Core-periphery Relations Research Articles

The uneven geography of knowledge in agriculture

During the 2000s and 2010s, the growth in sugar and ethanol production stimulated the expansion of sugarcane in new regions of Brazil, reducing the concentration in the state of São Paulo. This paper aims to investigate whether the rise in sugarcane production in peripheral areas has led to the growth of knowledge capabilities. In order to consider regional asymmetries, the article uses the differentiated knowledge base (DKB) approach in association with regional innovation systems (RIS) and core-periphery relations. Data on formal employment and scientific research on the Central-South region are analyzed from 2003 to 2017. The results show that there are limits to the diffusion of sugarcane knowledge as an important part of knowledge production remains concentrated in the regions of early growth in São Paulo.

Communication Research, the Geopolitics of Knowledge and Publishing in High-Impact Journals: The Chronicle of a Commodification Process Foretold

The reforms in higher education that have been introduced on a global scale in recent years have gone hand in glove with the progressive imposition of scientific journal impact factors, all of which points to the rise of academic capitalism and digital labour in universities that is increasingly subject to the logic of the market. A diachronic analysis of this process allows for talking about, paraphrasing Gabriel García Márquez, the chronicle of a commodification process foretold. More than twenty years ago it was clear what was going to happen, but not how it was going to unfold. Accordingly, this article reconstructs that process, comparing the Spanish case with global trends and highlighting the crucial role that governmental agencies like the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation and specific evaluation tools like the publication of scientific papers in high-impact journals have played in it. In this analysis, Wallerstein’s core-periphery relations and the concept of commodity fetishism, as addressed by Walter Benjamin, prove to be especially useful. The main research question posed in this article is as follows: What does the process of the commodification of communication research look like in Spain?

“Splendid Isolation”: The reproduction of music industry inequalities in Spotify’s recommendation system

In this article, we argue that offline inequalities, such as core–periphery relations of the music industry, are reproduced by streaming platforms. First, we offer an overview of the reproduction of inequalities and core–periphery dynamics in the music industry. Then we illustrate this through a small-scale network analysis case study of Hungarian metal bands’ connections on Spotify. We show that the primary determinant of a given band’s international connectedness in Spotify’s algorithmic ecosystem is their international label connections. Bands on international labels have more reciprocal international connections and are more likely to be recommended based on actual genre similarity. However, bands signed with local labels or self-published tend to have domestic connections and to be paired with other artists by Spotify’s recommendation system according to their country of origin.

América Latina: una interpretación para explicar la nueva relación centro-periferia con China

From the analysis of recent publications, research, field studies and statistical data on the economic relations between China and Latin America, it is argued that these are characterized by a structure of core-periphery relations, which has developed in a few decades. The text offers an explanation and interpretation of this morphology, and provides a diagnosis of the evolution and prospect of these bilateral relations.

Verification of the neo-Marxist concept of global semi-periphery (on the example of the role of the migration factor)

Neo-Marxism world-system analysis was an effective means of the understanding of the postcolonial global order. The concepts of «core», «periphery» and «semi-periphery» reflected the dependent development of states in the global capitalist system. Capitalism structured the global order in the classical Marxist dichotomy of exploiters and exploited which can be represented with various subjects (states, groups of states, territories) and which according to neo-Marxism can’t disappear, because it reflects the essence of global antagonism. However, the realities of global development at the end of the 20th century demanded that neo-Marxism should reconsider the rigid link between the core-peripheral approach and the horizontal vision of the world: globalisation caused massive flows of migrants to highly developed countries and the gradual blurring of the boundaries between the core and periphery. There was the question in neo-Marxism which was about the ability of capitalism to preserve the core-peripheral organisation of the global division of labour. There was the idea that capitalism was able to reproduce core-periphery relations within the core states by including immigrants in the super-exploitation of labour through a covert policy of neo-racism. Such a vertical organisation of the core-peripheral model around the world, which was called dual society in neo-Marxism, would mean the formation of the global semi-periphery. The purpose of the article is to verify the neo-Marxist concept of the global semi-periphery using the example of the role of the migration factor in its formation. The study is based on UN data, as well as studies with a pronounced statistical component. According to the results of the study, it was concluded that the neo-Marxist concept of the global semi-periphery had not been verified by actual empirical material (on the example of the role of the migration factor). The available statistical and analytical data do not allow to totally confirm the neo-Marxist position that the global order under the influence of migration has been transformed and that it works in the conceptual model of a dual society. Globally, migration is not a determining factor in the widespread formation and unification of the dual method of labour exploitation within states. The quantitative data on the flow of migrants, comparative data on salaries in the countries of the core and the degree of concentration of income among certain groups of the population in the countries of the capitalist system state that the world is still largely reproduced in the horizontal core-peripheral model. Thus, there are no empirical grounds for stating the presence of a global dual society under the influence of the migration factor and consequently the presence of a global semi-periphery within the neo-Marxist approach of E. Balibar, I. Wallerstein, M. Hardt and A. Negri.

The Dual Dependency of Natural-Resource-Rich Labor Markets in Contemporary Society

This article presents an integrative theoretical framework of subnational natural resource dependence. I argue that rural natural resource dependence represents a special case of the core-periphery relationship, where rural, resource-rich labor markets form a dual dependency on both the global capitalist economy and the local natural environment. This occurs because the contradiction between spatially fixed natural resources and the mobility of capital prompts both external interests and local power elites to use their power to pressure rural labor markets in directions outside their best interest and to exploit rural labor. I argue that both extractive (e.g., mining, timber, agriculture) and nonextractive (e.g., tourism, real estate) forms of natural resource development share this contradiction. Although pushing different uses of the resource base, extractive and nonextractive development do not fundamentally vary in their exploitative relationship with rural labor markets.

ASSESSMENT OF THE CORE-PERIPHERY EFFECTS IN THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION

The article is dedicated to the evaluation of the centre and periphery effects in the socio-economic development of the region. Goal. The purpose is to assess the core and peripheral effects of the impact on socio-economic development of the region. Method (methodology). Methods of logical generalization, analysis, comparison and synthesis, integrated assessment, spatial autocorrelation are used to assess of the levels of core-periphery relations in the region. Results. The core-periphery relations are a multilevel hierarchy with a representation of economic, social and spatial aspects. The core-periphery relation in the region is an evidence of a complex system of subordination where the core area causes most of the effects and directs the development. At the same time, different core areas of development may arise and influence on the periphery territory by absorbing its resources in the process of development of core-periphery relations. A methodical approach for evaluation of the core-periphery relations has been suggested. The methodical approach comprises: the identification of core-periphery relation in the region under the influence of the centre: the distinction of economic “growth points” and areas of their impact on the region (inner periphery and outer periphery); the assessment of the intensity of the centre or “growth points” impacts on the region. The analysis revealed a core and “growth points”, identified periphery areas in Lviv region, measured the influence of the cities of regional significance. The core-periphery relations in the region can be identified as multilevel hierarchy with economic, social and spatial aspects. Analyzing the core-periphery relations from this point of view we have distinguished features and types of such relations between territorial communities (core, “growth point”, and periphery). We have identified some areas with low levels of integration into the regional economic space and low level of social development. For such territorial communities, a differentiated approach should be implemented in order to boost economic growth along with the level of social development. Moreover, we have determined the spread of positive effects from the cities of regional significance to the socio-economic development of the region, as well as identified areas beyond their influence.

Approaches to studying abroad in Brazil and their effects on language learning and intercultural contact

Even though student mobility is increasingly frequent, the predominant direction is mainly from countries considered peripheral to those that have more economic and political representation (Altbach, 2004; OECD, 2015). This study investigated the reasons why students go to Brazil, the composition of their social networks, and their implications for learning Portuguese as a foreign language. This research had a mixed methods longitudinal design, in which 98 participants completed two questionnaires (i.e. in August and November 2016). A thematic analysis of the reasons that participants presented for going to Brazil resulted in three general “approaches”: Actors, interested in idiosyncrasies of studying in Brazil; Observers, interested in having an experience abroad; and Riders, who had Brazil as a convenient choice. This classification not only predicted Portuguese language levels, but was related to participants’ home countries, supporting an articulation of SA in terms of core-periphery relations (Wallerstein, 2004).

Bottom-up Geopolitics and Everyday Brexits at the Gibraltar-Spain Border

ABSTRACT Brexit has opened doors for renewed attention to contested, multi-scalar geopolitical forces grounded in everyday life in borderlands. In this paper, we aim to unravel ‘everyday Brexits’ in the Gibraltar–La Línea (Spain) borderlands. By studying the 2019 commemoration of the historic 1969 border closure, we concentrate on how local borderwork by residents is mobilised for bottom-up geopolitics in the context of Brexit negotiations. We use a conceptual approach that focuses on multiple layerings of the border and the selectivity of stakeholders to select among these layers to pursue their interests. Based on on-site observations, in-depth interviews, and informal conversations with residents and key actors of La Línea and Gibraltar, we argue that Brexit has increased the tension of already loaded core-periphery relations in Spain. Brexit does not represent a sudden disruption. Rather, we show how Brexit allowed the bottom-up geopolitical mobilisation of latent, strongly historically embedded and continuous cross-borders sentiments of residents. This mobilisation could potentially challenge local cross-border power relations. In the final analysis, we conclude that the bottom-up geopolitics of ‘ordinary’ residents through everyday bordering processes is central to geopolitics research, including with regard to Brexit and in particular for non-British geographies affected by Brexit.

Investigating the Core–Periphery Relationship in the Southern African Customs Union

This study explores the relevance of the core–periphery relationship in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), a union comprising five highly unequal economies. In the analysis, the study employs five key indicators: economic size, trade logistics and facilitation, regional integration, and intra-SACU trade, to assess the main aspects underlying the core–periphery relationship in the union. The findings of this study point to dominance-dependency behavior within the union, where South Africa is the dominant core while Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and eSwatini are the dependent periphery. Based on the findings, the recommendations are that SACU countries should, among other strategies, identify ways of promoting high-value-added cross-border value chains across the union members. Also, the Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and eSwatini peripheries could improve their infrastructure and productive capacity if their objective is to create an export base in some of the products currently supplied by South Africa.

The Uneven Geographies of Politicisation: The Case of the Undocumented Immigrant Youth Movement in the United States

AbstractThis paper examines the uneven geographies of politicisation through the case of the undocumented immigrant youth movement in the United States, known as the Dreamers. Engaging the “urban political” literature, the paper maintains that politicisation involves the constitution of a subject that disrupts the order through claims for equality. The paper identifies the process of transforming highly marginalised and repressed people into an actual disruptive political subject. It suggests a three‐stage, spatially mediated process. First, “free spaces” are frontline sites that allow marginalised and risk‐averse groups like undocumented immigrants to meet with others, forge emotional bonds, and construct transgressive collective identities. Second, the potential of free spaces to politicise marginalised groups varies by geographical setting. Geographical settings, like large central cities, with high levels of organisational density and some ideological support facilitate politicisation more than settings with low organisational density and high hostility. Third, the uneven geographies of politicisation results in a political subject that is constituted and divided by core–periphery relations.

Methodological approaches to the development of inter-municipal strategies in the context of core-periphery relations

Subject. This article deals with the issues of development of inter-municipal strategies. Objectives. The article aims to identify methodological approaches to the development of inter-municipal strategies. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of analysis, synthesis, and generalization, as well as systems, geoeconomic, and incremental approaches. The core-periphery theory forms the methodological basis of the study. Results. The article substantiates the use of systems, geoeconomic, and incremental approaches to the development of inter-municipal strategies. The combination of these approaches will take into account the internal and external factors of a municipal units group. Conclusions. The geoeconomic approach helps consider municipal entities in the context of economic ties. The systems approach opens up opportunities for analysis of a selected group of municipalities. The incremental approach helps take into account the dynamic nature of the core-periphery relationships.

Ambitious or Ambiguous? The Implications of Smart Specialisation for Core-Periphery Relations in Estonia and Slovakia

Abstract The article explores the implications of the smart specialisation approach on core-periphery relations in Estonia and Slovakia. Despite accounting for one-third of the entire EU budget, Cohesion Policy has produced only modest results in achieving its goal of territorial cohesion between centres and peripheries. This raises the question of the role of Cohesion Policy’s current approach—smart specialisation. By applying the analytical concept of peripheralisation, the article examines how the formulation and implementation of smart specialisation is governed in Estonia and Slovakia, both of which are characterised by large territorial disparities between the capital region and the rest of the country in terms of socio-economic development and participation in decision-making. Specifically, the article explores how the smart specialisation approach is interpreted domestically in terms of strategy formulation, priority-setting and spatial targeting of measures, and whether the particular domestic interpretation of smart specialisation acknowledges the unequal economic and research and innovation potential as well as different institutional capacities of central and peripheral regions. Drawing on extensive document analysis and 20 expert interviews with policy-makers and stakeholders in Estonia and Slovakia, it is argued that while ambitiously promoting an approach of ‘inclusive growth’ for the benefit of all regions, the influence of smart specialisation on core-periphery relations shows to be ambiguous. Fuzzy priority-setting, a lack of strategic and administrative capacities at the regional level and inhibiting policy-making routines discourage and, at times, prevent such a demanding approach. The article concludes that smart specialisation in its current form does not benefit central and peripheral regions equally. Rather, its demands in terms of formulation and implementation are likely to reinforce the disparities between those regions with capacities to handle such an ambitious approach and those regions without such capacities.

Os danos do sistema global de bases ultramarinas dos Estados Unidos para os países hospedeiros

Este artigo tem por objetivo principal descrever quais são os danos que as bases ultramarinas dos Estados Unidos (EUA) trazem aos países hospedeiros. Ao entender como o sistema global de bases ultramarinas dos Estados Unidos surgiu, quais são as tipologias de bases e sua concentração geográfica hoje, é possível perceber como as bases dos EUA se apresentam no exterior. Após revisão de literatura, percebe-se que os danos são das mais distintas naturezas: danos socioeconômicos, violência sexual e de gênero, degradação do meio ambiente, etc. Além disso, com as novas bases de Cooperative Security Location, mais conhecidas como Lily Pads, é questionável até que ponto as bases respeitam a soberania do país hospedeiro. Após a apresentação descritiva dos danos e uma análise dos dados das localizações das bases com o desenvolvimento do país hospedeiro, conclui-se que danos ocorrem em sua grande maioria em países do Sul Global, mas não unicamente, e que a falta de movimentos e organizações antibases em países do Sul pode ser um resultado das estruturas históricas que os moldaram. Ainda faltam estudos mais amplos sobre os danos das bases e mesmo sobre a presença delas em países do Sul e Norte Globais, logo, busca-se incentivar os leitores a se debruçarem sobre o tema, completando as lacunas que ainda existem.
 
 
 Abstract: This article's main objective is to describe the damage cause by the USA's overseas bases on host countries. By understanding how the American overseas basing system was developed, their classification and current geographical distribution, an overview of how these bases operate overseas is possible. A review of the literature shows how damage is presented in many sorts: socioeconomical damage, sexual and gender violence, environmental harm, etc. Also, the introduction of Cooperative Security Location bases, also known as Lily Pads, the question emerges of to what extent a host country's sovereignty is respected. Following the descriptive presentation of the damage and an analysis of the localization of these bases and local development in host countries, we conclude that the damages were caused almost entirely, but not only, in countries in the Global South, and that the lack of anti-base movements and social organizations in countries in the South might be a result historical structures that shaped them. There is space for further investigation into the damage caused by bases, and into their very presence in countries in the Global North and in the South, which is why readers are encouraged to engage the subject and fill the existing gaps.
 Key-words: United States. Bases. Military. Society.
 
 
 Recebido em: agosto/2018.
 Aprovado em: outubro/2019.

Borderland environmental justice and governance apertures

ABSTRACT The theorization of borderland environmental justice is expanded by examining the specificities of fragmented governance and accountability and how this affects environmental injustice in the region. I argue that borderland environmental justice is distinct from U.S.-based environmental justice because of the congruence of three elements: socio-economic and ecological integration, the core-periphery relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, and the fragmented governance in the region. These elements are both a source of environmental injustices and also provide apertures for community activists to access international forums in order to meet their movement goals.

Relocation, standardization and vertical specialization: Core–periphery relations in the European automotive value chain

The global automotive industry has been exposed to an overproduction crisis for several decades. Under the pressure of restructuring, automotive companies renew both the geographical scope and the technological standardization of their production processes. We analyze the effects this restructuring had on the development of European economies in order to understand whether vertical specializations in the automotive value chain can lead to Central and Eastern European countries’ catching up to advanced economies, or whether such specializations reproduce new forms of core-periphery relations. In order to answer this question, we introduce a new methodological approach to understand vertical specialization in the global value chain from a semi-peripheral perspective. We combine the theory of global value chains with Vernon's product life-cycle theory. In the research we focus on the standardization of the production of electric engines behind the geographical relocation of production between core and periphery.

Armenia’s and Georgia’s contrasted positioning vis-à-vis the EU: between vocal centrality and strategic marginality

ABSTRACTIn recent years, the conflict in Ukraine and the migrant crisis have shown that the events unfolding at Europe’s fringes can affect the core. Therefore, enhanced knowledge about how countries on the edge position themselves vis-à-vis the centre is critical. This article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the core-periphery relationship by investigating how neighbouring countries envision their role in the EU-driven socio-political order and exploring how their self-representations translate into political strategies toward the core. It offers a comparative analysis of Armenia’s and Georgia’s positioning vis-à-vis the EU since the launch of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2004. The article highlights a sharp contrast between Georgia’s vocal assertion of its centrality in Europe and Armenia’s strategic choice of appearing marginal. However, as the article argues, this contrast needs to be nuanced: the positioning of a country as marginal or central does not consistently explain their degree of commitment vis-à-vis the EU.

Capital Outflow and the Place of Russia in Core–Periphery Relationships

The problem of capital outflow from the Russian economy is considered in three aspects: export of capital, flight of capital and drain of capital. Permanent net capital outflow through private and public channels allows the state to devalue the ruble and create a favorable environment for export-oriented mining industries. This circumstance, firstly, inhibits the qualitative growth of the Russian economy, and secondly, is a sign of its peripheral nature in the global capitalism.

China´S International Projection Since 2008: The new Core-Periphery relations and The belt and Road Initiative Through Foreign Direct Investment

ABSTRACT This paper´s central hypothesis is that China´s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) implies the construction of new networks in the international division of labor that insert the partner countries in a peripheral condition towards China. Although it is clear that the ambitious project of Eurasia´s integration, announced by Xi Jinping in 2013 and formalized in 2017, is by itself a novelty of structural impacts in the international system, it is also a product of deep transformations within China since the early 2000s and, to understand its current impacts, it is crucial to look back at the roots of China’s foreign insertion in the previous decade. This paper is divided into the following sections: i) a brief discussion of the three major domestic transformations in China since the 2000s; ii) China’s economic statecraft overseas as a byproduct of strategic and economic forces; iii) the symbolic-institutional dimension of that economic statecraft; iv) a case study of Chinese projection in Southeast (SE) Asia divided in two parts, which correspond to the two waves of outward foreign direct investments (OFDI); and v) final considerations. RESUMO A hipotese central deste artigo e que a iniciativa chinesa da Nova Rota da Seda (BRI, em ingles) implica a construcao de novas redes na divisao internacional do trabalho que inserem os paises parceiros em uma condicao periferica em relacao a China. Embora esteja claro que o ambicioso projeto de integracao da Eurasia, anunciado por Xi Jinping em 2013 e formalizado em 2017, e por si so uma novidade de impactos estruturais no sistema internacional, a BRI e tambem um produto de profundas transformacoes domesticas da China desde o inicio dos anos 2000 e, para entender seus impactos atuais, e crucial olhar para as raizes da insercao internacional chinesa. Este artigo esta dividido nas seguintes secoes: i) uma breve discussao das tres principais transformacoes internas na China desde os anos 2000; ii) o estatismo economico chines no exterior como subproduto de forcas estrategicas e economicas; iii) a dimensao simbolico-institucional deste estatismo economico; iv) um estudo de caso da projecao chinesa no Sudeste (SE) da Asia dividido em duas partes, que correspondem as duas ondas de investimentos externos diretos (IED); e v) consideracoes finais

Widows, Native Law and the Long Shadow of England in Thirteenth-Century Wales

Abstract This article examines complex core–periphery relationships in the medieval British Isles and, for the first time, explores the role of elite women in facilitating and shaping those relationships. It takes the advent of English-style dower in native Wales before Wales’s conquest by Edward I of England (1282) as a case-study, and explores the interrelationship between ‘law’ and ‘custom’ in the native legal culture, in order to shed new light on Wales’s relationship with England in the final eighty or so years of Welsh independence. It contends not only that Wales, like other ‘peripheral’ regions of the British Isles, was complicit (however unwittingly) in its own subjection to the English ‘core’, but also that the elite women for whom the dower provisions were made were integral to the very processes of cultural exchange that led to the development of ‘Welsh dower’. While modelled on English common law provisions, Welsh dower—a hybrid phenomenon—was also consistent with Welsh legal norms. By variously turning to the law courts, and employing extra-curial and extra-legal methods of negotiation and redress, the women helped to shape and promote these changes, and to embed them in native Welsh before its final conquest by England. It also makes clear not only that the experiences of Wales in these matters differed from those of other of England’s insular neighbours, such as Ireland, but also that the right of these women to suitable provision was always upheld, no matter how mixed or contested the legal environment.