World Economy

= concept from World-Systems Theory, to be contrasted with 'Civilization, the concept used by earlier macrohistorians

Contextual Quote

"If relations spanning bodies of water are what make a world economy, this is not what makes the concept of the "modern world-system," for that is defined by a core-periphery division of labor which would include any inter-regional, inter-societal, or even inter-city division of labor with a dominant center and a dependent edge, e.g. with a core and periphery. When we are dealing with the "world-economy" in these terms we are dealing with, really, a core-periphery set of relations, whether these are international, trans-oceanic, or in any way closely approximating the idea of "world." The political economy of the modern world-system based on the capitalist mode of production, then, is, in reality, the political economy of core-periphery relations, however and wherever these are found."

- Albert J. Bergesen [1]