World System History The Social Science of Long-Term Change

This book is the fundamental starting point for the study of continuity and change in the global social, economic and political system over the longest historical term. Bringing together eminent interdisciplinary scholars, "World System History" considers the nature of social continuity back through history, resulting in a book which cuts across boundaries in social science and deals with at least 5000 years of the human past in a truly global perspective,
No other volume offer so coordinated a picture of the issues of the prospects for the unified study of world system history. The kind of transdisciplinary cooperation needed to make sense of our complex world is made clear through the range of contributors' perspectives, This extraordinary book shows that in order to understand contemporary issues we must study the long term history of the world system. It will be a vital overview of perspective on the history of the world system for all graduates and researcher in a variety of fields such as international political economy, world history and sociology.

This extraordinary book presents a refreshing and innovative overview of the changes to the global system over the last 5000 years. Featuring renowned contributors - each specialists in their field - this is the only volume to offer so co-ordinated a study of continuity and change in the global social, economic and political system. Key areas covered include:* International Political Economy - Robert A. Denemark* Archaeology - Jonathan Freidman* Economic development - Andre Gunder Frank* History - George Modelski* Sociology - Christopher Chase-Dunn

List of figures List of tables List of contributors An Introduction to World System History: Toward a social science of long-term change Robert A. Denemark, Jonathan Friedman, Barry K. Gills and George Modelski Part 1: General Perspectives on World System History 1. The Five Thousand Year World System in Theory and Praxis Andre Gunder Frank and Barry K. Gills 2. World System Evolution George Modelski 3. Civilizations, World Systems and Hegemonies David Wilkinson 4. Comparing World-Systems to Explain Social Evolution Christopher Chase-Dunn and Thomas D. Hall Part 2: From Regional and Sectoral to a Global Perspective 5. Envisioning Global Change: A long-term perspective Andrew Sherratt 6. Concretizing the Continuity Argument in Global Systems Analysis Jonathan Friedman 7. On the Evolution of Global Systems, Part 1: The Mesopotamian Heartland Kasja Ekholm-Freidman 8. State and Economy in Ancient Egypt David Warburton 9. World Systems and Social Change in Agrarian Societies, 3000BC to AD 1500 Stephen K. Sanderson Part 3: Global Macro-Historical Processes 10. Information and Transportation Nets in World History William H. McNeill 11. Neglecting Nature: World accumulation and core-periphery relations, 2500BC to AD 1990 Sing C. Chew 12. Accumulation Based on Symbolic Versus Intrinsic 'Productivity': Conceptualizing unequal exchange from Spondylus shells to fossil fuels Alf Hornborg 13. War and Warfare: Scales of conflict in long-range analysis Claudio Cioffi-Revilla 14. The Evolution of the World-City System, 3000BCE to AD2000 Andrew Bosworth Part 4: Comparison, Cumulation, Cooperation 15. Comparing Approaches to the Social Science History of the World System William R. Thompson 16. Cumulation and Direction in World System History Robert A. Denemark Bibliography Name Index Subject Index