The Capitalist World-economy in the Longue Durée

Abstract

This article examines the global distribution of wealth within the capitalist world-economy over the longue durée. In stark contrast to the convergence of wealth predicted by modernization theory, the relatively stable bimodal (core-periphery) structure predicted by dependency theory, and the relatively stable trimodal (core-semiperiphery-periphery) structure, this article finds that the structure of the distribution of wealth in the world economy has transformed with each successive world hegemonic cycle. By adopting a longue durée perspective and a new statistical approach, I develop Arrighi and Drangel's (1986) method of conceptualizing, operationalizing, and measuring the global distribution of wealth within the capitalist world-economy. Through an examination of the period from 1500 to 2008, this article shows that the global distribution of wealth within the capitalist world-economy has transformed from a unimodal distribution during the period of Dutch hegemony to a bimodal distribution during the period of British hegemony, then to a trimodal distribution during the period of US hegemony, and now to a quadrimodal distribution in the early twenty-first century. While the global wealth hierarchy remained stable during periods of world hegemonies, it was transformed during periods of systemic crisis and hegemonic transition, thereby creating new forms of hierarchies.

Geographies of production I: Global production and uneven development

“…The question of the actual morphology of global hierarchy is again being hotly debated in the world-systems tradition and extending from it. Karataşli (2017), squarely in that tradition, has recently extended the Arrighi and Drangel contribution to posit a contemporary 'quadri-modal' distribution. Collections by Bond and Garcia (2015) and Wallerstein et al (2015) consider this question directly in the context of the rise of the so-called BRICS.…”

Integrating Degrowth and World-Systems Theory: Toward a Research Agenda

“…Unresolved Issues: Emerging Economies in the Semi-periphery Of final note, a degrowth agenda that expands to include a world-systems perspective would also recognize that not all countries outside of the core economies are in the same position -either in terms of their capacity to appropriate the surplus from exploited labor or ecological surplus. The multinationalization of production undergirds neoliberal globalization, and many formerly non-industrial economies now have substantial manufacturing sectors that are arguably best categorized as semi-peripheral (Karataşlı 2017). Some scholars have suggested that while such countries remain exploited by core economies, they also engage in exploitation of countries within the periphery including through ecologically unequal exchange and sub-imperialism (Bond 2018;Frame 2018Frame , 2022b.…”

Ecological Imperialism: A World‐Systems Approach

“…World-systems theory has always had an important semi-periphery category, a category that contains both core and peripheral characteristics (Chase-Dunn 2013). In the contemporary world system, this category now includes industrializing, middle-income countries, also known as emerging economies, that were previously considered peripheral, such as a number of East Asian and Southeast Asian countries (Karataşlı 2017). Such emerging economies occupy a distinct, intermediate semi-peripheral status and, as such, face a number of complex, contradictory dynamics and pressures that drive ecological degradation both within and outside of their national borders.…”