Question

Briefly explain World system theory in emerging economics in three simple and understandable sentences

Answer 1

World-systems theory sees the global economy as one interconnected capitalist system divided into core, semi-periphery, and periphery countries that have different power and roles. Core countries control high-profit industries, finance, and technology, while peripheral countries mainly supply raw materials and cheap labor and suffer unequal exchange that limits their development. Emerging economies often sit in the semi-periphery—able to industrialize and grow by linking core and periphery but still constrained by the system’s structural inequalities.