Question

1. What are dependency and world systems theories?

2. Describe modernization theory—what are it's key assumptions about a)culture and b)markets?

3. Refer to the article, ‘the Human Condition’, to discuss the time that modern humans have existed versus the time of the ‘modern world’

4. Identify why human society is an adaptive mechanism for survival.

Answer 1

Dependency theory is the notion that resources flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former.

The world systems theory, developed by sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, is an approach to world history and social change that suggests there is a world economic system in which some countries benefit while others are exploited.

• The world systems theory is established on a three-level hierarchy consisting of core, periphery, and semi-periphery areas.
• 

Dependency and world systems theories share a common emphasis on global analysis and similar assumptions about the nature of the international system and its impact on national development in different parts of the world, but they tend to emphasize different political dynamics.

• Dependency theorists tend to focus on the power of transnational classes and class structures in sustaining the global economy,
• world systems analysts tended to focus on the role of powerful states and the interstate