Waves of Conflict and Changes in the Power Configuration in the East Asian World-System, 1800BCE-1830CE

Chris Chase-Dunn, University of California, Riverside
Hiroko Inoue, University of California, Riverside

This study examines sociocultural evolution by comparing small, medium-sized, and large world-systems since the Paleolithic era. The study focuses on the temporal relationships between the growth and decline of cities and empires and changes in the distribution of power among states, the amount of interstate warfare and internal rebellions in five whole interstate systems (world-systems) since 2700 BCE. Having main unit of analysis as the political/military interaction network, we examine the relationships between urban and polity swings and changes in the power configuration of these same systems. Interstate power configurations vary from decentralized to centralized based on the relative sizes and power of the interacting states in each system. This study examines the timing of the series of systemic expansions that began with the emergence of early states in the Huang He (Yellow River) valley Bronze Age China.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 119. Contingency, Networks, and Power in Long-wave Historical Development