World Systems Theory

Definition of World Systems Theory

The Canada social science dictionary [1] provides the following meaning of World Systems Theory: Derived from the work of Karl Marx and made into a developed set of ideas by Immanuel Wallerstein. He shows that capitalism is not just an economic system bounded by national borders highlighting class inequality. Rather, capitalism must also be seen as involving relationships among nations and these relationships too are based on inequality. Those nations which developed capitalistic economies early then went on to dominate other nations through colonization or simply through linking the economies of the nations in ways that favored the more dominant nation and placed the others into a condition of dependency on the dominant nation. This state of dependency tended to hamper the development of the other economies. See: DEPENDENT DEVELOPMENT /METROPOLIS-HINTERLAND THEORY in this legal dictionary and in the world encyclopedia of law.

World Systems Theory: Resources

Notes and References

• Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2016). (Concept of) World Systems Theory. Online dictionary of the social sciences. Open University of Canada