This edited collection of provocative essays reproduces the debate on the role of capital accumulation in world development and the criteria for defining a world eco-system. Contributors include: Samir Amin and I. Wallerstein.

Part I: Introduction 1. The 5,000-Year World System: An Interdisciplinary Introduction Andre Gunder Frank and Barry K. Gills Part II: Building Blocks of Theory and Analysis 2. Capital Imperialism and Exploitation in Ancient World Systems K. Ekholm and J. Friedman 3. The cumulation of Accumulation Barry K. Gills and Andre Gunder Frank 4. Hegemonic Transitions in the World System Barry K. Gills Part III: Using the Theory to Reanalyze History 5. World System Cycles, Crises, and Hegemonic Shifts, 1700 BC to 1700 AD Barry K. Gills and Andre Gunder Frank 6. Transitiona Ideological Modes: Feudalism, Capitalism, Socialism Andre Gunder Frank Part IV: The World System: 500 Years or 5,000? Discussing the Theoretical, Historical and Political Issues 7. Civilizations, Cores, World Economies, and Oikumenes Daivd Wilkinson 8. The Ancient World-System Versus the Modern Capitalist World-System Samir Amin 9. Discontinuities and Persistence: One World System or a Succession of Systems? Janet Abu-Lughod 10. World System Versus World-Systems: A Critique Immanuel Wallerstein 11. Rejoinder and Conclusions Andre Gunder Frank and Barry K. Gills