ABSTRACT
The work of Andre Gunder Frank and Barry Gills (Frank 1990, 1991a, b, 1995; Frank and Gills 1993, and in this volume; Gills and Frank 1991, 1992) on the 5,000-year world system is, I think, of exceptional importance. Although I was initially highly skeptical of many of their claims, I have gradually come to be convinced that they have put their finger on a historical phenomenon that has been badly neglected by scholars. I have come to be convinced, that is, by their contention that the commercialization of economic life was much more significant in the early historic societies and civilizations than has generally been thought, and, moreover, that there has been a long-term process of expansion in the commercialization of economic life over the last few millennia. In this chapter I want to develop this theme of expanding world commercialization and relate it to other evolutionary processes in world history, but first let me talk about two areas concerning which I continue to disagree with Frank and Gills.
