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first use of the term 'world system' by g kohler 22 May 2001 01:56 UTC |
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The earliest use of the term "world system" (in the sense of a political-economic system) that I could find is from July, 1920. Details: (a) Neanderthal or other Neolithic caves - no online search possible (b) ancient Greeks - "kosmos" (core = earth + about 7 peripherical "spheres") (c) Aztecs = feathered serpent god = the law of motion of everything (feather=bird=sky + serpent = earth ---- sky + earth=everything) (d) Galileo - "universum" (planetary system, core = sun, periphery = earth etc.) (e) Marx/Engels - search of Marx/Engels online archive - result = 2 locations in The Holy Family, but different meaning (not wsn meaning) - In "The Holy Family", Ch. 4 = in the context of a critique of Herr Edgar - here the expression is used in a philosophical meaning like "world view" Ch. 5 = mentions "the world system of the mysteries of Paris" - philosophical meaning (f) online search of Rosa Luxemburg online archive = no occurrence of "world system" (g) online search of Lenin, Imperialism Highest Stage (1916) - "world system" not in the body of the book (h) online search of the July 1920 preface of the German and French editions of Imperialism Highest Stage of Capitalism. The expression "world system" appears once. The sentence is: "Capitalism has grown into a world system of colonial oppression and of the financial strangulation of the overwhelming majority of the population of the world by a handful of 'advanced' countries." This is the earliest occurrence of the term "world system" in the meaning of a global political-economic system that I could find. GK
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