World Systems Theory & Global Capitalism

• Course aims to introduce students to the contemporary world by examining the multifaceted phenomenon of globalization.
• Using social sciences, transformation of the world resulted in increasing awareness of the interconnectedness of people and places.
• To inculcate a sense of global citizenship and global ethical responsibility.
• Globalization includes watching a foreign movie.
• Globalization also includes buying an imported product.
• Marrying a foreigner is globalization.
• Eating another country's cuisine is considered globalization.
• Activities related to globalization include speaking a foreign language and using Facebook
• Patronizing Starbucks relates to globalization
• Watching a teleserye while in a foreign country indicates globalization
• Traveling to another country and other social media are activities of globalization.
• Mutual benefit, integration, world social relations, and interaction are all activities that fall under globalization
• Globalization involves relationships and multiplication of existing connections
• Globalization is the unification of social community and linkages around the world.
• Accelerated social expansion indicates globalization
• Globalization is the integration of international economies, politics, and culture.
• Globalization matters because humanity may be entering a true global society.
• Globalization is variety of economic, political, cultural, ideological and environmental processes
• These processes rapidly alter the world.
• Globalization results from expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time and world-space.
• "Expansion" means both the creation of new social networks and the multiplication of existing connections.
• Expansion that cuts across traditional political, economic, cultural and geographic boundaries (ex. Social Media).
• "Intensification" refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these networks.
• Globalization relates to how people perceive time and space meaning that people feel that the world is shrinking to the size of "a click away."

'Scapes' of Globalization:

• Ethnoscapes involves the migration of people across cultures and borders.
• Mediascapes involves the use of media which shapes the way we understand our imagined world.
• Technoscapes include cultural interactions due to technology.
• Financescapes involves the flux of capital.
• Ideoscapes involves the global flow of ideology.
• Globalization affects changes in technology and many aspects of human existence
• These changes range from cultural, economic and political systems
• Systems have brought a multi-dimensional set of social processes escalating deepening connections, worldwide interdependence and social exchanges among people from all different parts of the world.
• Globalization creates linkages characterized by cultural, economic, and political interconnections and global flows.
• Barriers that once existed become insignificant.
• Globalization as an ideology exists in people's minds because of a set of coherent and complementary ideas and beliefs about the global order

Six Core Claims of Globalization:

• Globalization includes the liberalization and global integration of markets.
• It is inevitable and irreversible.
• Nobody is in control of it.
• It benefits everyone in the long run.
• Globalization furthers democracy in the world.
• It requires a global war on terror.
• Liberalization and global integration of markets are founded on Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand."
• Through free-market capitalism, market forces rule and the more an economy is opened to free trade and competition, the more will it will be efficient
• There should be less or no government intervention.
• Globalization is accelerating and inevitable.
• No agenda of a particular group of people reflects globalization
• Expansion of wealth and prosperity will occur in the world for those who embrace globalization.
• Globalization facilitates freedom, free markets, free trade and democracy which will lead to economic development through the creation of societies will a powerful middle class.
• Globalists believe that an aggressive, militaristic foreign policy will protect the gains of globalization.

World-Systems Theory:

• This theory proposes that world history/social change suggests benefits for some countries while others countries are exploited.
• The theory is based on a three-level hierarchy:
  • Core
  • Periphery
  • Semi-periphery

Per the World Systems Theory countries divided into 3 types:

• Core, Periphery and Semi-periphery
• Core countries are dominant capitalist countries
• Core exploits peripheral countries for labor/raw materials
• Core are strong in military power and do not depend on any state or country.
• They serve interests of the economically powerful.
• The focus is on higher skill and capital-intensive production (more technology and less labor).
• The power of Core countries allows them to pay lower prices for raw goods and exploit cheap labor, constantly reinforcing the unequal status.
• The first core region located in northwestern Europe which consisted of England, France and Holland.
• The United States is an example of a core country.
• U.S has large capital amounts, and labor forces are relatively well paid.
• Peripheral countries are under strong central government control by other states
• Peripheral countries export raw materials to core countries and are dependent for:
  • Capital
  • Underdeveloped industry
• Peripheral countries have low-skill, labor-intensive production.
• Peripheral countries include third-world countries.
• Eastern Europe and Latin America were the first peripheral zones.
• Example of today is Cape Verde, a chain of islands off the west coast of Africa.
• Foreign investors promote extraction of raw materials/production of cash crops, exported to core countries.
• Semi-periphery countries fall in the middle of the economic spectrum.
• They share characteristics of both core and periphery countries.
• These are core regions in decline/periphery regions attempting to improve their economic position.
• They are sometimes exploited by core countries.
• Semi-periphery exploits periphery countries themselves, for example, India.
• India is largely core countries for capital, but has a growing technology industry and an emerging consumer market.
• Countries/areas existing outside of world systems theory, referred to as external areas.
• External areas have own economic systems and are not part, therefore, not part of the world systems .
• They have their own labor market, grow own crops and produce goods for internal market.
• External areas have a regulated economy without outside influence; Russia example external market.

Global Capitalism Theory:

• Rise of transnational capital, a transnational capitalist class, and a transnational state signifies new stage in evolution.
• Global capitalism rises capitalism above national borders and known as 4th period of capitalism in recognition of three periods that came before it.

Four Periods of Capitalism:

• 1st Period: Mercantile Capitalism (14th century)
• 2nd Period: Classical Capitalism
• 3rd Period: Keynesian Capitalism
• 4th Period: Global Capitalism

Characteristics of Global Capitalism:

• Production takes place on the global stage.
  • Companies can produce goods in a variety of places around the world.
  • For example, a motorcycle frames in China/engine parts in India/assemble in the U.S.
  • Companies can choose locations with hold cheap resources and minimize impact of export tariffs for increased income.
  • Global Walmart an extreme example of globalized capitalism, it sources and distributes products from suppliers around the world without producing a single item.
• Labor can be sourced around the world.
  • Companies expand production across borders and do not make use their country's labor.
  • Companies able to draw labor from globe's worth of workers; locate production workers cheaper/highly skilled.
  • The result is the circumvention of national government intervention like labor laws.
  • Puts downward pressure on wages of unskilled workers.
• The financial system operates globally.
  • Collecting taxes very difficult when companies generate and hold wealth around the world because global corporations:
    • Develop complex organizational structures
    • Spread wealth across multiple jurisdictions to minimize liabilities to pay taxes
  • Great power to avoid corporate taxes on wealth.
• Power relations are transnational.
  • Transnational capitalists have power to shape policies of trade, finance, and production at a global level.
  • These policies trickle down to national and state governments.
  • Companies have expanded influence/ great power to impact lives all over the world

Information Society includes:

• Circulation/production of information which key in social/economic activity
• Internet Communication Technologies (ICTs), Internet, cell phones and wireless networks, which are key to functioning.
• Information society: shift from manual labor to mental labor, in the primary form of production in economy has shifted from goods-based to knowledge-based
• Focus on the production of a particular good steel to producing information like computer tech/software.
• Theory describes society movie from industrial society (goods production focus) to post-industrial society knowledge production).
• Infomation Society presents new kind of capitalism where there exist profound shifts in technological development and innovation.

Characteristics of the Information Society:

• Information constitutes a key economy resource
  • Key to how business/economy function
  • How companies make money and economy grows
  • Allows more productive and efficient to society
• Consumers who are key to the information society use information and technology
  • Consumers use information/technology a lot to their daily
• Economy in an information age has infrastructure for circulation/distribution of information
  • The economy structured Circulation / as key economic resource.
• Globalization has a network of production, culture, and power that are constantly shaped by technology advances (communications to genetic engineering.)
• There are informational flows and codes that connect various corporations/states with each other/the world.

"Time-space Compression"

• Way economic activities accelerate leads to spatial barrier/distance destruction.
• Theorists believe that this compressed time-space from economic activity drives globalization.
• Production, circulation, exchange happens increasing speeds that accelerated by communication/transport technologies
• Comptuters and Wall Street can transfer funds, it demonstrates the time get profit is non-existent
• Transnationalism is a phenomenal that has grew

Transnationalism:

• Increased interconnection between people/ diminished economic and social significance and transnational corporations may organize to minimize cost maximize profits.
• Individuals, groups, institutions, and states interact in a global space.
• Globalization involves adaptation of marketed products services into local markets.
• Adaptations: global products/services that tailored to customs preferences that are glocalized are of greater interest that meet their needs.

WORKING DEFINITION OF GLOBALIZATION:

• Integration of communication, culture, and economics across a global system.
  • Integration/interdependence between countries, their economics and cultures
  • Instead being independent, states become larger global system with the ability to influence

Explore world systems theory, focusing on semi-periphery countries and external areas. Examine global capitalism, mercantile capitalism and classical capitalism. Highlights the role of laissez-faire economics, government intervention, and market self-regulation.