Unequal Exchange and Uneven Development in Social Life: Continuities in a Structural Theory of Social Exchange

Abstract

The paper takes up two basic concepts in a structural theory of social exchange: the structuring of exchange systems and unequal exchange. The latter is conceptualized in terms of structural consequences of ex change activity. The two concepts are used to analyze the role of exchange activity in the production and reproduction of social structure and cor responding exchange systems.

The intentional structuring of exchange systems is the focus of the second part (Structuring exchange systems) with two examples from inter national political economy: the structuring of England/Portugal trade re lations in the seventeenth century and the formation of Bretton Woods economic institutions. The third part (Social structure and unequal ex change) examines the reciprocal relationship between social structure and unequal exchange processes. A general model is formulated and applied to exchange systems at different societal levels: husband/wife exchange. capitalist employer/labor exchange, and exchange between enterprises of developed and those of less developed countries. The fourth part (Ques tions for the future) refers to two matters for future research: the trans formation of unequal exchange systems and the role of social context in structuring the logic of social action and meaning in exchange activity.

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