Major Phases in the Emergence of the World System

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Discussion

Andrey Korotayev and Leonid Grinin:

"Within this prolonged process of the Afroeurasian world-system genesis and transformation one could single out a few major phases.

1) The 8th – 4th millennia – the formation of contours and structure of the Middle Eastern core of Afroeurasian world-system (the first phase). This is a period of the finalization of the first stage of the agrarian revolution in the Near East (the second phase of the Agrarian Revolution was connected with the formation of large-scale irrigation and later intensive plow agriculture in the 4th – 1st millennia BC [Korotayev, Grinin 2006]). This period evidenced the beginning formation of rather long-distance and quite permanent information/exchange contacts. Those processes were accompanied by the formation of medium-complexity early agrarian societies, relatively complex polities, and settlements that (as regards their sizes and structure) were distantly similar to cities (e.g., Kenyon 1981; Wenke 1990: 325; Schultz and Lavenda 1998: 214). In the 5th millennium BCE, the Ubaid culture emerged in Southern Mesopotamia; it was this culture, within which the material and social basis of the Sumerian civilization was developed up to a considerable extent. The Uruk culture that succeeded the Ubeid one was characterized by the presence of a considerable number of rather large settlements. Thus, by the end of the period in question the Urban Revolution took place within the Afroeurasian world-system; this revolution can be regarded as a phase transition of the Afroeurasian world-system to a qualitatively new level of social, political, cultural, demographic, and technological complexity (Berezkin 2007). By the end of the period in question one could observe the emergence of urbanized societies (Bernbeck and Pollock 2005: 17), as well as the fi rst early states, their analogues (Grinin and Korotayev 2006; Grinin 2003, 2008a), and civilizations. Thus, by the end of the period in question the Urban Revolution took place within Afroeurasian world-system; this revolution can be regarded as a phase transition of Afroeurasian world-system to a qualitatively new level of social, political, cultural, demographic, and technological complexity (Berezkin 2007). In the beginning of this period the scale of links within the Afroeurasian world-system may be denoted as regional because in the very beginning this world-system itself had a size of a region. With the expansion of the Afroeurasian world-system, the scale of its world-system links expanded too. So some later (after 7–6 millennia BCE) they transform into regional-continental ones. However, during this period the Afroeurasian worldsystem still covered a minor part of the Globe; hence, at the global scale local links still prevailed during this period.


2) The 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE – development of the Afroeurasian worldsystem centers in the Bronze Age (the second phase). This is a period of a rather fast growth of agricultural intensiveness and population of the Afroeurasian world-system. A relatively rapid process of emergence and growth of the cities in the Afroeurasian world-system was observed in the second half of the 4th millennium and the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE; later the Afroeurasian world-system urbanization process slowed down very significantly until the 1st millennium BCE (Korotayev 2006a; Korotayev, Grinin 2006, 2012). One of the most important results of this period was the growth of political integration of the Afroeurasian world-system core societies, which was a consequence of rather complex military-political and other interactions.

  • First of all, in the Afroeurasian world-system core one could observe the growth of political complexity: from cities and small polities to large early and developed states (Grinin, Korotayev 2007; Grinin 2008a).
  • Secondly, the first empires emerged.
  • Thirdly, since the 3rd millennium BCE one could observe cycles of political hegemony upswings and downswings (Frank, Gills 1993; see also Chase-Dunn et al. 2010).


In the late 3rd millennium and the 2nd millennium BCE in Mesopotamia one could observe the succession of the Akkadian Empire, the 3rd Dynasty of Ur Kingdom, the Old Babylonian Kingdom, the Assyrian Kingdom. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE one could see a vigorous hegemonic struggle between Assyria, Egypt, and the Hittite Kingdom. Within the West Asian region the prestige good trade network achieved a rather high level of development and was often supported by states. Some part of Europe was included quite firmly in the Afroeurasian world-system communication network. The trade links with South Asia were established through the Persian Gulf. Key West Asian technologies (cultivation of West Asian cereals, breeding of cattle and sheep, some important metallurgy, transportation, and military technologies) penetrated to East Asia (possibly through the Andronovo intermediaries), which is marked archaeologically by the transition from the Yangshao culture to the Longshan one (see, e.g., Berezkin 2007). This way the main Afroeurasian world-system centers were formed; these centers developed throughout the subsequent history of Afroeurasian world-system; yet, during this period this development was marked with the technological (and other) leadership of the West Asian center and the strengthening of (still rather weak) communication links between various centers.

Thus, within the Afroeurasian world-system the links became not only interregional, but contours of transcontinental links also became quite visible. However, at the global scale regional links still prevailed.


3) The 1st millennium BCE till 200 BCE – the Afroeurasian world-system as a belt of expanding empires and new civilizations (the third period). This is the time of the early Iron Age. Already in the first part of this period the agrarian revolution within Afroeurasian world-system was finalized through the diffusion of the technology of plow non-irrigation agriculture based on the use of cultivation tools with iron working parts (see Korotayev, Grinin 2006, 2012 for more detail). On this production base enormous changes in trade and military-political spheres took place accompanied by a new urbanization and state development upswing (a group of developed states emerged [see Grinin, Korotayev 2006; Grinin 2008a for more detail]). One could observe within the Afroeurasian worldsystem a constant growth of the belt of empires: the New Вabylonian, Median, Achaemenid, Macedonian Empire (and its descendants) in the world-system center, the Maurya Empire in South Asia, the Carthaginian Empire in the West. The end of the period evidenced the formation of empires both in the Far West (Rome) and the Far East (China) of the Afroeurasian world-system. This is the Axial Age period, the period of the emergence of the second generation civilizations. The development of all the Afroeurasian world-system centers proceeded rather vigorously. The West Asian center was finally integrated with the Mediterranean world, whereas the European areas of the barbarian periphery were linked more and more actively with the Afroeurasian world-system centers with military, trade, and cultural links. In South Asia a new civilization formed, and the first world religion – Buddhism – emerged. Trade links were established in the space stretching from Egypt to Afghanistan and the Indus Valley (Bentley 1996; 1999), and in general, all the territory became connected militarily-politically.

The East Asian center of Afroeurasian worldsystem developed also very rapidly; this period evidenced the emergence there of its own super-ethnic quasi-religion, Confucianism. One could observe a rather fast development of all the world-system centers. The West Asian center was finally integrated with the Mediterranean world, whereas the European territories of the barbarian periphery became more and more actively connected with the world-system center with military, trade, and cultural links. Thus, complexity, and density of links within the world-system continued to grow acquiring continental and intercontinental scales.


4) 200 BCE – the early 7th century CE. – Afroeurasian world-system is integrated by the steppe periphery (The fourth phase). In this period the links within this worldsystem became transcontinental and could be compared with global. Around the 2nd century BCE relatively stable trade links (albeit involving preciosities rather than bulk goods) were established between the ‘marcher empires’ of Afroeurasian world-system through the so-called Silk Route, a significant part of which went through the territories of nomadic periphery and semiperiphery. Thus, in this period the periphery closed the circuit of Afroeurasian world-system trade links. The Afroeurasian world system expansion proceeded for a long period of time up to a considerable extent through the expanding interaction between civilizations and their barbarian peripheries. The larger and more organized civilizations grew, the more active and organized their peripheries became. In the given period this process was sharply amplified, and the Great Migration epoch evidenced the acquisition by the barbarian periphery itself of the world-system scale and synchronicity of influence.

The disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, the weakening of the Eastern Roman Empire, the fast diffusion of Christianity in the western part of Afroeurasian world-system, a new rise of the Chinese Empire in its eastern part prepared Afroeurasian world-system to major geopolitical changes and its movement to a new level of complexity. On the other hand, the growth of the Afroeurasian world-system population by the end of the 1st millennium BCE up to 9-digit numbers led to increased level of pathogen threat. Thus, the Antonine and Justinian's pandemics led to catastrophic depopulations throughout Afroeurasian world-system in the 2nd and 6th centuries, contributing (in addition to the onslaught of the barbarian peripheries) in a very substantial way to the significant slowdown of the Afroeurasian world-system demographic and economic growth in the 1st millennium CE.


5) The 7th – 14th centuries – Afroeurasian world-system apogee: world religions and world trade (the fifth phase). On the one hand, in this period the level of development of the world-system links reached the upper limits of what could be achieved on the agrarian basis. On the other hand, one could observe the formation of important preconditions for the transformation of Afroeurasian world-system into the planetary capitalist World System. As regards the first aspect, one should note especially the formation and development of all the world religions. In certain aspects within this phase the Afroeurasian world-system developed as a supersystem of contacting and competing third generation civilizations, which created fi rm cultural-information links among all the Afroeurasian world-system centers, including South Asia that remained in a relative isolation during the preceding period. Note also an unprecedented sweep of military-political contacts and the growth of the level of development of state structures.


As regards the second aspect, one should note especially:

a) the formation of especially dense oceanic trade links in the second half of the 1st millennium in the Indian Ocean Basin (see above);

b) the creation of vigorous major transcontinental land route through the territory of the Mongol states that connected in a rather direct way the main Afroeurasian world-system centers (see above);

c) the start of formation (by the end of this period) of an urbanized zone stretching from Northern Italy through Southern Germany to the Netherlands, where the commodity production became the dominant form of economy (Bernal 1965; Wallerstein 1974; Blockmans 1989: 734).


Already in 1500 there were more than 150 cities with population of more than 10,000 in Europe (Blockmans 1989: 734). A very high level of urbanization was observed in Holland where already in 1514 more than half of the population lived in cities (Hart 1989: 664). On the other hand, a similar level of urbanization could be found that time in the Southern Netherlands (Brugge, Ghent, and Antwerp), whereas in Northern Italy in the Po River valley this level might have been even higher (Blockmans 1989: 734). Since the 14th century the city growth might have been amplified by the emergence of the developed statehood and the concomitant process of the formation of the developed state capitals (e.g., Grinin 2008a, 2012a; Grinin, Korotayev 2012; 2009a: ch. 6), and the growth of cities of all the types, including very large cities.


6) The 15th – 18th centuries – transformation of the Afroeurasian world-system into the planetary World System (the sixth phase). This phase was connected with the start (the first phase) of the industrial revolution (see Knowles 1937; Dietz 1927; Henderson 1961; Phyllys 1965; Cipolla 1976; Stearns 1993, 1998; Lieberman 1972; Mokyr 1985, 1993; More 2000; Grinin 2007b, 2012a; Grinin and Korotayev 2009a: ch. 2) that determines the transformation of Afroeurasian world-system simultaneously into the planetary and capitalist World-System (corresponding rather well to Wallerstein's [1974, 1980, 1987, 1988, 2004] world-system, as its development involves mass movements of bulk notion goods, whereas some territories [especially in the New World] got entirely specialized in their production). A really high level of intensity of the emerged planetary world-system links could be evidenced, for example, by a really high effect produced by the price revolution that resulted from the mass import into the Old World of the New World gold and silver (see, e.g., Barkan and McCarthy 1975; Goldstone 1988; Hathaway 1998: 34). However, as the agrarian production principle still absolutely prevailed, one could observe the development up to extreme of some previous trends, especially in the non-European centers of the world-system. In particular, East Asia still continued its development along its own trajectory, demonstrating indubitable achievements in the development of state or cultural structures, outstanding demographic growth, etc.

In the 16th and 17th centuries the so called ‘military revolution’ took place in Europe (e.g., Grinin and Korotayev 2009a: ch. 5; Grinin 2012a). It implied the formation of modern regular armies with sophisticated fi rearms and artillery, which demanded the reorganization of all the financial and administration system. In its turn the growth of the military might of the European powers contributed to the start of the modernization of some non-European states (the Ottoman Empire, Iran, the Mughal Empire in India), on the one hand, and to an artificial self-isolation from Europe of some other Asian states (China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam), on the other. This modernization touched first of all the military organization, as well as some state and financial institutions (on the relation between the ‘East’ and ‘West’ in this period see, e.g., Frank 1978, 1998).


7) From the beginning of 19th century to the 20th century – the industrial World System and mature globalization (subsequent phases). The Great Geographic Discoveries extended sharply the Afroeurasian world-system's contact zone. As a result of this (as well as Europe's technological breakthrough) a new structure of this worldsystem started to be formed. The trade-capitalist core emerged in Europe, whereas previous world-system centers (in particular, the one in South Asia) were transformed into exploited periphery (this process became even more active at the subsequent phase of the World-System evolution). Thus the phenomenon of the world-system periphery experienced a significant transformation. The subsequent World System development is connected directly with the second phase of the Industrial revolution (the last third of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century [see Grinin 2007b, 2007c for more detail]). Changes in transportation and communication produced an especially revolutionizing effect on the development of the world-system links. They contributed to the transformation of the World System still based primarily on information links into the World System exchanging regularly from the Atlantic to the Pacific with various commodities and services, into such a World System that has instead of fragmentary and irregular rather powerful and very regular information flows. This new World System became based on a truly international and global division of labor. In the 20th century the World System development (after world wars and decolonization) was connected with the Scientific-Information revolution of the second half of the 20th century (e.g., Grinin 2012a), which in conjunction with many other processes finally led to a fast growth of globalization processes (especially those involving powerful financial flows) and their qualitative transformation (e.g., Grinin, Korotayev 2010a, 2010b; Korotayev et al. 2011). As a result the world became really tightly interconnected which has been recently demonstrated again in a rather convincing way by the global financial-economic crisis. By the late 20th century the view that our world is experiencing globalization (whatever meaning was assigned to this word) became a general conviction."

(http://www.sociostudies.org/books/files/globalistics_and_globalization_studies_2/008-035.pdf)

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