ABSTRACT
To try to write about the world economy is to invite immediate criticism. In some eyes, world economy is merely a synonym for the western capitalist system which, over the course of more than half a millennium, has penetrated more and more corners of the globe in its search for continuing means of accumulation. Others will argue that the term fails to register the significance of the socialist states as a distinctive and largely separatist realm. Much the same might be said about parts of the African continent, where the living world is often far remote from the materialist culture of the west: western commentators may label such areas 'developing economies', but in many ways this is to invoke a datum which bears limited relevance to human existence there.
