In the quarter century since Wallerstein first developed world systems theory (WST), scholars in a variety of disciplines have adopted the approach to explain intersocietal interaction on a grand scale. These essays bring to light archaeological data and analysis to show that many historic and prehistoric states lacked the mechanisms to dominate the distant (and in some cases, nearby) societies with which they interacted.

In the quarter century since Wallerstein first developed world systems theory (WST), scholars in a variety of disciplines have adopted the approach to explain intersocietal interaction on a grand scale. These essays bring to light archaeological data and analysis to show that many historic and prehistoric states lacked the mechanisms to dominate the distant (and in some cases, nearby) societies with which they interacted. Core/periphery exploitation needs to be demonstrated, not simply assumed, as the interdisciplinary dialogue which occurs in this volume demonstrates. World-Systems Theory in Practice will appeal to individuals with an interest in the application of WST in both the Old World and the New World. The papers in this volume reflect the vitality of the debate concerning the use of such generalizing theories and will be of interest to archeologists, anthropologists, historians, sociologists, and those involved in the study of civilizations.

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 World-Systems and Evolution: An Appraisal
Chapter 3 Goodness of Fit: On the Relationship Between Ethnographic Data and World-Systems Theory
Chapter 4 Legitimation Crises in Prehistoric Worlds
Chapter 5 The Changing Structure of Macroregional Mesoamerica: The Classic-Postclassic Transition in the Valley of Oaxaca
Chapter 6 Negotiated Peripherality in Iron Age Greece: Accepting and Resisting the East
Chapter 7 Production Within and Beyond Imperial Boundaries: Goods, Exchanges/ and Power in Roman Europe
Chapter 8 The Emerging World System and Colonial Yucatan: The Archeology of Core-Periphery Integration, 1780-1847
Chapter 9 Thoughts on the Periphery: Ideological Consequences of Core/Periphery Relations
Chapter 10 Rethinking World Systems: Power, Distance, and Diasporas in the Dynamics of Interregional Interaction
Chapter 11 Multiple Levels in the Aegean Bronze Age World-System
Chapter 12 World Systems Theory, Core Periphery Interactions and Elite Economic Exchange in Mississippian Societies
Chapter 13 The Inca Empire: Detailing the Complexities of Core/Periphery Interactions
Chapter 14 The Evolutionary Pulse of the World System: Hinterland Incursions and Migrations, 4000 B.C. to A.D. 1500
Chapter 15 Abuses and Uses of World Systems Theory in Archeology
Chapter 16 Does World-Systems Theory Work?: An Ethnographer's Perspective
Chapter 17 Conclusion
Chapter 18 Index