ABSTRACT
The most complete formulation of the notion of the periphery is presented in the volumes of Immanuel Wallerstein. He states that "the periphery of the world economy is that geographical sector of it wherein production is primarily of lower-ranking goods but which is an integral part of the overall system of the division of labor, because the commodities involved are only for daily use. One important factor hastening the transformations was that the economy merchant capital was creating served as a magnet to other regions of the world. Peripheralization became a key process in the growth of the world economy. One widely applicable truth is that many regions of eastern Europe developed intensive trading relations with the West. The periphery in eastern Europe emerged in a region that was extremely decentralized. The era witnessed the growth of the plantation economy in the region that has been referred to as the "Near Atlantic" because of its proximity to Europe.
