The Border Between Core and Periphery: Geographical Representations of the World System

Abstract

Geographical metaphors such as centre-periphery or First-Second-Third World are widely used to describe the world economic system. This paper discusses the role of metaphors in geographical representations and proposes some guidelines for the analysis and classification. This methodology is then applied to a sample of well known textual metaphors used to describe the world economic scenario, including ideas of a First-Second-Third World, North-South, core-periphery, Global Triad, global network, flat and fluid world. The classification is linked to the debates originating such metaphors, and it will be used in order to propose some concluding remarks on the possibility of development of new geographical metaphors. Copyright (c) 2009 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

Geographies of educational mobilities: exploring the uneven flows of international students

“…As recognised by geographers, categories such as NIEs and LDCs not only describe aspects of a material reality, but also serve as powerful imaginaries which help to perpetuate old and promote new geographical divisions (Vanolo ; Sidaway ). Nevertheless, they offer one way to think about the (re‐)ordering of the world system, and to explore its implications.…”

“…Our quantitative approach also enables us to address an important gap in current understanding into whether the influence of these respective factors varies over space. In doing so, it provides an opportunity to contribute to debates about the extent to which usual geographic categories, such as the oft‐used binary between developed and developing countries, remains relevant in understanding contemporary mobilities (Vanolo ; Sidaway ).…”

Advancing geographical understanding

“…Moreover, it is unlikely the Global South is viewed primarily in metaphorical terms, even if that is the way some would like to see the concept deployed. Expanding on this point, Vanolo (2010: 34) argues that the North–South framing is one of the several unconsciously deployed caricatures of global divisions that have stifled creative thinking and undermined the idea that geographical spaces are modifiable social constructs, McFarlane (2006: 4) contends that a North–South division of the planet fosters “active imaginative barriers that militate against the possibilities of different countries to learn from one another,” and Kreutzmann (2008: 676) suggests that the North–South binary is the latest version of a set of categories that have helped to sustain “container thinking.” Against this backdrop, it is surprising to find that, with only a few recent exceptions (see below), geographers have tended to adopt the North–South framework uncritically and have been largely silent about one of the more commonly deployed geographical tropes used to conceptually partition the world. Notably, this general disciplinary reticence has taken place in the face of scholarly interventions arguing that dominant categorizations of the world can fundamentally affect how power is understood and deployed (Slater, 1997).…”

"Core-Periphery" in the European Union – An Economic Perspective

“…The concept of "core-periphery" can be analysed from various different perspectives: historical, economic, geographical (Vanolo, 2010) and political. The historical approach differentiates the "original six" (countries that signed the Paris and Rome treaties in 1951 and 1957 respectively) that established the first integrations in Europe 1 and the enlargements of such integration completed by 1995 (the "core" countries or EU-15) from the countries that 1 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and European Economic Community (EEC).…”