Abstract
A critical question for world-system theory is what level of predictability there is for hegemonic transitions in the world system. I argue here, on the basis of historical experience, that a proper theory of hegemonic transitions needs to account for several types of transition. At heart, the types of polities competing shape the transition through their internal struggle to control the levers of state power in the states they occupy. The two dominant state types that result from these struggles are trading states and territorial states. In the past 500 years or so of the operation of the modern world system it is noticeable that all of the major trading states have been, or have been trending toward, capitalist forms of economic and social organization. The territorial states have tended to be, or have been trending toward, more statist forms of economic and social organization. At its simplest, two state types give us three basic types of transition: Type I between a trading and a territorial state; Type II between two trading states; and Type III between two territorial states. In reality most transitions are more complex than this.
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Hugill, P.J. (2009). Transitions in Hegemony: A Theory Based on State Type and Technology. In: Thompson, W.R. (eds) Systemic Transitions. The Evolutionary Processes in World Politics series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230618381_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230618381_3
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