Download Conclusion (p. 78)

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The Changing Global Context
Overview
This chapter further describes the process of globalization and introduces the idea of a
world-system in which all countries participate. This world-system is divided into core,
semiperipheral, and peripheral regions based on each region’s place within the worldsystem. The chapter begins by looking at the state of the world before 1500, when the
world-system did not yet exist. The middle part of the chapter explains how the worldsystem came into being, especially due to innovations in industrial production and in
transportation and communications technology. The final part of the chapter describes the
current situation and proposes a division of the world’s population into Fast and Slow
worlds, based on contrasting lifestyles and levels of living.
Students should be aware of the existence of the world-system and the function of
its core, semiperipheral, and peripheral components. The students should understand how
the world system came into being, and why Europe was the initial core region, which
later came to include the United States and Japan. Students should further realize that life
in the United States—a core region—is very different from life in semiperipheral and
peripheral countries.
Chapter Objectives
The objectives of this chapter are to illustrate:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Geographic expansion, integration, and change
Industrialization and geographic change
Forces that organize the periphery
The fast world and the slow world
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Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
The Premodern World (p. 42)
 Hearth areas
 Growth of early empires
 Early geographic knowledge
 Geography of the Premodern world
Mapping a New World Geography (p. 48)
 Cartography and exploration
 Core, semiperiphery, and periphery
 Beginnings of modern geography
 Industrialization in core regions
 Internal development in core regions
 International division of labor
 Imperialism
 The Third World and neocolonialism
Contemporary Globalization (p. 68)
 Causes and consequences of globalization
 Outcomes of globalization
 Jihad vs. McWorld
 Opposition to globalization
Conclusion (p. 78)
2.1 Geography Matters—Early Geographic Knowledge (p. 46)
Ancient Greek and Roman development of geographical knowledge
2.2 Geography Matters—Geography and Exploration (p. 50)
The European Age of Discovery and its global impacts
2.3 Geography Matters—The Foundations of Modern Geography (p. 54)
Immanuel Kant, Alexander von Humboldt, Karl Ritter, Friedrich Ratzel, and
other founders of modern geography
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2.4 Geography Matters—World Leadership Cycles (p. 60)
The historical rise of Portuguese, Dutch, British, and American global hegemony
2.5 Geography Matters—Commodity Chains (p. 70)
How commodity production is organized, especially in the global
garment industry
Discussion Topics and Lecture Themes
1. The world-system did not always exist. Why did it develop, and why did Europe
emerge as the core of the world-system?

The world-system began in the 1400s, when Europeans started exploring and
settling beyond their home regions. European expansion brought about the
exchange of ideas, technologies, and resources between regions that previously
had little to do with each other. Europe emerged as the core of the world-system
because of its economic system of capitalism, its rapidly growing population,
and its technological innovations. European expansion abroad and the
exploitation of natural resources outside Europe were critical factors in
Europe’s emergence as a core region. See pages 48–64 in the textbook for more
information.
2. Ask the students to give examples of core, semiperipheral, and peripheral states. Are
there some countries that do not clearly fit in a single category?

Examples of core states would include the United States, Canada, Japan,
Australia, New Zealand, and most of western and central Europe. Examples of
semiperipheral states include Mexico, Brazil, India, and Taiwan. Examples of
peripheral states include Ethiopia, Nepal, Bolivia, and Guatemala, among many
others. Ambiguous examples might include Singapore and Korea (core–
semiperipheral) and Iran and Vietnam (semiperipheral–peripheral), but these
distinctions are partly a matter of opinion.
3. Have the students compare two countries, one in the core and one in the periphery
(for example, Switzerland and Bolivia). Why is one of these countries richer and
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Chapter 2
more economically developed than the other? How does the world-system model help
to explain these differences?

World-systems theory argues that it is the relationship between states that helps
establish their place in the core–semiperiphery–periphery hierarchy. Much of
the difference derives from the effectiveness of a state in insuring the
international competitiveness of its products. Switzerland, for example,
produces high-value goods—such as watches—and important services—such as
banking—while Bolivia relies on low-value exports that are not processed
locally—such things as tin ore and fruit.
4. Discuss the differences and similarities among colonialism, imperialism, and neocolonialism.

All are similar in that they are the means of domination by one state over
another. Colonialism refers to the establishment and maintenance of political
and legal domination, whereas neocolonialism is an indirect means whereby
core states use political and economic strategies to wield their influence.
Imperialism is largely a competitive form of colonialism that resulted in a
scramble for territory as (mainly) European powers attempted to build colonial
empires.
5. Have the students describe the principal means of transportation and communication
in the local region. When were these systems first introduced? What existed before
them? What impacts did changes in transportation and communications technology
have on the local area?

Data on local transportation and communication networks can be obtained from
maps as well as from the companies and agencies that operate these networks.
6. Have the students give examples of each of the four factors (described on pages 72–
74 of the textbook) that have led to globalization in the past twenty-five years. What
evidence for these factors exists in the local area?

The four factors are (1) a new international division of labor, (2) an
internationalization of finance, (3) a new technology system, and (4) a
homogenization of international consumer markets. See pages 72–74 in the
textbook for more information.
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7. Why does it no longer seem appropriate to speak of the First, Second, and Third
Worlds? What advantages does a division into Fast and Slow worlds offer? Ask the
students to describe their own experiences (if they have had them) in traveling
between these worlds.

Changes stemming from the four factors (see Question 6, above) have led to a
Fast World, largely composed of the core regions, where people are involved,
as producers and consumers, in transnational industry, modern
telecommunications, materialistic consumption, and international news and
entertainment. The Slow World refers to people, regions, and places where
these things are limited. The breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of
international communism generally have also made meaningless the concept of
a Second World.
8. What minisystems once existed in the local area? What happened to them?

Consult ethnographies of the indigenous population. The local museum or
library may also hold information on the area’s original minisystems.
9. The Geography Matters 2.5 boxed text discusses the nature and meaning of
commodity chains. Have the students gather data about the three kinds of commodity
chains and then sketch out the “links.”

The three kinds of commodity chains are 1) producer-driven, in which large,
often transnational, corporations coordinate production networks; 2) consumerdriven, where large retailers, brand-name merchandisers, and trading companies
influence decentralized production networks in a variety of exporting countries,
often in the periphery; and 3) marketing-driven, which involves the production
of inexpensive consumer goods that are global commodities and carry global
brands yet are often manufactured in the periphery and semiperiphery for
consumption in those regions.

The Internet will provide a starting point for gathering this data, and you might
also want to contact the companies (such as Wal-Mart) directly.
10. Figure 2.22 shows how North America is a key node in global telephonic
communications flow, What accounts for the distribution shown in the figure?

The wealth of North America and its pioneering of much communications
technology are in part responsible for this position.