Assignment Task:
In what ways does Wallerstein's World Systems Theory provide a framework for understanding international relations as both rooted in colonial systems, but ultimately malleable? And what are some potential flaws in this way of thinking? Immanuel Wallerstein (1974) developed his theory of the modern world system in the 1970s as a framework to conceive the interrelatedness of today's nation-states as being directly influenced by colonial formations. Nations are categorized into core, periphery, and semi-periphery countries. Periphery consists of nations historically exploited for resource extraction and cheap labor, serving as both sources of migration and consumer markets for core and semi-periphery nations. The semi-periphery represents transitional sites. This formation is not uniform. A nation can experience core and periphery traits. Wallstein aimed to elucidate contemporary global dynamics as deeply rooted in historical processes of extraction and exploitation spanning centuries. For example, a core nation, The United States, contains many poverty-filled areas resembling the periphery traits. Systematic oppression of these areas and people ties them to their socioeconomic status, creating barriers to achieving anything more. A potential flaw in this way of thinking is the failure to address the full extent of disproportionate and complex effects of colonialism on a former colony's ability to ever truly become self-reliant.