Understanding Divergent Convergence:
A Complementary Framework for Uneven Development in the Global South
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2026.1370Keywords:
Systemic cycles of accumulation, Latin American Structuralism, Historical Institutionalism, Geoeconomic transformation, World-Systems AnalysisAbstract
The twenty-first century is marked by a profound transformation of the global capitalist system, characterized by simultaneous convergence between the Global North (GN) and the Global South (GS), alongside increasing divergence within the GS. At the center of this process, the Sino-Asian macro-regional formation has emerged as a new pole of accumulation, reshaping global hierarchies while deepening asymmetries within the GS. This article addresses three interrelated questions: how this transformation has unfolded, why Sino-Asia has become a dynamic center of the global system, and what explains the growing divergence within the GS. To do so, it advances a complementary multilevel framework integrating Arrighian World System Analysis (WSA), Latin American Structuralism (LAS), and Historical Institutionalism (HI). The analysis shows that Arrighian systemic cycles of accumulation—particularly the transition from financial to material phases—account for the conditions underlying the rise of Sino-Asia and a more dynamic GS, but are insufficient to explain intraregional divergence. Prebischian LAS addresses this limitation by highlighting the role of industrialization, technological upgrading, and regional integration in shaping differentiated development trajectories. Integrated within a systemic perspective, HI helps identify state capacity as the key mechanism enabling these processes. Taken together, this framework explains the rise of Sino-Asia as a dynamic center of systemic transformation and the persistence of uneven and divergent development within the GS.
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