Semi-periphery countries
In world-systems theory, semi-periphery countries are the industrializing, mostly capitalist countries that are positioned between the periphery and the core countries. Semi-periphery countries have organizational characteristics of both core countries and periphery countries and are often geographically located between core and peripheral regions as well as between two or more competing core regions.
Semi-periphery regions play a major role in mediating economic, political, and social activities that link core and peripheral areas. These regions allow for the possibility of innovative technology, reforms in social and organizational structure, and dominance over peripheral nations. These changes can lead to a semi-periphery country being promoted to a core nation. Semi-periphery is, however, more than a description, as it also serves as a position within the world hierarchy in which social and economic change can be interpreted.
World-systems theory describes the semi-periphery as a key structural element in the world economy. The semi-periphery plays a vital role comparative to that of the role that Spain and Portugal played in the 17th and the 18th centuries as intermediate trading groups within the European colonial empire.
Today, the semi-periphery is generally industrialized. Semi-peripheral countries contribute to the manufacturing and exportation of a variety of goods. They are marked by above average land mass, as exemplified by Argentina, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Iran. More land mass typically means an increased market size and share. Semi-peripheral nations are not all large, however, as smaller countries such as Israel, Poland, and Greece can be described to exist within the semi-periphery.
Sociological theory
Semi-peripheral countries offer their citizens relatively diverse economic opportunities but also have extreme gaps between the rich and poor. World-system theorists originally used only two categories: periphery countries and core countries. A need for an intermediate category became quickly apparent and led to the establishment of the semi-periphery category for societies that have moved away from the periphery but have not become core. In other words, the category describes societies that remain dependent and to some extent underdeveloped although they have achieved significant levels of industrialization. Semi-peripheral countries are tied into dynamic world systems that focus on the reliance of poor nations upon the wealthy, a concept known as the dependency theory. The term semi-periphery has been applied to countries that existed as early as in the 13th century. In theory, the creation of a semi-periphery category has added sociological and historical layers to previous developmental theories but still has similar, inherently capitalist, foundations.Function
The semi-periphery is needed to stabilize the world system, as it facilitates interaction and provides a connection between the low-income peripheral states and the high-income core states by adding another step in the world system hierarchy. As the middle ground, semi-peripheral countries display characteristics of both the core and the periphery. They also serve as a political buffer zone in that while they are exploited, they are also the exploiters. Those areas have been core regions in the past or formerly-peripheral areas and have since advanced in the world economy.Semi-peripheral nations are a necessary structural element in a world-trade system since they can serve to alleviate the political pressures that the core can exert upon the periphery and the political unrest that the periphery can direct back at the core. On the other hand, the semi-periphery can find itself excluded from the region's politics, as it lies just outside the bounds of political arena of the core states.
The semi-periphery exists because it needs to divide the economic power between the core and the periphery. Semi-periphery, referred to as the middle class by Wallerstein, is what makes the capitalist world function because it is much like the sociological structural functionalism theory, and norms, customs, traditions, and institutions act as "organs" that work toward the proper functioning of the "body" as a whole. Without those industrializing countries, change will never reach the periphery.
In terms of their contribution to industry and economy, the contemporary semi-peripheral states are semi-industrialized. Semi-peripheral countries are major exporters of minerals and agricultural goods. They are often focused in the manufacturing and exportation of industrial goods and commodities. While those advances separate the semi-periphery from the periphery, they lack the power and the economic dominance of core nations and still have a lot of unmanaged poverty, which places them beneath the core. Semi-peripheral countries are important contributors to the world economy for those reasons and because they tend to have an above-average land mass and so they are host to an above average-market. A primary example is China, a country with not only a large area but also a large population.
History and development
13th century
This era of human history found the semi-periphery concentrated in the area stretching from the Middle East to China, including India and the Mongol Empire, and it was the first time in history that the peripheries and semi-peripheries of the world became connected and involved in the trade of the world both with cores and with each other. Through a lucrative trade system, including heavy taxing of goods traveling through their borders, they were able to maintain a steady stream of wealth, becoming the driving forces of economic change throughout this time period. In addition, a heavy emphasis on defense and border security, particularly among the Mongols, allowed them to be fairly impenetrable trade obstacles.Geography also played a role, as seen in India's development of an impressive maritime industry. Because of its position along a convenient route through the Indian Ocean, India established its role as a "hinge" between the East and the West. Through their positions within the world trade system, semi-peripheries in the Middle East became crucially important in connecting the cities of Chinese and Indian cores with the fledgling cities of Europe and served as key points between other, more major core cities in the region, such as Baghdad, Cairo, and Aden.
1300–1450
Following increases in population and commerce in Western Europe in the 13th century, the feudal system met severe economic difficulties in the 14th and the early 15th centuries. The decline in development was caused by a combination of the decline in agricultural production, the shrinking economy that had already hit its peak within the current feudal structure, and the devastating effects of the Black Plague pandemic. The regression of Western Europe into semi-periphery and periphery allowed for the rise of the trading powers of Italy, most notably Genoa and Venice. These Italian city-states took advantage of their established trade connections with the Mongol Empire, the Far East, the Middle East, and the other Mediterranean powers to maintain their growth despite the economic failures of their European trade partners. Genoa and Venice had influence beyond their trade channels. Both were instrumental in the Crusades through their provisions of troops, transport vessels, and naval ships. Genoa also assisted the Byzantine Empire by helping it recapture its capital, Constantinople, in the late 13th century. The Byzantine Empire took advantage of its strategic position along various trade routes and the decline of Western Europe to rise to core status until its fall in 1453.During this time period, Genoa and Venice developed forms of laissez-faire government and institutions that are viewed as precursors to modern capitalism. Despite those advances in influence and entrepreneurship, Genoa and Venice suffered from the crippling effects of the Black Plague as much of the rest of Europe before them. Venice survived because of its connection with the Southern trade route, but its strength had been much reduced by the mid-15th century. Genoa never fully recovered from the Black Death and its defeat at the hands of Venice in the late 14th century. The decline of Genoa and the shift in Venice's focus to the Red Sea trade route left the western Mediterranean and the Atlantic open to Portugal and Spain, which were already better positioned geographically to control Atlantic trade routes.
1450–1700
In a push to ensure stable economic growth, Europe turned to a capitalistic economy in the 15th and the early 16th centuries to replace the failed feudal system. Modern capitalism allowed for economies to extend beyond geographical and political boundaries and led to the formation of the first worldwide economic system. At the base of this world system was an international division of labor, which determined countries' relationships and placement within the categories of the world system: core, semi-periphery, periphery, and external. The core regions, most notably the countries of Northwestern Europe like England, France, and the Netherlands, gained the most from the world economy. Their ascension from previous peripheral and semi-peripheral status to the core was driven by the development of strong central government and military power, the combination of which made possible control of international commerce and exploitation of colonial possessions.At the other end of the spectrum was the periphery, marked by lack of central government, exportation of raw materials to the core, and exploitive labor practices. In that time period, especially toward the late 17th century, South America and parts of North America stood out as peripheral zones under the control and capitalistic exploitation of core countries in Europe. Slaves and indigenous workers in those regions developed raw materials for export to Europe, a distinctive characteristic of the new capitalism, as goods were no longer produced solely for internal consumption. The aristocracy of those regions controlled commerce and became wealthy through the new world economy, which led to their rise in power above the government. Even in periods of upheaval, local aristocrats relied on core European powers to assist in keeping control over the economic system.
In between the core and the periphery was the semi-periphery, which constituted both previous core regions that had declined like Italy, Spain and Portugal, and peripheries that had improved their position, like southern Germany and southern France. Spain and Portugal had taken advantage of the opening to Atlantic control left by the decline of Italian powers like Genoa and Venice. Much like the core European powers, Spain and Portugal had strong navies and expansive colonial domains, which they exploited for their natural resources and cheap labor. Rather than using the increased wealth to develop strong domestic manufacturing sectors, like other Western European powers, Spain and Portugal used imported gold and silver to obtain manufactured goods from the core countries, which relegated them to semi-periphery, instead of core, status. They had control over several peripheral regions and exploited them, a characteristic of a core region, but those countries failed to develop the quality manufacturing industries and the access to international banking that further defined core countries, which left them a step below in the world system at semi-periphery status.