Step out of the ‘periphery’

Letters

ACCORDING to one of the world’s renowned thinkers in history, Immanuel Wallerstein, world-systems refers to the inter-regional and transnational division of labour.
A sociologist, Wallerstein developed the world systems theory, an approach to world history and social change that suggests there is a world economic system in which some countries benefit while others are exploited.
The system divides the world into core countries (economically stable), semi-periphery countries (semi-economic) and periphery countries (economically dependent).
Core countries such as the US, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, etc focuses on higher skill, capital intensive production.
The rest of the world focuses on low skill, labour intensive production and extraction of raw materials (i.e resources).
Peripheral countries in turn become dependent in terms of economic stature in order to sustain itself.
In contrast to the development of the world core societies, which is no one’s ‘periphery’, the development of national and other subordinate core countries is limited by their peripheral countries’ statuses.
Periphery countries experience their greatest economic development when their ties to the core countries are weakest (e.g 14th century China, Mao Tung’s closed door trade policy).
Regions that are the most feudal and under-developed today are those that had the closest ties to the metropolises (core countries) in the past.
Papua New Guinea is classified as a periphery country.
Our country receive a disproportionately small share of the global wealth.
This is because of the country’s weak state institutions.
Our country is behind because of obstacles such as lack of technology, unstable government, and poor education and health systems.
This leads the nation directly to be dependent on and are exploited by more developed countries.
This constantly reinforces the dominance of core countries (PNG’s global partners).
In most instances, these core countries come to PNG to indirectly exploit the country’s agriculture, cheap labour and national resources which in turn aid core countries in remaining dominant.
It is possible for PNG to rise out of the third-world status and move into the semi-periphery or core status.
This can be achieved through vital measures such as industrialising and political stability.
All these will fall in place if the Government diverts adequate energy towards prioritising the development of the nation’s human recourses. Though some development theorists think this is a shallow approach to development, it exemplifies how North Korea revolutionised its development (by prioritising human resource). PNG can learn from that concept.
Quality human resource means better creative and innovative minds turning the tide of development.
This does not mean that other sectors out of the governments’ priorities are to be neglected.
The government, simultaneously, should have the power to exert efforts to improve other sectors.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and PNG can also develop overtime if the state adopts the simple (well in-depth targeted) concepts of development.

Mckenzy Baraso
PNG Unitech