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C H A P T E R
THE WORLD SYSTEM AND COLONIALISM
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3. THE WORLD SYSTEM AND COLONIALISM
Industrialization
Socioeconomic Effects of Industrialization
Colonialism
Development
The Second World
The World System Today 3

4. THE WORLD SYSTEM AND COLONIALISM
When and why did the world system develop, and what is it like today?
When and how did European colonialism develop, and how is its legacy expressed in postcolonial studies?
How do colonialism, communism, neoliberalism, development, and industrialization exemplify intervention philosophies?

5. THE WORLD SYSTEM
The world system and relations among countries within it have been shaped by capitalist world economy
Capitalist world economy: world system committed to production for sale or exchange with the object of maximizing profits
Capital: wealth invested with the intent of producing profit

6. THE WORLD SYSTEM
World system theory: discernible social system, based on wealth and power differentials, that extends beyond countries

7. THE WORLD SYSTEM
Wallerstein: countries within modern world system occupy three positions:
Core: dominant position; nations with an advanced system of production
Semiperiphery: industrialized nations that fill an intermediate position between core and periphery
Periphery: the world’s least privileged and powerful nations

8. THE EMERGENCE OF THE WORLD SYSTEM
By the 15th century, Europeans profited from transoceanic trade-oriented economy
People worldwide had entered Europe’s sphere of influence
Europeans extracted silver and gold, conquered natives, and colonized their lands
Previously, rural people produced mainly for their own needs

9. INDUSTRIALIZATION
Industrial Revolution: historic transformation (in Europe, after 1750) of traditional into modern societies through industrialization of their economies
European industrialization developed from a domestic system of manufacture

10. CAUSES OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Began with cotton products, iron, and pottery
Widely used goods whose manufacture could be broken down into simple routines
Began in England, not France
France did not have to transform its manufacturing system to increase production, because it had a larger labor force

11. CAUSES OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Britain’s population began to increase dramatically with industrialization
Demographic explosion fueled consumption and fostered innovation
Drew on advantages in natural resources
Nation’s cultural values and religion contributed to its industrialization

12. SOCIOECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
Initially, industrialization in England raised overall standard of living
Factory owners soon began to recruit cheap labor from among poorest populations
Social ills worsened with growth of factory towns and industrial cities

13. INDUSTRIAL STRATIFICATION
Marx and Weber focused on stratification systems associated with industrialization
Marx saw socioeconomic stratification as a sharp division between two opposed classes
Bourgeoisie: owned the means of production
Working class (proletariat): people who had to sell their labor to survive
Proletarianization: the separation of workers from the means of production

14. INDUSTRIAL STRATIFICATION
Marx
Class consciousness: recognition of collective interests and a personal identification with one’s economic group
Viewed classes as powerful collective forces that could mobilize human energies to influence history

15. Figure 23.1: Location of England (United Kingdom) and France

16. MODERN STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS
Lenski: argued that social equality tends to increase in advanced industrial societies
Proliferation of middle-class occupations creates opportunities for social mobility
Differences in income and wealth that set off richest from poorest Americans is widening
Great Recession of December 2007—June 2009 increased inequality

17. MODERN STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS
Weber: faulted Karl Marx for an overly simple and exclusively economic view
Wealth, power, and prestige are separate components of social ranking and tend to be correlated
Social identities based on ethnicity, religion, race, nationality, and other attributes can take priority over class

18. STRATIFICATION
Wealth that flows from periphery and semiperiphery to core helped core capitalists maintain their profits while satisfying demands of core workers
Current world stratification system features substantial contrast between capitalists and workers in core nations and workers on the periphery

19. Figure 23.2: The Ratio of the Wealthiest 1% to Median Wealth in the United States

20. COLONIALISM
Imperialism: policy of extending rule of one nation or empire over others
Colonialism: political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended period of time

21. COLONIALISM European colonialism had two phases:
The Age of Discovery, 1492–1850
1850 to just after the end of World War II
Dominated by Britain and France

22. BRITISH COLONIALISM
The British empire covered one-fifth of the world’s land surface and ruled one-fourth of its population
First phase concentrated in the New World, western Africa, and India
Closed with American Revolution

23. BRITISH COLONIALISM
During the second period of colonialism, Britain eventually controlled most of India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and large portions of eastern and southern Africa
The British justified colonial efforts by what Kipling called the “white man’s burden”
The empire began to fall apart after World War II

24. Figure 23.3: Map of the British Empire in 1765 and 1914

25. FRENCH COLONIALISM
French colonialism driven by state, church, and armed forces rather than by business interests
First phase (early 1600s) focused on Canada, the Louisiana Territory, the Caribbean, and parts of India
The second phase (1870–World War II) included most of North Africa and Indochina

26. FRENCH COLONIALISM
Ideological legitimization for French colonialism was mission civilisatrice
Spread French culture, language, and religion throughout colonies
Two forms of colonial rule:
Indirect rule: practice of governing through native political structures and leaders
Direct rule: practice of imposing new governments upon native populations

27. Figure 23.4: Map of the French Empire at Its Height Around 1914

28. COLONIALISM AND IDENTITY
Whole countries, along with social groups and divisions within them, were colonial inventions
Hundreds of ethnic groups and “tribes” in Africa are colonial constructions

29. POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES
Postcolonial studies: study of interactions between European nations and colonized societies
Former colonies can be divided into:
Settler countries: large numbers of colonists and sparser native populations
Nonsettler postcolonies: large native populations and a small number of Europeans
Mixed postcolonies: sizable native and European populations

30. Figure 23.5: Small West African Nations Created by Colonialism

31. DEVELOPMENT
Intervention philosophy: ideological justification for outsiders to guide local peoples in specific directions
Economic development plans also have intervention philosophies
Intervention philosophy may pit assumed wisdom of First World planners against purported conservatism, ignorance, or “obsolescence” of “inferior” local people

32. NEOLIBERALISM
Neoliberalism: governments should not regulate private enterprise; free market forces should rule
Smith: free trade is best way for a nation’s economy to develop
No restrictions should be placed on manufacturing, no barriers to commerce, and no tariffs

33. NEOLIBERALISM
Prevailed in the United States until President Roosevelt’s 1930s’ New Deal
Fall of Communism (1989–1991) saw a revival of economic liberalism
In exchange for loans, postsocialist and developing governments must accept neoliberal premise that deregulation leads to economic growth

34. THE SECOND WORLD “Second World” refers to former Warsaw Pact nations
Includes former Soviet Union nations and the socialist, and once-socialist, countries of Eastern Europe and Asia

35. COMMUNISM Two meanings of communism:
communism (small c): social system in which property is owned by community and in which people work for the common good
Communism (large C): political movement and doctrine seeking to overthrow capitalism and establish form of communism such as that which prevailed in the Soviet Union, 1917–1991

36. COMMUNISM
Today only five Communist states are left, compared with 23 in 1985:
China
Cuba
Laos
North Korea
Vietnam

37. COMMUNISM
Many Communist states were totalitarian and demanded total submission of the individual to the state
Communist party monopolized power
Relations with party were highly centralized and strictly disciplined
State owned the means of production
Cultivated a sense of belonging to an international movement

38. COMMUNISM
States that once had “planned economies” were now following a neoliberal agenda
Democratization
Marketization

39. POSTSOCIALIST TRADITIONS
Neoliberal economists assumed that dismantling Soviet Union’s planned economy would raise its GDP and living standards
Gains in productivity did not materialize
Corruption ensued
World Bank’s approach to corruption assumes a clear and sharp distinction between state and private spheres

40. THE WORLD SYSTEM TODAY Spread of industrialization continues
Nations shifted positions within world system
20th century industrialization added hundreds of new industries and millions of new jobs
Mass production gave rise to a culture of consumption
Industrialization entailed a shift from renewable resources to the use of fossil fuels

41. RECAP 23.1: Ascent and Decline of Nations Within the World System

42. Figure 23.6: The World System in 2000

43. INDUSTRIAL DEGRADATION
Industrialization, factory labor now characteristic
Destruction of indigenous economies, ecologies, and populations
Indigenous peoples: original inhabitants of particular areas

44. Table 23.1: Energy Consumption in Various Contexts

45. Table 23.2: Energy Consumption in Selected Countries, 2004