Looking Back and Forging Ahead: Thirty Years of Social Network Research on the World-System

Abstract

We review three decades of research linking social network methods with world systems theory. We identify four themes nested within two versions of a general social network methodology—the identification of network Roles and Position. The themes vary by the type of data and the definition of equivalence used to identify roles and positions. Second, we provide a demonstration of the general methodological approach taken in the literature, applying a recent methodological innovation to a newly compiled large global trade dataset. The results identify the expected core/periphery interaction pattern, suggesting that it is a fundamental feature of cross-national trade data, regardless of how the data are analyzed. We conclude by suggesting both methodological and substantive directions for future social network research on the world-system.