Communication and Globalization: A Longitudinal Analysis of the InternationalTelecommunication Nctwork

Abstract

This paper extends the theoretical arguments of the world-systems perspective to the emerging post-industrial society. Using survey data gathered by AT&T and published in the World's Telephones (1978-1990) and data gathered by the International Institute of Communication and published in TeleGeography (1991-1992), this paper describes the process of globalization by examining the changes in the international telecommunications network from 1978 to 1992. Based on network analysis, the results indicate that the system was relatively stable over this time period. In the late 1970s, the system was composed of a number of sub-groups. By 1980, it had coalesced into a single group with the United States and the other western economic powers at the center and the Eastern block and less developed countries in the periphery. Over time, the network slowly became denser, more centralized and more highly integrated. During the 1980s, the newly industrialized countries (NICs) of East Asia and the wealthier Latin American countries moved from the periphery of the network toward the center. Beginning in 1989, the former members of the Soviet block also moved from the periphery toward the center of the system, supplanting the wealthier countries from Latin America. The Asian NICs, however, retained their semiperipheral position.