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Early Modern A ntwerp: The First “World City”?
Author(s) -
Mielants Eric
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/johs.12100
Subject(s) - phenomenon , globalization , novelty , division of labour , world economy , economy , sociology , economic geography , political science , economics , law , psychology , epistemology , philosophy , social psychology
Abstract It is problematic to think of globalization as a new phenomenon and to believe that the phenomenon of a world city, embedded in the global division of labor, is a 20 th century novelty. World city literature in sociology often emphasizes, if not assumes, the relatively recent emergence of world cities in the “new” international division of labor. Sixteenth century A ntwerp, however, was the first world city of an expanding capitalist world economy. Understanding this phenomenon and its decline can raise important questions about the modus operandi of subsequent world cities.