Re: first use of the term 'world system'

Mr. Kohler,
    You might also refer to Bukharin's use of the term "system of the world
economy," in Imperialism and World Economy, written in 1915. This book was a
major influence on Lenin.
    Best, Jason

Jason W. Moore
After June 10: Geography, UC Berkeley

g kohler wrote:

> 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