Wallerstein's unit of analysis is of course the modern world-system - as one of many historical

world-systems. And as a historical system which has of course temporary boundaries the main
questions to ask about it are: how did it begin, how did/does it function, and how does it end; the
answers to these questions imply of course a high degree of historicity, as there are no general
answers for all world-systems.
Related
Citations The modern world-system "shares two features with every other historical system.
It has an axial division of labor whose effective 'stretch' defines its boundaries, boundaries which
are flexible and can therefore expand (and contract). That is to say, the boundaries evolve. And it
functions by means of a mixture of cyclical rhythms (the repetitive fluctuations which allow us
to call it a system) and secular trends (the transformatory vectors which allow us to call it
historical)." (Evolution of the Modern World-System)
Recently Wallerstein summarized the following constituents of the structure of the modern
world-system:
"a) The modern world-system is a capitalist world-economy, which means that it is governed by
the drive for the endless accumulation of capital, sometimes called the law of value.
b) This world-system came into existence in the course of the sixteenth century, and its original
division of labor included in its bounds much of Europe (but not the Russian or Ottoman
Empires) and parts of the Americas.
c) This world-system expanded over the centuries, successively incorporating other parts of the
world into its division of labor.
d) East Asia was the last large region to be incorporated, and this occurred only in the middle of
the nineteenth century, after which moment however the modern world-system could be said to
have become truly worldwide in scope, the first world-system ever to include the entire globe.
e) The capitalist world-system is constituted by a world-economy dominated by core-peripheral
relations and a political structure consisting of sovereign states within the framework of an
interstate system.
f) The fundamental contradictions of the capitalist system have been expressed within the
systemic process by a series of cyclical rhythms, which have served to contain these
contradictions.
g) The two most important cyclical rhythms are the 50-60 year Kondratieff cycles in which the
primary sources of profit alternate between the sphere of production and the financial arena, and
the 100-150 year hegemonic cycles consisting of the rise and decline of successive guarantors of
global order, each one with its particular pattern of control.
h) The cyclical rhythms resulted in regular slow-moving but significant geographical shifts in the
loci of accumulation and power, without however changing the fundamental relations of
inequality within the system.
i) These cycles were never perfectly symmetrical, but rather each new cycle brought about small
but significant structural shifts in particular directions that constitute the secular trends of the
system.
j) The modern world-system, like all systems, is finite in duration, and will come to an end when
its secular trends reach a point such that the fluctuations of the system become sufficiently wide
and erratic that they can no longer ensure the renewed viability of the system's institutions. When
this point is reached, a bifurcation will occur, and via a period of (chaotic) transition the system
will come to be replaced by one or several other systems." (The Rise of East Asia ...; for another
listing have a look in: World-Systems Analysis: The Second Phase)

Related
Parts of the
Interview Besides the also theoretical topics: epistemology, historicity, and the tasks of
current sociology have also a look for the structure and the expansion of the modern world-
system focussed on:
- cultural globalization,
- the polarization of culture between core and periphery,
- the reactions of the periphery to the liberal core culture
Further
Reading Evolution of the Modern World-System, in: G. Preyer, ed.: Strukturelle Evolution
und das Weltsystem. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1998, 305-315.
The Rise of East Asia, or The World-System in the Twenty-First Century, Keynote Address at
Symposium on "Perspective of the Capitalist World-System in the Beginning of the Twenty-First
Century," sponsored by Project, "Perspectives on International Studies," Institute of International
Studies, Meiji Gakuin University, Jan. 23-24, 1997. http://fbc.binghamton.edu/iwrise.htm

World-Systems Analysis: The Second Phase, in: Review, XIII, 2, Spr. l990, 287-293 reprinted
in: I.W.: Unthinking social science, Cambridge 1991, S. 7-22. [ Deutsch 1995: Die
Sozialwissenschaft "kaputtdenken"]

Patterns and Prospectives of the Capitalist World-Economy, HSDRSCA-74/UNUP-300, HSDP-
SCA Series, l98l; reprinted in: I.W. The Politics of the World-Economy, Cambridge e.a. 1984, S.
13-26.

E como um sistema histrico que tem, naturalmente, limites temporrios
partes duas caractersticas com qualquer outro sistema histrico. Possui uma diviso axial do
trabalho cujo " esticar " eficaz define seus limites, limites que so flexveis e podem, portanto,
expandir (e contrato). Ou seja , os limites evoluir. e funciona por meio de uma mistura de ritmos
cclicos (as flutuaes repetitivas que nos permitem cham-lo de um sistema ) e as tendncias
seculares ( os vetores transformadoras que nos permitem cham-lo de histrico ) . " ( Evolution
of the World -System Modern )

O moderno sistema-mundo uma economia-mundo capitalista , o que significa que ele
governado pela unidade para a acumulao sem fim do capital, s vezes chamada de lei do valor
.
b) Este sistema-mundo veio existncia , no decorrer do sculo XVI, e sua diviso original do
trabalho includo em seus limites grande parte da Europa (mas no o russo ou Otomano ) e partes
das Amricas .
c) O sistema-mundo se expandiu ao longo dos sculos , incorporando sucessivamente outras
partes do mundo em sua diviso do trabalho.
d ) sia Oriental foi a ltima grande regio a ser incorporado, e isso ocorreu apenas em meados
do sculo XIX, aps o qual momento no entanto, o sistema-mundo moderno poderia ser dito ter
se tornado verdadeiramente de mbito mundial , o primeiro sistema-mundo j para incluir todo o
globo.
e) O sistema-mundo capitalista constitudo por uma economia mundial dominada por relaes
de ncleo perifrico e uma estrutura poltica constituda por Estados soberanos , no quadro de um
sistema interestatal .
f) As contradies fundamentais do sistema capitalista tm sido expressas dentro do processo
sistmico por uma srie de ritmos cclicos , que tm servido para conter essas contradies .
g ) Os dois ritmos cclicos mais importantes so os ciclos de Kondratieff 50-60 anos em que as
principais fontes de lucro alternativa entre a esfera da produo e da rea financeira , e os ciclos
hegemnicos que consistem em 100-150 anos a ascenso e queda de sucessivos garantes da
ordem global , cada uma com seu padro especfico de controle .
h ) Os ritmos cclicos resultou na baixa rotatividade regular, mas as mudanas geogrficas
significativas no loci de acumulao e poder, sem contudo alterar as relaes fundamentais de
desigualdade dentro do sistema.
i ) Estes ciclos foram nunca perfeitamente simtricos , mas sim cada novo ciclo provocou
mudanas estruturais pequenas , mas significativas, instrues especficas que constituem as
tendncias temporais do sistema .
j) O moderno sistema-mundo , como todos os sistemas , finito de durao, e chegar ao fim
quando suas tendncias seculares chegar a um ponto tal que as flutuaes do sistema tornam-se
suficientemente grande e irregular que eles no podem mais garantir o renovado viabilidade das
instituies do sistema. Quando este ponto atingido, uma bifurcao ir ocorrer, e atravs de
um perodo de ( catico ) de transio do sistema venha a ser substitudo por um ou vrios outros
sistemas "(The Rise of East Asia ... ; . Outra listagem para ter um olhar em: Anlise de Sistemas-
Mundo : A segunda fase )