International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Author Podcasts   Comment on this article   The world system here is understood as the structural world-historical development of an interconnected social system that has developed over the past centuries. The accounts of its development vary and are discussed elsewhere in detail ( Modelski and Thompson 1996 ; Chase-Dunn and Hall 1997 ; Rennstich 2008 ). A central focus of the study of the development of a global world system centers on the distribution of power within it and its manifestation in the structure of the world system. While the central position of leadership within the world system has periodically shifted, the question arises whether this leadership can still be exerted by (single) states or alternative units in such a global world system, especially in the light of the existence of new communication networks and digital technologies and their role in the rise of a new “information era” as a result of the rise of a new “Information Age” – that is, a system in which the control of information becomes the most critical aspect of system development and control. The term “Information Age” commonly describes the rise of centrality of information in societies as a result of technological change, especially in the rise of digital forms of communication (for a more detailed discussion, see footnote 33 in Castells 1996 :21). The dating of the start of the information ... log in or subscribe to read full text