Ascent and Decline in the World-System

Book excerpt: Original essays chart the ascent and decline of specific nations and establish some of the principles of national movement within the world economic system. Germany, Britain, Taiwan and Turkey are nations whose specific cases are discussed. The effect of minorities and poorer regions within nations, in effect internal peripheries, is considered in essays on American Blacks and Hawaiians. The value of socialism as a strategy for ascent is examined in a final section. `The articles are well written and documented and should prove most interesting and useful to historians, sociologists, political scientists, and economists at both the graduate student and professional levels.' -- Perspective, March 1983