Semiperipheral States in the World-Economy

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.

Table of Contents:
Series Foreword by Immanuel Wallerstein The Place of the Semiperiphery in the Modern World-System Introduction: The Challenge of the Semiperiphery by William G. Martin The Developmentalist Illusion: A Reconceptualization of the Semiperiphery by Giovanni Arrighi Semiperipheral Success Stories? Commodity Chains and Footwear Exports in the Semiperiphery by Gary Gereffi and Miguel Korzeniewicz State, Market and Agriculture in Pinochet's Chile by Walter Goldfrank Limits on a Semiperipheral Success Story? State Dependent Development and the Prospects for South Korean Democratization by David A. Smith and Su- Hoon Lee The Limits of Semiperipheral Development: Argentina in the Twentieth Century by Roberto P. Korzeniewicz Semiperiphery or Core? The Republic of Ireland in the World-Economy: An Exploration of Dynamics in the Semiperiphery by Richard Grant and Donald Lyons Periphery in the Center: Canada in the North American Economy by Jorge Niosi Ethnicity: Propelling or Checking Advance? The Contradictions of Semiperipheral "Success": The Case of Israel by Beverly Silver Ethnic Divisions and State Centered Development: Malaysia and Nigeria Compared by Paul M. Lubeck and Donna Rae Palmer From NIC to NUC: South Africa's Semiperipheral Regimes by William G. Martin Bibliography Index

About the Author :
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.

Review :
"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