbean incorporated into world system 3. 1760 – 1917 (WWI) Global expansion of the WSYS - Colonization - British rise to hegemonic status - Incorporation of the rest of the world into world system - Conflict between CORE countries causes WWI).4. 1917 to Present - Global deepening of the WSYS - Continuing conflict between CORE countries causes WWII. - The U.S. becomes the hegemonic CORE nation - Massive mechanization of capitalist production - Intensification and expansion of capitalist production semi & peripheral

states - The rise of the global corporation as the major world economic actor - Socialist Soviet Union and Eastern Europe leave and return to capitalism

The Rise & Fall of Hegemony

1. What makes hegemons rise?- Geographic location (access to water transport)- Superior technology that allows cheap production- Diversified and highly efficient agriculture- Acquisition of cheap raw materials and staple foods from

peripheral countries- Superior organizational strategies in economics and politics

2. What makes hegemons fall?- Rivals undercut current hegemon- Hegemony is VERY costly (technology and military)- Productive efficiency always declines over time through age and

use of capital (machinery, etc.) that must be replaced = high cost - Organizational superiority is surpassed by other states- The costs of the overall standard of living is too expensive to be maintained (high wages, etc)

The World Systems Gap

Development vs Underdevelopment in the WSYS

Market forces resulting in capitalist deepening is spreading the Core culture of consumption

Economic underdevelopment continues to make the means unavailable to Semi-Peripheral and Peripheral countries.

The rich countries are getting richer and aspirations are increasing rapidly in the poorest countries. They can see through media what the possibilities are but can’t get the means to acquire them.

Peripheral to Core GDP

Peripheral to CORE GDP ratios – richest to poorest countries (Sanderson p. 203)

1750 2 to 11860 5 to 11913 10 to 11950 18 to 11977 29 to 12002 40+ to 1 (CIA World Factbook, 2002)

Modernization Theory

• Originated inside the CORE• “One path” from traditional to modern – all

countries will follow sooner or later• Focuses on non-material culture – ignores

material/economic (an anti-Marxist theory), for example the Protestant ethic vs Confusianism in Japan

• Their deficiencies, they need to change customs, attitudes, etc.

• Assumes that the actions of rich countries can and will help them change

• Reality – this is a “blaming the victim” approach

American MarxismAmerican Marxist Theories (1970’s)

Believed that capitalistic imperialism would eventually lead to raised standard of living in semi-peripheral and peripheral countries

Post WW2 Core reconstruction shared some wealth downward for a while

Also, decline of postwar US hegemony in the 1970s was encouraging

If these trends had continued these theories might have been right but re-asserting of market forces (globalization) led to return to old trends

Dependency TheoryMarxist-based theory hypothesizes that

individual countries develop or not based on relative status with relation to other countries

Specific dominance/exploitation by dominant societies creates and maintains under-development in “trading partners”

Direct exploitation + elite complicity (“puppet governments”)

“Structural distortion” – e.g., one-crop economies

“Dependent development” – e.g. partial uneven development like Mexico

Kinds of Dependency

• Strong Dependency– Economic development is impossible

while dependent– Core capitalism is always detrimental

to underdeveloped countries/societies

• Weak/Soft Dependency– A certain type and degree of

economic development is possible while dependent

World Systems TheoryDeveloped from Dependency Theory:

THE WORLD SYSTEM AS A WHOLE DEVELOPS rather than individual countries.

THE WORLD ECONOMY consists of three basic “zones” - the core, semi-periphery, & periphery.

CORE (“developed”) nations are industrialized, modernized, prosperous, and dominant. (US/Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia)

SEMI-PERIPHERY (“developing”) nations are moving toward the core by industrializing, modernizing, etc. (Mexico, S America, etc.) PERIPHERY (“under-developed”) nations are areas exploited for natural resources and cheap labor. (India, Asia. Africa, etc.)

World Systems Theory

There have also been areas of the world that

were outside the world economy - these are called “external arenas.”

China (still external) Soviet blocVarious parts of Asia and Africa

But now virtually the whole world in involved in the world system

Core/Semi/Peripheral Relationships

In the world economy, the CORE nations intensely exploit both the S-P and P

nations while the S-P nations exploit the P nations to a lesser extent.

There are intense rivalries among the CORE nations (this is where most major wars have come from – World War I, World War II, etc),

Mobility in the system is very limited (Semi-Peripheral to CORE, Peripheral to

Semi-Peripheral, etc.).

World Systems Theory

Position in WSYS determined early, few opportunities for change

Several different strategies when opportunities do arise

E.g. Oil production Specific markets

(India and technology), etc.

Evaluating TheoriesModernization theory is still the dominant assumption in

most of the Core countries, but nowhere else(We’re the good guys and try to help, their problems are their own fault)

The balance of historical factors and dependency in causing under-development is still being debated and is still inconclusive (to what extent is it structural, to what extent specific?)

The basic issue is short term benefit vs. long term dependency from Core investment

E.g. Building factories makes jobs in the short term, but strips or pollutes the environment in the long term and drains resources and labor for exports

Sanderson’s Choice“Soft Dependency Theory”

The World System is capitalist (market driven) and has developed “unevenly” –

Once positioned in the system it is hard for a country to “break out” but there are occasional opportunities for some countries to partially break out

Some development continues in most countries but it continues to be uneven and the poor countries will never catch up – resources stress reinforces this (global resources cannot support broad development)

So the poor countries are structurally (historically) disadvantaged and dependency and global ecology reinforces the disadvantages

Where Are We Today?

Core countries are finding it hard to sustain their economy due to exhausted resources, pollution and wars

Semi-Peripheral countries are struggling with issues of dependency, the gap between rich and poor gap, and a growing socialist push for “democracy” that will shrink the gap

Peripheral countries face a growing disaster with no visible way out

Study GuideExpansion The interstate system Deepening The world system gapOpening up markets Modernization theoryFree Trade American MarxismCommodification Strong dependence theoryMechanization Weak/soft dependence theoryContract model World systems theoryProletarianization CorePolarization Semi-peripheryNeocolonialism PeripheryColonialism Structural distortionHegemonyKondratieff WavesHegemony Cycles