In: Psychology
According to world systems theory, what are the three unequal economic zones? What are the characteristic of each zone? Provide specific examples from each zone
World system Theory was proposed by Immanuel Wallerstein. He distinguished three levels in the hierarchy of world System such as Core, Periphery and Semi-periphery. This system shows the inequality present in the world and how countries deal with each other in different levels of the hierarchy.
Countries that come under core system are today’s world’s strongest economies such as America, Britain, Germany, Japan etc. They are all strong because of their industrial make-up that provides high pay and high technology. The are mostly capitalistic and individualistic in nature. They exploit the peripheral and semi-peripheral countries for raw materials and cheap labor.
Poor countries in the world, mostly the African and South American countries come under peripheral layer. They depend on the core and semi-peripheral countries for their survival by providing raw materials and labor. They have an underdeveloped industry and poor infrastructure. Most of the people live under poverty and in poor settings. They are exploited by both peripheral and semi-peripheral countries.
Countries such as India, Brazil, Korea etc. come under semi-peripheral countries. Although they survive on agriculture, they adopt to the industrial development. They comprise both the characteristics of core and peripheral countries. They are also called developing economies. They exploit peripheral countries and they are exploited by core countries.