Mike Tyler Sport

World Systems Theory, developed by social theorist Immanuel Wallerstein, posits that the nation-states of the world, as a result of long term historical interactions and conflicts, are presently interconnected in an unequal network of flows . These flows are principally theorised as being economic in nature. Capital (money) moves around the world market, via multiple transactions, and substantially lands in the coffers of the already-rich nations. In World Systems Theory the world is made up of core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral nations. If using traditional Marxist terms, the core nations would loosely correspond to the bourgeoisie, while the semi-periphery and periphery would correspond to the proletariat. The core nations control the global means of production, and the peripheral nations are positioned as servants of the core. Certainly the picture is more nuanced than this, but the concepts underlying most dependency theories stem from a Marxist framing of the world.

It's 1994. James Richardson sits at a table, caffeinated beverage in tall glass, flicking through the Gazetta dello Sport and waxing lyrical about the exploits of the classiest, most self-assured and knowingly-superior footballers on the planet. And what exploits they were: Paul Gascoigne’s unadulterated joy at his equaliser for Lazio in the Rome Derby of 1992; George Weah’s goal following that stupendous 90 yard dribble through the entire Verona team in September 1996; the sheer game-changing talent and semi-mystical presence of the ‘Divine Ponytail’, Roberto Baggio. The 90s were the heyday of Italian football, or Calcio , as it's known over there. Massive, heaving crowds with gargantuan flags would peer through billowing firecracker smoke at some of the finest footballing talents from across Europe and South America: Gullit, van Basten and Rijkaard; Caniggia, Batistuta and Crespo; Gascoigne, Platt and Walker(!). The success of the nation's football prowess was en