Title: WALLERSTEIN'S WORLD-SYSTEMS THEORY AND THE COOK ISLANDS: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION
Abstract:Wallerstein developed world-systems theory as an attempt to correct the inadequacies he saw in the development orthodoxy of the 1950s and the 1960s--the modernization school (Skocpol 1982: 1075). In c...Wallerstein developed world-systems theory as an attempt to correct the inadequacies he saw in the development orthodoxy of the 1950s and the 1960s--the modernization school (Skocpol 1982: 1075). In common with many other dependency theorists, Wallerstein defined his theory of development (and underdevelopment) in opposition to modernization theory in two critical ways. First, whereas modernization theory tended to examine nations as discrete and independent units, world-systems theory made the interstate context of development its main source of explanation: A nation developed the way it did because of its position on the world-system (Wallerstein 1974:351). Although Wallerstein incorporated national and subnational factors into world-systems theory (particularly his more recent versions), these remained in a subordinate role as intervening variables. Second, Wallerstein stressed the importance of historical factors in development. In his first book on the world-system he said that he wished to avoid the “intellectual dead-end of ahistorical model-building” (presumably a reference to modernization theory) and claimed that it was possible to build a universal theory of development on the analysis of the specific histories of individual nations (Wallerstein 1974:338). This article examines world-systems theory in the light of Wallerstein’s claims for its validity and usefulness by using information collected on the Cook Islands. I will attempt to show that world-systems theory overemphasizes the global context of development, misinterpretsRead More
Publication Year: 1990
Publication Date: 1990-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 8
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot