Immanuel Wallerstein’s highly influential, multi-volume opus, The Modern World-System, is one of this century’s greatest works of social science. An innovative, panoramic reinterpretation of global history, it traces the emergence and development of the modern world from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.
In this volume, Wallerstein focuses on the period of mercantilism, detailing how it consolidated the European world-economy. He explores how the economic practices and policies of this era, including colonialism and the creation of global trade networks, further entrenched the distinctions between the core, semi-periphery, and periphery regions, solidifying Europe's dominance.
Each volume of Wallerstein's work provides a detailed and complex analysis of different historical periods, contributing significantly to the understanding of how the modern world system, characterized by a complex network of economic, political, and social relations, came to be.
