1. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. Mirror for Humanity Conrad Phillip Kottak Fifth Edition Chapter 11 The Modern World System

2. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. Overview Emergence of the modern world system Industrial Revolution Stratification Modern world system today

3. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Modern world system –Truly isolated societies do not exist today (and probably have never existed) –Modern world system – a world in which nations are economically and politically interdependent –World capitalist economy – shapes the world system and the relations between countries within that system

4. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Emergence of the world system –European exploration in the 15th century: Permanently linked the Old and New Worlds Paved the way for major exchanges of people, resources, ideas, and diseases –16th and 17th centuries – development of colonial plantation economies based on single cash crops (monocrop production) to satisfy increased European demand for sugar and cotton –Emergence of colonial plantation economies fueled the transatlantic slave trade

5. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Emergence of the world system –Dominance of international trade led to the capitalist world economy – single world system committed to production for sale or exchange, with the object of maximizing profits rather than supplying domestic needs Capital – wealth or resources invested in business, with the intent of producing a profit

6. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Emergence of the world system –World-system theory – argues that an identifiable social system, based on wealth and power differentials, extends beyond individual states and nations –According to Wallerstein, the nations within the world system occupy three different positions of economic and political power: Core Periphery Semiperiphery

7. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Emergence of the world system –Core: Strongest, most powerful nations Monopolize world finance Sophisticated technologies and mechanized production Manufacture products that flow mainly to other core nations (and, to a lesser extent, the periphery and semiperiphery)

8. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Emergence of the world system –Semiperiphery: Industrialized nations that export industrial goods and commodities Lack the power and economic dominance of core nations –Periphery: Nations with economies that are less mechanized than those in the semiperiphery Produce raw materials, agricultural commodities, and human labor for export to the core and semiperiphery

9. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Emergence of the world system –Exploitative relationship between core and periphery Trade and other economic relations disproportionately benefit capitalists in the core Today, immigrants from noncore nations provide cheap labor for agriculture in core countries (e.g., Mexicans in the United States, Turks in Germany) Increasingly, companies in core nations are “outsourcing” jobs to take advantage of cheap labor in noncore countries

10. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Industrial Revolution –Historical transformation (in Europe, after 1750) of “traditional” into “modern” societies through industrialization of the economy –European industrialization developed from, and eventually replaced, the domestic system of manufacture –Manufacturing moved into factories, where machinery was used to produce cheap staple goods (e.g., cotton products, iron, pottery) on a large scale –Industrialization fueled urban growth

11. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Industrial Revolution –The Industrial Revolution began in England rather than in France France – able to increase production by simply augmenting (rather than transforming) its domestic manufacturing system England – with a smaller population, had to industrialize in order to meet mounting demand for staples Factors favoring English industrialization: –Natural resources –Location at the crossroads of international trade –Demand for staples from English settler families –Protestant beliefs and values of the emerging English middle class

12. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Stratification –Prosperity resulting from industrialization was uneven Factory owners began recruiting labor in places where living standards were low and labor (including women and children) was cheap Social ills accompanying industrialization: –Pollution –Crowded and unsanitary housing –Insufficient water and sewage disposal –Disease –Rising death rates

13. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Stratification –Marx – viewed socioeconomic stratification as a sharp, simple division between two opposed classes: Bourgeoisie –Capitalists who owned the means of production (e.g., factories, mines, large farms) –Dominated the means of communication, schools, and other key institutions Proletariat –Propertyless working class –Had to sell their labor to survive

14. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Stratification –Marx: Nation-state as an instrument of oppression Religion as a method of diverting and controlling the masses Class consciousness (recognition of collective interests and personal identification with one’s economic group) would enable workers to develop organizations to protect their interests and increase their share of industrial profits –19th century: trade unions and socialist parties emerged to fight for better wages and working conditions –Growth of the middle class (skilled and professional workers) has helped to reduce the polarization between capitalist and working classes

15. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Stratification –Weber: Defined three dimensions of social stratification (in contrast to Marx’s strictly economic-based view of stratification): –Wealth (economic status) –Power (political status) –Prestige (social status) Wealth, power, and prestige tend to be correlated Social identities based on ethnicity, religion, race, or nationality may take priority over class (social identity based on economic status)

16. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Stratification –Current world stratification system is characterized by a substantial contrast between capitalists and workers in the core nations and workers on the periphery Added surplus from the periphery allows core capitalists to maintain their profits while satisfying the demands of their workers Wages and living standards are much lower in the periphery

17. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Stratification –Open and closed class systems Caste systems – closed, hereditary systems of stratification that are often dictated by religion Slavery –Most inhumane, coercive, and degrading form of legal stratification –People who are conquered or stolen from their homelands become someone’s property

18. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System Stratification –Open and closed class systems Open class system: –Statuses based on individual achievement and personal merit are more important than ascribed statuses –Facilitates vertical mobility – upward or downward change in a person's social status –More commonly found in core industrial nations than in nonindustrial states and contemporary peripheral and semiperipheral nations

19. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System The world system today –World-system theory focuses on: Existence of a global culture Historical contacts, linkages, and power differentials between local people and international forces –Major forces influencing cultural interaction during the past 500 years: Commercial expansion Industrial capitalism Differential power of colonial and core nations

20. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System The world system today –Imperialism: a policy of extending the rule of a nation or empire over foreign nations and of taking and holding foreign colonies –Colonialism: political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended period of time –20th century: mass production gave rise to a culture of consumption, which in turn has led to the rapid depletion of fossil fuel energy

21. © 2007 McGraw-Hil Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 11 The Modern World System The world system today –Industrial degradation Industrialization in Latin America, Africa, the Pacific, and Asia has led to the destruction of indigenous economies, ecologies, and populations Genocide –Physical destruction of ethnic groups by murder, warfare, and introduced diseases –Has occurred on a grand scale as industrial states have conquered, annexed, and “developed” nonstates Many native groups (indigenous peoples) have become ethnic minorities within nation-states