A Brief Histories of

Globalization(s)
 Objectives of the Lecturer
• To introduce four primary points of
departure for study of globalisation and to
assess the problems and advantages
associated with adopting each of these
dates
 Structure of Lecture
• Section One
• Outline Frank and Gills arguments that the
world system (globalisation) is 5000 years
old
• Assess the problems inherent in such an
approach and suggest a different way of
understand the pre-history of globalisation
• Section Two
• Assess the arguments of Wallerstein and
Chase Dunn which date rise of European
World Economy to around 1500
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
this approach
• Section Three
• Briefly consider the orthodox Marxist and
liberal arguments which date the rise of
the World Capitalist Economy (thus
globalisation) to C16th and C17th
England.
• Section Four
• Engage with the argument that
globalisation ought to understood as a
relatively new phenomena which dated to
the 1970s (1973 in particular)
 A note on terminology
• Braudel’s economie-monde. World
Economy= Is a large geographic zone
within which there is significant exchange
of essential goods as well as flows of
capital and labour
 Section One
• Frank and Gills “We believe that the
existence and development of the same
world system in which we live stretches
back five thousand years or more”
• Wilkinson goes for 3500 years
• A World System: Extensive and Persistent
trade connections, sharing economic,
political and perhaps also culture cycles
• Started 5000 years WE based around
Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Arabian
Peninsula, the Levant, Anatolia, Iran, the
Indus Valley, Transcaucasiua and large
parts of Central Asia
• Expanded to include much of Afro-Eurasia
by Bronze Age
• Trade, migration, cultural and
technological diffusion, geo-political
interaction
• Convergence in long-term economic cycle
• China rose to prominence as super-
accumulator
Key features of the historic economy
according to Frank and Gill:
• Market based trade
• Endless accumulation
• 500 and 50 year economic cycles.
Kondratieff
• Europe bought into way in World Economy
in 1500s and effected qualitative but not
quantitative changes. Basic continuity
although centre shifted
 Strengths and Weaknesses of
Frank approach
• Strengths: Challenges Euro centrism and
makes the invisible visible
• Weaknesses: Ignores fundamental
changes and stretches the concept of
world system and globalisation to its
absolute limits
• Problem with Empirical evidence
• Arguments about Europe are simply wrong
• European GDP per capita grew 0.13%
between 1000 and 1500 while Asia growth
was 0.05% per annum. Population of
Western Europe increased 25413000 in
1000 to 57268000, while China increased
from 59000000 to 103000000
• How did Europe conquer the America's?
• Dismisses Change to lightly
• Endless accumulation?
• Take figures from Maddison
• Asia growth rate 0-1000 AD 0% annum,
1000-1820 AD 0.2% annum
• W Europe 1820-1998 2.13% annum
• So, these Eurocentric and (anti-) historical
categories of ‘feudalism’, ‘capitalism’ (are
worthless) Better as we have argued, to
abandon the chimera of a unique capitalist
mode of production, not to mention its
supposed West European origins…. All
these ‘world-economies’ in the ‘west’ and
‘east’ were only parts of a single age-old
world system, within which this change
took place, like all else, only temporarily
• Perhaps we ought to accept the sprit of
Frank’s arguments without the detail.
There have been previous ‘phases’/ waves
of globalisation but rise of Europe is still
the point at which modern globalisation
begins
 Section Two
• Wallerstein and the rise of European
World economy in the C15th
• Economically and not politically based,
existence of multiple political centres is
key
• Endless accumulation
• Emergence of Global Geo-Culture by end
of the C18th
• Gradual global expansion complete in
C18th
• Imperialism shifts in emphasis from
‘plunder’ to unequal exchange
• The character of individual states largely
derived from position within global
economic structure (see Chase-Dunn
argument on Soviet Union)
The Key Implications of Wallerstein’s
argument:
Current events must be placed within long-
term cycles of integration and
disintegration and v long secular trend
towards increasing integration
Political and Economic Integration quite
separate
 Strengths of Wallersteins’
argument
• There is empirical evidence to support his
arguments. For example, world recession
in late 1700s
• Acceration of accumulation and trade in
the 16th and 17th Centuries
 Criticisms
• Criticisms: Definition of capitalism is a bit
vague
• Qualitative Issue as to when integration is
great enough to constitute globalisation
and a system. Assertion of the dominance
of the world system
• What is new about European Imperialism?
 Section 3.
• Capitalism was born in Rural England in C16th
and C17th
• Capitalism=Wage labour and the Factory
System
• Britain and the New Imperialism
• Capitalism exported by UK (Woods: The Pristine
Culture of Capitalism) through imperialism and
geopolitical competition
• Idea of an Integrated Global Capitalism
Economy really only makes sense in C19th
 Strengths and Weaknesses
• Strengths:
• Clarity of Definition
• Clear evidence concerning the impact of
capitalism development in England on
competitor states, on how states policy
shaped global competition/ systemic
factors
• Clear evidence of a degree of
synchronicity in the business cycle
• Weaknesses:
• Wallerstein would argue inability to explain
the significance of events in early modern
Europe
• Underestimates continuity.
• Again we left question of what constitutes
the world and how deep transformation
was in colonies
 Section Four 1973
• Crisis of Post-war national capitalism
• Manufacturing net profit 1950-70 G7
26.2%, 1970-93 15.7%, Output 5.5%
declined to 2.1%
• Globalisation is response to crisis in three
key ways
• Global financial integration is driven by poor
conditions for accumulation in the real economy
and the need to promote fictitious accumulation.
• Firms reorganising production in order to restore
profitability. The devaluation of capital in crisis
makes reorganisation easier
• Political project to open up new spaces of
accumulation for global capital
• Events in China and Russia happy
accident
• Processes of proletariatisation and
enmeshing of all humanity into web of
global market is finally being completed!
Although still questions about the
universialisation of the “factory system”
• Global capitalism is born!
 Conclusions
• Different approaches have there merits
and problems
• Not necessarily incompatible
• Need to be sensitive to 1973 and 5000
years perspectives
• A historical reading of processes of
globalisation calls into question much
conventional social science based around
sovereignty and the nation state
• If we adopt long duree approach this does
not necessarily support sceptics view

• Perhaps we need to think in terms of

globalisations not globalization.