Semiperipheral States in the World-Economy

(Hardback)

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Martin and the contributing writers present the thesis that mobility of semi-peripheral states to the "core" world-economy is a very rare phenomenon. Indeed, they even go so far as to suggest that it is the very set of social and institutional ruptures that were necessary to achieve semi-peripheral status which often create the social and political forces that prevent any further advances. Economic pressure from core nations and intense competition within the semi-periphery are cited as being foremost among these factors. Such general topics occupy the first few chapters of the book, while the later chapters examine specific semi-peripheral countries in depth. The final interpretation provides a better understanding of this segment of the world-economy and of the transformational possibilities of the capitalist world itself. Students of both world-economy and the social and political conditions of the semi-periphery should find this an interesting study.

Reviews

"More than a collection, this book covers all the important debates about the semiperiphery. Countries in the middle reveal the fault lines of the global system, concentrate its contradictions, and provide the most fertile terrain for reproducing and transforming its basic structures. Every student of contemporary development should read it."-Christopher Chase-Dunn Professor of Sociology Johns Hopkins University

Author Bio

WILLIAM G. MARTIN is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has written numerous articles such as Region Formation Under Crisis Conditions: South vs. Southern Africa, published in the Journal of Southern African Studies, and The Making of an Industrial South Africa published in the International Journal of African Historical Studies.