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"At a time when globalization is at the center of international debate from Davos to Porto Alegre, an introduction to 'world-systems analysis,' an original approach to world development since the sixteenth century, is timely and relevant. This is a lucidly written and comprehensive treatment of its origins, controversies, and development by Immanuel Wallerstein, its undoubted pioneer and most eminent practitioner."--Eric Hobsbawm, author of Interesting Times: A Twentieth-Century Life and The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century "Immanuel Wallerstein's mind can reach as far and encompass as much as anyone's in our time. The world, to him, is a vast, integrated system, and he makes the case for that vision with an elegant and almost relentless logic. But he also knows that to see as he does requires looking through a very different epistemological lens than the one most of us are in the habit of using. So his gift to us is not just a new understanding of how the world works but a new way of apprehending it. A brilliant work on both scores."--Kai Erikson, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Yale University
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In World-Systems Analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein provides a concise, accessible, and comprehensive introduction to the revolutionary approach to understanding the history and development of the modern world that he pioneered thirty years ago. Since Wallerstein first developed world-systems analysis, it has become a widely utilized methodology within the historical social sciences and a common point of reference within discussions of global processes. Now, for the first time in one volume, Wallerstein offers a succinct summary of world-systems analysis and a clear outline of the modern world-system, describing the structures of knowledge upon which it is based, its mechanisms, and its future. Intended for general readers, students, and experienced practitioners alike, this book presents the definitive overview of world-systems analysis by its original architect. Wallerstein explains the defining characteristics of world-systems analysis: its emphasis on world-systems rather than nation-states, insistence on the need to consider historical processes as they unfold over long periods of time, and demand that bodies of knowledge usually viewed as distinct from one another - such as history, political science, economics, and sociology - be combined and considered within a single analytical framework. He describes the world-system as a social reality comprised of interconnected nations, firms, households, classes, and identity groups of all kinds. He identifies and highlights the significance of the key moments in the evolution of the modern world-system: the development of a global capitalist economy in the sixteenth-century, the beginning of two centuries of liberal centrism in the French Revolution of 1789, and the undermining of that centrism in the global revolts of 1968, which triggered a terminal structural crisis within the modern world-system.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This excellent short introduction (around 100 pages long) also serves to present the interpretation of World-Systems analysis endorsed by its author at the time of writing. Its author, Immanuel Wallerstein, is the leading global World-Systems analyst following the death of the perspective's founder Andre Gunder Frank, and in many respects the ideal person to write a guide of this kind. Despite his theoretical importance, Wallerstein is more than able to write in an accessible, introductory way. The work also serves as a brief intellectual history of the social sciences, from the split between sciences and arts to the rise of World-Systems analysis itself.
The first chapter provides an intellectual history of the emergence of the perspective, a summary of the ideas it borrows from Braudel, and a brief summary of several critical perspectives on it. The second chapter sets out the theory and explains why it views the global South as exploited. It explores different kinds of household income and explains why capital might prefer semi-proletarianised labour, sets out the tension between universalist and discriminatory discourses in the world system, and explains the account of cycles and changes in the world economy, including the quasi-monopoly status of core production, its gradual outward diffusion, and Kondratieff cycles, as well as defining key concepts such as capitalism, oligopoly, class and status-group. The third chapter looks at the state and the state system, explaining the functions performed by the state on behalf of capital, as well as discussing relations between firms and states, the issue of "externalising" costs, and mobility of multinational firms. The fourth chapter explores "geoculture" and ideologies (conservatism, liberalism, radicalism), briefly exploring the history of social movements. The fifth chapter locates the account in terms of where we are now, theorising the present as a phase of systemic crisis, a downturn made disastrous by the exhaustion of the usual means of recovery, ending with a call for the creation of a more egalitarian system in its place.
As an introduction, this text can hardly be faulted. All the major contributions and concepts are there in some form, from core-periphery models to unequal exchange. The only partial weakness is that the presentation by way of history and explanation tends to fuse together the distinct contributions of different individual authors. The work would also have benefited from a clearer sense of what case-studies using this framework might look like. These are, however, minor points. Overall, this is a great way into the perspective it introduces, clearly presented and easy to read.
The first chapter provides an intellectual history of the emergence of the perspective, a summary of the ideas it borrows from Braudel, and a brief summary of several critical perspectives on it. The second chapter sets out the theory and explains why it views the global South as exploited. It explores different kinds of household income and explains why capital might prefer semi-proletarianised labour, sets out the tension between universalist and discriminatory discourses in the world system, and explains the account of cycles and changes in the world economy, including the quasi-monopoly status of core production, its gradual outward diffusion, and Kondratieff cycles, as well as defining key concepts such as capitalism, oligopoly, class and status-group. The third chapter looks at the state and the state system, explaining the functions performed by the state on behalf of capital, as well as discussing relations between firms and states, the issue of "externalising" costs, and mobility of multinational firms. The fourth chapter explores "geoculture" and ideologies (conservatism, liberalism, radicalism), briefly exploring the history of social movements. The fifth chapter locates the account in terms of where we are now, theorising the present as a phase of systemic crisis, a downturn made disastrous by the exhaustion of the usual means of recovery, ending with a call for the creation of a more egalitarian system in its place.
As an introduction, this text can hardly be faulted. All the major contributions and concepts are there in some form, from core-periphery models to unequal exchange. The only partial weakness is that the presentation by way of history and explanation tends to fuse together the distinct contributions of different individual authors. The work would also have benefited from a clearer sense of what case-studies using this framework might look like. These are, however, minor points. Overall, this is a great way into the perspective it introduces, clearly presented and easy to read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Immanuel Wallerstein is certainly one of the most revolutionary and influential social sciences thinkers alive today, so when he writes a very accessible and informative introduction to the general theory he and his colleagues developed, it is worth paying attention. This book introduces that theory, world-systems analysis (with hyphen!), and gives a quick overview of the historical worldview that underpins it. Despite the easy writing style, it may require some prior knowledge of and familiarity with historiography and political science - world-systems analysis is somewhat notorious for being at least as generous in inventing neologisms in the field as Marxism, so it's easy to get lost without having a firm footing in the terminology. Nonetheless, it is impressive how much information Wallerstein manages to pack in a readable manner into about 90 pages of actual text.
This introduction shows very well the benefits and the drawbacks of the world-systems approach. Wallerstein spends little time defending his theory, but only makes it explicit, which is helpful for keeping an easy overview. The great strength of world-systems analysis is precisely the capability to keep this overview: it is highly insightful and incisive as a tool for understanding international relations, international trade, economic cycles, and their relation to the broad outline of 'systemic' and 'antisystemic' politics roughly since the French Revolution. Possibly even more than Marxism, from which it is in some ways an offshoot, it deals in the grand overviews and the broad sweeps, and it has the virtue over much Marxist work until recently of being strongly embedded in the enormous expansion of economic history as a serious and critical discipline in the last couple decades. It is broadly 'Third Worldist' and anticapitalist in its orientation, and if I mention Marxism in this review more than the book actually does, it is because it consciously or unconsciously has set itself up as the main competitor in 'grand theory' on the anticapitalist social scientific scene. However, this is also where some of its flaws come in. Although as mentioned Wallerstein does not really defend his tenets in this book, and that may make attacking the premises somewhat unfair, the work clearly shows the inferiority of world-systems analysis on the topics of understanding collective action and understanding production and modes of production. Arghiri Emmanuel and others' lessons on international trade have been well taken by world-systems analysis, but in terms of 'hard' economic theory it lags far behind Marxist political economy. Wallerstein's completely incoherent household-based criticism of Marxist class theory in Chapter 2 proves this.
That said, much can be learned from the approach, in particular its highly fruitful use of the great advances in economic history since A.G. Frank, Braudel, Arrighi, Amin etc. An integration of this longue durée perspective with Marxist political economy seems to be the way forward for the social sciences.
This introduction shows very well the benefits and the drawbacks of the world-systems approach. Wallerstein spends little time defending his theory, but only makes it explicit, which is helpful for keeping an easy overview. The great strength of world-systems analysis is precisely the capability to keep this overview: it is highly insightful and incisive as a tool for understanding international relations, international trade, economic cycles, and their relation to the broad outline of 'systemic' and 'antisystemic' politics roughly since the French Revolution. Possibly even more than Marxism, from which it is in some ways an offshoot, it deals in the grand overviews and the broad sweeps, and it has the virtue over much Marxist work until recently of being strongly embedded in the enormous expansion of economic history as a serious and critical discipline in the last couple decades. It is broadly 'Third Worldist' and anticapitalist in its orientation, and if I mention Marxism in this review more than the book actually does, it is because it consciously or unconsciously has set itself up as the main competitor in 'grand theory' on the anticapitalist social scientific scene. However, this is also where some of its flaws come in. Although as mentioned Wallerstein does not really defend his tenets in this book, and that may make attacking the premises somewhat unfair, the work clearly shows the inferiority of world-systems analysis on the topics of understanding collective action and understanding production and modes of production. Arghiri Emmanuel and others' lessons on international trade have been well taken by world-systems analysis, but in terms of 'hard' economic theory it lags far behind Marxist political economy. Wallerstein's completely incoherent household-based criticism of Marxist class theory in Chapter 2 proves this.
That said, much can be learned from the approach, in particular its highly fruitful use of the great advances in economic history since A.G. Frank, Braudel, Arrighi, Amin etc. An integration of this longue durée perspective with Marxist political economy seems to be the way forward for the social sciences.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wallerstein's introduction to world-systems analysis is a good way to get introduced to this theoretical framework and understand not only what a world system is, but also how academia was split into different "disciplines" and how world system analysis is bringing a different perspective into the study of societies, by looking into a different, wider, geografical and temporal zone.
It is an easy read and even if you are already familiar with world system analysis and Wallerstein's work you might still want to read this through to get some more clarity on some aspects.
Of course, it is only an introduction, so it doesn't go into much depth with most things. However I'm happy I own this book!
It is an easy read and even if you are already familiar with world system analysis and Wallerstein's work you might still want to read this through to get some more clarity on some aspects.
Of course, it is only an introduction, so it doesn't go into much depth with most things. However I'm happy I own this book!
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Interesting exploration
I will keep this brief. All paradigms and views are best assessed based on how things fit into them. Read more
Published on 8 May 2010 by Harry
Interesting...
Three stars on this site may come across as a snub - it's not meant to be, this is interesting enough, and a worthy (though opinionated) introduction to a vast subject. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2006 by E N Cuentro
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