Read more
Since its establishment in Europe, capitalism has witnessed a shift in global politico-economic power dynamics. Some nations ascended to dominate the world economy, while others fell from prominence to poverty. This transformation was particularly evident in the case of China and India, which were once central to the pre-modern global economy with their respective empires but transitioned into peripheries of the capitalist world trade structure. These regions experienced occupation, colonization, de-industrialization, and resource exploitation for the industrialization and modernization of core countries, primarily Western Europe and the United States.
The Rise of the Semi-Core: China, India, and Pakistan in the World-System delves into modern capitalist history, unraveling the increasing complexities that give rise to the emergence of a semi-core. It argues that nations must possess both economic and strategic national powers to maintain their hierarchical position within the capitalist world-system. Western powers of the eighteenth century, equipped with superior military capabilities, expanded their dominion globally, including in China and India, converting these regions into peripheries that served the core's interests in terms of raw material provision, product consumption, and facilitating capital flow. Once decolonized, China and India initially adopted a statist model of development, nevertheless these nations could grow only when they aligned with core interests.
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter One. From Periphery to the Semi-Core: The Fall and Rise of Powers in Modern World-System
Chapter Two. China: From the periphery to the Semi-Core (1757-2014)
Chapter Three. India: From the Periphery to the Semi-Core (1757-2014)
Chapter Four. Pakistan: From the Periphery to the Semi-Periphery (1947-2014)
Conclusion
About the author
By Samee Lashari
Summary
This book underscores the historical evolution of the capitalist world system since the sixteenth century, elucidating the 18th century fall and contemporary rise of China, India, and Pakistan.
