Semiperipheral States in the World-Economy

Book excerpt: William G. Martin's Semiperipheral States in the World-Economy diverges sharply from past international labor division interpretations of semiperipheral development. Martin emphasizes the importance of each country's individual conditions. Linking each example, however, is the theory that there is a relatively rare set of conditions that make economic, political, and social advancement of the semiperipheral states successful or even possible. Martin and the contributing writers present the thesis that mobility of semiperipheral 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 semiperipheral status which often create the social and political forces that prevent any further advance. Economic pressure from core nations and intense competition within the semiperiphery 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 semiperipheral 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 semiperiphery will find this an invaluable study.