Navigating Regions, Nations, and Empires
REGION
A large land area that may encompass portions of a country or extend over several countries, characterized by distinctive topographical features and economic experiences
NATION
A large land area where people live under the rule of a national government, united by common history, culture, and/or language
EMPIRE
A set of nations, regions, and territories controlled by a single ruler
Connected through relations of dominance and subordination
SoCIAL (SYSTEM) DYNAMICS
The way social units change, especially the ways they get larger (through military conquest, economic colonization, immigration, etc.) and change internally as a result
Conflict
Results from...
Inequalities of power, wealth, and influence
Ecological, cultural, and social differences
Control
Competing sources include...
Control from the local government and ruling class inside a territorial unit
Control from core nations outside the territorial unit
War
Openly declared armed conflict between nations or between groups within a nation
Terrorism
A type of warfare involving the calculated use of unexpected, shocking, and unlawful violence against civilians and symbolic targets
WORLD-SYSTEMS THEORY
The international system is organized on capitalist principles, producing a global division of labour and system of stratification (Wallerstein)
Core States
Rich, powerful, and independent industrialized nations, representing the dominant states in the world
Often accused of imperialism—the exercise of political / economic control by one state over another
Semi-Peripheral States
Industrial or semiindustrial nations that, though prosperous, are often economically / politically dependent on core states (e.g. Canada)
Staples Approach
Reliance on extractive industries makes some Canadian regions dominant over others, and the whole country subject to the dominance of other countries (Innis)
Peripheral States
Less-developed, relatively poor nations that are subject to manipulation or direct control by core states
Dependency Theory
Developing states have failed to achieve adequate levels of development because of their neocolonial dependence on the advanced capitalist world
globalization
Development of a single world market, with increased interdependence among the economies / societies of the world
Cultural Globalization
Sharing / melding of the beliefs, understandings, institutions, and artifacts that define a nation in contrast to others
Policy diffusion
Certain social / economic policies have spread from advanced industrial nations to developing nations (e.g. women’s rights, privatization)
Compensation Thesis
State governments strengthen domestic social programs (e.g. welfare) to create economic stability in the face of globalization
neoliberalism
Economic / political ideology that supports free-market capitalism by reducing barriers to trade among nations
Ideology
System of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of a state’s political or economic policy
State
A nation operating as an organized political unit under a central government
Efficiency Thesis
Globalization forces governments to prioritize efficiency, thereby reducing social programs
NAMES WORTH KNOWING
Harold Innis (1894–1952) introduced the staples approach, noting that Canada’s reliance on the export of natural resources makes some regions of the country dominant over others, and subjects the economy to the turbulence of international markets.
Andre Gunder Frank (1929–2005) was a proponent of dependency theory, arguing that developing nations of the periphery could achieve growth only by cutting ties with capitalist societies and pursuing independent socialist development strategies.
Immanuel Wallerstein (b. 1930) developed the world-systems theory that divides the world’s nations into core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral states.
Saskia Sassen (b. 1949) analyzes globalization and immigration, and introduced the term global cities to describe cities that have a significant impact on global affairs.
Subhadra Channa (b. 1951) argues that the “modernization project” offered many people in less-developed countries false hope, and suggests that modernization in India must occur without reference to Western values.
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