Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi

Ali Kiriktaş

doi:10.59372/turajas.1861425

EN TR

The Dialectic of World-System Analysis and Area Studies: Re-evaluating the Categories of Core, Periphery, and Semi-Periphery

Abstract

This article examines the apparent epistemological opposition between the macro-structural logic of World-System Analysis, developed by Immanuel Wallerstein, and the micro-contextual depth of Area Studies. It argues that the tension between these two approaches constitutes a productive dialectic that reveals the limitations of analysing the global order through either a universalising or a particularising lens. The article argues for the necessity of a synthesis that treats Wallerstein's categories of core, periphery, and semi-periphery not as static geographical destinies but as dynamic relational processes shaped by both global structures and local agency. This synthesised framework is used to analyse the contemporary positions of Turkey and China. The Turkish example demonstrates that the semi-periphery category is a contradictory space between structural pressures and strategic manoeuvres. China's rise, meanwhile, questions the flexibility and limits of the hierarchical structure of World-System Analysis, highlighting the critical role of the state in changing a region's position within the world-system. Consequently, it is argued that understanding the complex global dynamics of the 21st century requires developing analytical frameworks that sustain this dialectical tension between structure and agency, the universal and the particular.

Keywords

Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Bu makale, Immanuel Wallerstein tarafından geliştirilen Dünya-Sistem Analizi’nin makro-yapısal mantığı ile Bölge Çalışmaları’nın mikro-bağlamsal derinliği arasındaki görünürdeki epistemolojik karşıtlığı incelemektedir. Bu iki yaklaşım arasındaki gerilimin, küresel düzeni yalnızca evrenselleştirici ya da tikelci bir mercekle analiz etmenin sınırlarını ortaya koyan üretken bir diyalektik olduğu savunulmaktadır. Makale, Wallerstein’ın merkez, çevre ve yarı-çevre kategorilerini statik coğrafi kaderler olarak değil hem küresel yapılar hem de yerel faillik tarafından şekillendirilen dinamik ilişkisel süreçler olarak ele alan bir sentezin gerekliliğini öne sürmektedir. Bu sentezlenmiş çerçeve, Türkiye ve Çin’in çağdaş konumlarını analiz etmek için kullanılmaktadır. Türkiye örneği, yarı-çevre kategorisinin yapısal baskılar ile stratejik manevralar arasındaki çelişkili bir alan olduğunu göstermektedir. Çin’in yükselişi ise, Dünya-Sistem Analizi’nin hiyerarşik yapısının esnekliğini ve sınırlarını sorgulamakta, bir bölgenin dünya-sistemindeki konumunu değiştirmede devletin kritik rolünü ortaya koymaktadır. Sonuç olarak, 21. yüzyılın karmaşık küresel dinamiklerini anlamanın, yapı ve fail, evrensel ve tikel arasındaki bu diyalektik gerilimi sürdüren analitik çerçeveler geliştirmekten geçtiği iddia edilmektedir.

Keywords

Abstract

References

Ahiakpor, James C. W. (1985). The Success and Failure of Dependency Theory: The Experience of Ghana. International Organization. 39 (3), 535–552.
Ahram, A. I. (2011). The theory and method of comparative area studies. Qualitative Research, 11(1), 69–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794110385297
Alpermann, B. (2023). China’s peripheries: The cases of Tibet and Xinjiang. Open Research Europe, 3, 86. https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.16039.1
Amako, S. (2017). Methods for area studies and contemporary China study. Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies, 6(1), 2–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/24761028.2017.1312753
Arnold, C., & Naseemullah, A. (2024). Seeking autonomy in the semi-periphery: Neomercantilism and diversification in Turkey. Studies in Comparative International Development, 59, 665–689. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-024-09435-1
Arrighi, G. (1998). Capitalism and the modern world-system: Rethinking the nondebates of the 1970s. Review (Fernand Braudel Center), 21(1), 113–129.
Au, L. Y. (2019). China's rise as a world power. International Socialist Review, (112). https://isreview.org/issue/112/chinas-rise-world-power/index.html (Erişim Tarihi: 16.02.2025).
Aurell i Cardona, J. (2006). Autobiographical texts as historiographical sources: Rereading Fernand Braudel and Annie Kriegel. Biography, 29(3), 425–445.

Babones, S. J. (2005). The country-level income structure of the world-economy. Journal of World-Systems Research, 11, 29–55. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2005.393
Barfield, T. (Ed.). (1998). The dictionary of anthropology: Wiley-Blackwell.
Bintliff, J. L. (Ed.). (1991). The Annales school and archaeology: Leicester University Press.
Brenner, R. (1977). The origins of capitalist development: A critique of neo-Smithian Marxism. New Left Review, 104, 25–92.
Burguière, A. (2006). L'École des Annales: Une histoire intellectuelle: Odile Jacob.
Calhoun, C. (2017). Integrating the social sciences: Area studies, quantitative methods, and problem-oriented research. R. Frodeman, J. T. Klein, & R. C. S. Audet (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of interdisciplinarity (2. bs.) içinde. Oxford University Press. https://calhoun.faculty.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz3321/files/publications/articles/chapter_7_revised4.pdf (Erişim Tarihi: 03.03.2025).
Carrard, P. (1988). Figuring France: The numbers and tropes of Fernand Braudel. Diacritics, 18(3), 2–19. https://doi.org/10.2307/465051
Carrard, P. (1992). Poetics of the new history: French historical discourse from Braudel to Chartier: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Chansa-Ngavej, V., & Lee, K. Y. (2017). Does area studies need theory? Revisiting the debate on the future of area studies. The Korean Journal of International Studies, 15(1), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.14731/kjis.2017.04.15.1.85
Chansa-Ngavej, V., & Lee, K. Y. (2017). Does area studies need theory? Revisiting the debate on the future of area studies. The Korean Journal of International Studies, 15(1), 85–101.
Chase-Dunn, C., & Hall, T. D. (1997). Rise and demise: Comparing world-systems. Westview Press.
Chase-Dunn, C., Kawano, Y., & Brewer, B. D. (2000). Trade globalization since 1795: Waves of integration in the world-system. American Sociological Review, 65(1), 77–95. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657290
Cheng, E., & Zhai, C. (2021). China as a “quasi-center” in the world economic system: Developing a new “center–quasi-center–semi-periphery–periphery” theory. World Review of Political Economy, 12(1), 4–26. https://doi.org/10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.12.1.0004
China Power Team. (2024, 11 Ekim). How is the Belt and Road Initiative advancing China’s interests?. China Power. https://chinapower.csis.org/china-belt-and-road-initiative/ (Erişim Tarihi: 18.06.2025).
Clark, S. (Ed.). (1999). The Annales school: Critical assessments (Vols. 1–4). Routledge.
Crifò, G. (1981). Scuola delle Annales e storia del diritto: La situazione italiana. Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité, 93(1), 483–494. https://www.persee.fr/doc/mefr_0223-5102_1981_num_93_1_1281 (Erişim Tarihi: 25.04.2025).
Derluguian, G., & Harris, K. (2015, 29 Haziran). World-systems analysis. Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0066
Dewald, J. (2006). Lost worlds: The emergence of French social history, 1815–1970: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Dosse, F. (1994). New history in France: The triumph of the Annales (P. V. Conroy, Jr., Trans.). University of Illinois Press. (Original work published 1987).
Elwell, F. W. (2006). Macrosociology: Four modern theorists: Paradigm Publishers.
Elwell, F. W. (2009). Macrosociology: The study of sociocultural systems: Edwin Mellen Press.
Elwell, F. W. (2013). Sociocultural systems: Principles of structure and change: Athabasca University Press.
Ferraro, V. (1996, Temmuz). Dependency theory: An introduction. Mount Holyoke College.https://resources.saylor.org/wwwresources/archived/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/HIST363-1.3.2-Dependency-Theory.pdf (Erişim Tarihi: 19.09.2025).
Fink, C. (1989). Marc Bloch: A life in history: Cambridge University Press.
Flint, C. (2017, 22 Aralık). Geographic perspectives on world-systems theory. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.196
Flint, C., & Dezzani, R. (2017, 24 Mayıs). Defining and operationalizing context through a structural political geography for international relations. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.534.
Forster, R. (1978). Achievements of the Annales School. The Journal of Economic History, 38(1), 58–76. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022050700083395
Frank, A. G., & Gills, B. K. (2003). Dünya sistemi: Beş yüzyıllık mı, beş binyıllık mı? (E. Ayhan, Çev.). İmge Kitabevi.
Friedman, S. W. (1996). Marc Bloch, sociology and geography: Encountering changing disciplines: Cambridge University Press.
Gräbner-Radkowitsch, C., & Kapeller, J. (2024). The micro macro link in heterodox economics (ICAE Working Paper Series No. 153). Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University Linz. https://www.jku.at/fileadmin/gruppen/108/ICAE_Working_Papers/wp153.pdf (Erişim Tarihi: 16.02.2025).
Harris, O. (2004). Braudel: Historical time and the horror of discontinuity. History Workshop Journal, (57), 161–174. https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/57.1.161
Herubel, J.-P. V. M. (2004). Historiography's horizon and imperative: Febvrian Annales legacy and library history as cultural history. Libraries & Culture, 39(3), 293–312. https://doi.org/10.1353/lac.2004.0044
Hexter, J. H. (1972). Fernand Braudel and the Monde Braudellien. Journal of Modern History, 44(4), 480–539. https://doi.org/10.1086/240960
Hufton, O. (1986). Fernand Braudel. Past & Present, (112), 208–213. https://doi.org/10.1093/past/112.1.208 Hunt, L. (1986). French history in the last twenty years: The rise and fall of the Annales paradigm. Journal of Contemporary History, 21(2), 209–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/002200948602100202
Huppert, G. (1982). Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch: The creation of the Annales. The French Review, 55(4), 510–513. [suspicious link removed]
Iggers, G. G. (1997). Historiography in the twentieth century: From scientific objectivity to the postmodern challenge: Wesleyan University Press.
International Monetary Fund. (2024, Nisan). World Economic Outlook Database: Groups and aggregates information. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/groups-and-aggregates (Erişim Tarihi: 17.02.2025).
James, P. (1997). Postdependency? The Third World in an era of globalism and late-capitalism. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 22(2), 205–226.
Jiang, T. (2024). Belt and Road by the sea: 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. In Q. Fang & X. Li (Eds.), China under Xi Jinping: A new assessment. Leiden University Press.
Khondker, H. H. (1987). The world according to Wallerstein (Working Paper No. 86). Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore. https://fass.nus.edu.sg/socanth/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2024/05/WP86.pdf (Erişim Tarihi: 27.04.2025).
Kolluoğlu-Kırlı, B. (2003). From Orientalism to area studies. CR: The New Centennial Review, 3(3), 93–111. https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2004.0007
Korotayev, A., & Zinkina, J. (2014). On the structure of the present-day convergence. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 31(2/3), 139–152. https://doi.org/10.1108/CWIS-11-2013-0064
Köllner, P., & Ahram, A. (2018, Ağustos 22-25). Comparative area studies: What it is, what it can do [Konferans bildirisi]. ECPR General Conference, Hamburg, Almanya. https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PaperDetails/40279 (Erişim Tarihi: 06.07.2025).
Kuijper, H. (2008). Area studies versus disciplines: Towards an interdisciplinary, systemic country approach. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 3(7), 205-216.
Latvian Institute of International Affairs. (2016, 28 Temmuz). BRI instead of OBOR – China edits the English name of its most ambitious international project. https://www.liia.lv/en/publications/bri-instead-of-obor-china-edits-the-english-name-of-its-most-ambitious-international-project-649 (Erişim Tarihi: 16.02.2025). Lechner, F. (2001). Globalization theories: World-System Theory.
Lee, R. E. (2010). Critiques and developments in world-systems analysis: an introduction to the special collection. The Journal of Philosophical Economics, IV(1), 5–18.
Lee, R. E. (2018). Lessons of the longue durée: The legacy of Fernand Braudel. Historia Crítica, 69, 69–77. https://doi.org/10.7440/histcrit69.2018.04
Leroux, R. (1998). Histoire et sociologie en France: De l'histoire-science à la sociologie durkheimienne: Presses universitaires de France.
Long, P. O. (2005). The Annales and the history of technology. Technology and Culture, 46(1), 177–186. https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2005.0028
Megill, A. (2004). Coherence and incoherence in historical studies: From the Annales School to the new cultural history. New Literary History, 35(2), 207–231. https://doi.org/10.1353/nlh.2004.0025
Miyoshi, M., & Harootunian, H. D. (2002). Learning places: The afterlives of area studies: Duke University Press. Nedopil, C. (2024). China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2023. Green Finance & Development Center, FISF Fudan University & Griffith University. https://greenfdc.org/china-belt-and-road-initiative-bri-investment-report-2023/ (Erişim Tarihi: 06.04.2026).
Nedopil, C. (2025). China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2024. Green Finance & Development Center. https://greenfdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Nedopil-2025_China-Belt-and-Road-Initiative-BRI-Investment-Report-2024-1.pdf
Poirrier, P. (2000). Aborder l'histoire: Seuil.
Roberts, M. (2004). The Annales school and historical writing. In P. Lambert & P. Schofield (Eds.), Making history: An introduction to the history and practices of a discipline (pp. 78–92). Routledge.
Rodrigo, G. C. (2011, Eylül). Micro and Macro: The economic divide. Finance & Development. International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/Series/Back-to-Basics/Micro-and-Macro (Erişim Tarihi: 21.07.2025).
Rolland, N. (2019, 5 Mart). The geo-economic challenge of China's Belt and Road Initiative. War on the Rocks. https://warontherocks.com/2019/03/the-geo-economic-challenge-of-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative/ (Erişim Tarihi: 23.09.2025).
Rubin, M. (1997). The work of Jacques Le Goff and the challenges of medieval history: Boydell Press.
Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Vintage.
Schäfer, W. (2010, 31 Aralık). Reconfiguring area studies for the global age. Globality Studies Journal, 22. http://globality.cc.stonybrook.edu/?p=268 (Erişim Tarihi: 21.07.2025).
Schilling, D. (2003). Everyday life and the challenge to history in postwar France: Braudel, Lefebvre, Certeau. Diacritics, 33(1), 23–40. https://doi.org/10.1353/dia.2005.0013
Shapiro, S. (2022). World-systems and literary studies. In P. Crosthwaite, P. Knight, & N. Marsh (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to literature and economics (pp. 196–211): Cambridge University Press.
Shaw, T. M. (1979). The semiperiphery in Africa and Latin America: Subimperialism and semiindustrialism. The Review of Black Political Economy, 9(4), 341–358. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02891728
Sil, R. (2020). The survival and adaptation of area studies. In The SAGE handbook of political science. SAGE Publications.https://sias.ff.cuni.cz/wp-content/uploads/sites/118/2021/12/Sil-Area-Studies-2020.pdf (Erişim Tarihi: 12.03.2025).
Snyder, D., & Kick, E. L. (1979). Structural position in the world system and economic growth, 1955–1970: A multiple-network analysis of transnational interactions. American Journal of Sociology, 84(5), 1096–1126. https://doi.org/10.1086/226902
Steiner, F. (1986). Material life: Human ecology and the Annales School. Landscape Architecture, 76(1), 69–75. [suspicious link removed]
Stirling, K. (2007). Rereading Marc Bloch: The life and works of a visionary modernist. History Compass, 5(2), 525–538. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00409.x
Stoianovich, T. (1976). French historical method: The Annales paradigm. Cornell University Press.
Tachimoto, N. M. (2004). Global area studies and fieldwork (Discussion Paper No. 129). Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. https://www.gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp/bpub/research/public/paper/article/129.pdf (Erişim Tarihi: 21.08.2025).
The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China. (2023, Ekim). The Belt and Road Initiative: A key pillar of the global community of shared future. Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. http://www.beltandroadforum.org/english/n101/2023/1010/c124-895.html (Erişim Tarihi: 18.09.2025).
Trevor-Roper, H. R. (1972). Fernand Braudel, the Annales, and the Mediterranean. The Journal of Modern History, 44(4), 468–479. https://doi.org/10.1086/240956
United Nations (UN). (2024). High-technology exports (% of manufactured exports) - China . United Nations Comtrade Database (World Bank WDI Data Portal). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/TX.VAL.TECH.MF.ZS?locations=CN (Erişim Tarihi: 01.04.2026).
Wallerstein, I. (1974). The modern world-system. Academic Press.
Wallerstein, I. (2006). Tarihsel Kapitalizm. İstanbul: Metis Yayınları.
Wallerstein, I. M. (2004). World-systems analysis: An introduction. Duke University Press.
Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1980. The Modern World-System II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600-1750. New York: Academic Press.
Wan, M. (2015). The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: The construction of power and the struggle for the East Asian international order: Palgrave Macmillan.
Weiner, C. D. (t.y.). The Annales School. Carleton College. https://www.carleton.edu/history/faculty/in-memoriam/weiner/annales/ (Erişim Tarihi: 11.09.2025).
World Bank. (2024a). Manufacturing, value added (current US$) - China . World Bank Open Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.CD?locations=CN (Erişim Tarihi: 01.04.2026).
World Bank. (2025). Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP) - China . World Bank Open Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.IND.TOTL.ZS?locations=CN (Erişim Tarihi: 28.03.2026).

Details

Primary Language

Turkish

Subjects

Political Science (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Ali Kiriktaş ^*
0000-0003-4209-0094
Türkiye

Publication Date

August 20, 2026

Submission Date

January 11, 2026

Acceptance Date

July 2, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 9 Number: 2

DOI

https://doi.org/10.59372/turajas.1861425

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA94GG75XS

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Kiriktaş, A. (2026). Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi. Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science, 9(2), 83-95. https://doi.org/10.59372/turajas.1861425

AMA

1.Kiriktaş A. Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi. TURAJAS. 2026;9(2):83-95. doi:10.59372/turajas.1861425

Chicago

Kiriktaş, Ali. 2026. “Dünya-Sistem Analizi Ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre Ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi”. Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science 9 (2): 83-95. https://doi.org/10.59372/turajas.1861425.

EndNote

Kiriktaş A (August 1, 2026) Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi. Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science 9 2 83–95.

IEEE

[1]A. Kiriktaş, “Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi”, TURAJAS, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 83–95, Aug. 2026, doi: 10.59372/turajas.1861425.

ISNAD

Kiriktaş, Ali. “Dünya-Sistem Analizi Ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre Ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi”. Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science 9/2 (August 1, 2026): 83-95. https://doi.org/10.59372/turajas.1861425.

JAMA

1.Kiriktaş A. Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi. TURAJAS. 2026;9:83–95.

MLA

Kiriktaş, Ali. “Dünya-Sistem Analizi Ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre Ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi”. Turkish Research Journal of Academic Social Science, vol. 9, no. 2, Aug. 2026, pp. 83-95, doi:10.59372/turajas.1861425.

Vancouver

1.Ali Kiriktaş. Dünya-Sistem Analizi ve Bölge Çalışmalarının Diyalektiği: Merkez, Çevre ve Yarı-Çevre Kategorilerinin Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi. TURAJAS. 2026 Aug. 1;9(2):83-95. doi:10.59372/turajas.1861425