Immanuel Wallerstein
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Immanuel Wallerstein | |
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Sociologist, Historian | |
Sub-discipline | Historical sociology, Comparative sociology, World-systems theory |
Institutions | Columbia University Yale University |
Notable students | Georgi Derluguian, Michael Hechter, John R. Logan, Beverly J. Silver |
Website | http://www.iwallerstein.com/ |
Part of a series about |
Imperialism studies |
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Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein (
He was the 13th president of International Sociological Association (1994–1998).[6]
Personal life and education
His parents, Sara Günsberg (born in 1895) and Menachem Lazar Wallerstein (born in 1890), were
Having grown up in a politically conscious family, Wallerstein first became interested in world affairs as a teenager.
From 1951 to 1953 Wallerstein served in the
Wallerstein married Beatrice Friedman in 1964, and had a daughter, Katharine Wallerstein, two years later. He was stepfather to Beatrice's two children from a previous marriage, Susan Morgenstern and Robert Morgenstern.[10] He and Beatrice had five grandchildren.
Academic career
During his time at Columbia University he was a supporter of students who were active during
Originally, Wallerstein's principal sub-area of study was not American affairs, but the politics of the non-European world, specifically India and Africa.[8] For two decades Wallerstein researched Africa, publishing numerous books and articles,[8] and in 1973 he became president of the African Studies Association.[12]
Professional career
Wallerstein's academic career began at Columbia University where he instructor and then associate professor of sociology from 1958 to 1971.[9] From there he moved to McGill University, in Montreal where he taught from 1971 to 1976. His reputation preceded him became distinguished professor of sociology at SUNY Binghamton University from 1976 to 1999.[13]
In 1976 Wallerstein was offered the unique opportunity to pursue a new avenue of research, and so became head of the
During his career Wallerstein held visiting-professor posts in
Between 2000 and his death in 2019, Wallerstein worked as a senior research scholar at Yale University.[19] He was also a member of the Advisory Editors Council of the Social Evolution & History journal. In 2003, he received the "Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award" from the American Sociological Association,[12] and in 2004 the International N. D. Kondratieff Foundation and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RAEN) awarded him the Gold Kondratieff Medal.[20] Wallerstein died on August 31, 2019, from an infection, at the age of 88.[21]
During his time as a lecturer some of the students in attendance recalled him as "a calm, reserved, elegant man".[22] When taking criticism for his thesis, he would usually be calm and collected. As well as hinting at the fact that he was almost disappointed for the people or audience for not fully comprehending what he wished to establish.[23]
Theory
Wallerstein began as an expert on post-colonial African affairs, which he selected as the focus of his studies after attending international youth conferences in 1951 and 1952.[24] His publications focused almost exclusively on this topic until the early 1970s, when he began to distinguish himself as a historian and theorist of the global capitalist economy on a macroscopic level. His early criticism of global capitalism and championship of "anti-systemic movements" made him an éminence grise with the anti-globalization movement within and outside of the academic community, along with Noam Chomsky (1928- ) and Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002).
Wallerstein's most important work, The Modern World-System, appeared in four volumes between 1974 and 2011.[25] In it, Wallerstein drew on several intellectual influences. From Karl Marx, Wallerstein took the underlying emphasis on economic factors and their dominance over ideological factors in global politics, and such ideas as the dichotomy between capital and labor, while criticizing deterministic or teleological Marxian views of world economic development through stages such as feudalism and capitalism. From dependency theory, he took the key concepts of "core" and "periphery".[citation needed]
However, Wallerstein named Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), Fernand Braudel (1902-1985), and Ilya Prigogine (1917-2003) as the three individuals who exerted the greatest influence "in modifying my line of argument (as opposed to deepening a parallel line of argument)."[8] In The Essential Wallerstein, he stated that: "Fanon represented for me the expression of the insistence by those disenfranchised by the modern world‑system that they have a voice, a vision, and a claim not merely to justice but to intellectual valuation.";[8] that Braudel, for his description of the development and political implications of extensive networks of economic exchange in the European world between 1400 and 1800, "more than anyone else made me conscious of the central importance of the social construction of time and space and its impact on our analyses.";[8] and that "Prigogine forced me to face the implications of a world in which certainties did not exist – but knowledge still did."[8]
Wallerstein also stated that another major influence on his work was the
Wallerstein was often mocked for arguing since 1980 that the United States is a "hegemon in decline",[citation needed] but since the Iraq War this argument has become more widespread. During this time, Wallerstein also argued that the development of the capitalist world economy was detrimental to a large proportion of the world's population.[27] Like Marx, Wallerstein predicted that capitalism will be replaced by a socialist economy, a view held in the 1970s, but reassessed in the 1980s.[28] He concluded that the successor system(s) is unknowable.[citation needed]
Wallerstein both participated in and wrote about the World Social Forum.
The Modern World-System
Wallerstein's first volume on world-systems theory (The Modern World System, 1974) was predominantly written during a year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (now affiliated with Stanford University).[3] In it, he argues that the modern world system is distinguished from empires by its reliance on economic control of the world order by a dominating capitalist center (core) in systemic economic and political relation to peripheral and semi-peripheral world areas.[29]
Wallerstein rejected the notion of a "Third World", claiming that there is only one world connected by a complex network of economic exchange relationships — i.e., a "world-economy" or "world-system" in which the "dichotomy of capital and labor" and the endless "accumulation of capital" by competing agents (historically including, but not limited, to nation-states) account for frictions.[30] This approach is known as the world-system theory.
Wallerstein located the origin of the modern world-system in 16th-century Western Europe and the Americas. An initially slight advance in capital accumulation in Britain, the Dutch Republic, and France, due to specific political circumstances at the end of the period of feudalism, set in motion a process of gradual expansion. As a result, only one global network or system of economic exchange exists in modern society. By the 19th century, virtually every area on earth was incorporated into the capitalist world-economy.[citation needed]
The capitalist world-system is far from homogeneous in cultural, political, and economic terms; instead, it is characterized by fundamental differences in social development, accumulation of political power, and capital. Contrary to affirmative theories of
A lasting division of the world into core, semi-periphery, and periphery is an inherent feature of world-system theory. Other theories, partially drawn on by Wallerstein, leave out the semi-periphery and do not allow for a grayscale of development.[30] Areas which have so far remained outside the reach of the world-system enter it at the stage of "periphery". There is a fundamental and institutionally stabilized "division of labor" between core and periphery: while the core has a high level of technological development and manufactures complex products, the role of the periphery is to supply raw materials, agricultural products, and cheap labor for the expanding agents of the core. Economic exchange between core and periphery takes place on unequal terms: the periphery is forced to sell its products at low prices, but has to buy the core's products at comparatively high prices. Once established, this unequal state tends to stabilize itself due to inherent, quasi-deterministic constraints. The statuses of core and periphery are not exclusive and fixed geographically, but are relative to each other. A zone defined as "semi-periphery" acts as a periphery to the core and as a core to the periphery. At the end of the 20th century, this zone would comprise Eastern Europe, China, Brazil, and Mexico. It is important to note that core and peripheral zones can co-exist in the same location.[citation needed]
One effect of the expansion of the world-system is the commodification of things, including human labor. Natural resources, land, labor, and human relationships are gradually being stripped of their "intrinsic" value and turned into commodities in a market which determines their exchange value.[citation needed]
In the last two decades of his life, Wallerstein increasingly focused on the intellectual foundations of the modern world-system and the pursuit of universal theories of human behavior. In addition, he showed interest in the "structures of knowledge" defined by the disciplinary division between sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, and the humanities, which he himself regarded as Eurocentric. In analyzing them, he was highly influenced by the "new sciences" of theorists like Ilya Prigogine.[citation needed]
Criticism
Wallerstein's theory provoked harsh criticism, not only from
Arthur Stinchcombe was very critical of Wallerstein's The Modern World-System, writing that the book presents no theoretical argument and no determinate mechanisms. Instead, the theory of the book "reduces to a general imperative for the scholar to look for world system influences, perhaps wise advice but not very specific." Stinchcombe also argues that the book does not define its concepts independently of their effects, thus entailing tautologies regarding cores, peripheries and semi-peripheries.[32]
Terms and definitions
Capitalist world-system
Wallerstein's definition follows dependency theory, which intended to combine the developments of the different societies since the 16th century in different regions into one collective development. The main characteristic of his definition is the development of a global division of labour, including the existence of independent political units (in this case, states) at the same time. There is no political center, compared to global empires like the Roman Empire; instead, the capitalist world-system is identified by the global market economy. It is divided into core, semi-periphery, and periphery regions, and is ruled by the capitalist mode of production.
Core/periphery
Defines the difference between developed and developing countries, characterized e.g. by power or wealth. The core refers to developed countries, the periphery to the dependent developing countries. The main reason for the position of the developed countries is economic power. Wallerstein "used the term core to suggest a multicentric region containing a group of states rather than the term center, which implies a hierarchy with a single peak."[33]
Semi-periphery
Defines states that are located between core and periphery, and who benefit from the periphery through unequal exchange relations. At the same time, the core benefits from the semi-periphery through unequal exchange relations.
Quasi-monopolies
Defines a kind of monopoly where there is more than one service provider for a particular good/service. Wallerstein claims that quasi-monopolies are self-liquidating because new sellers go into the market by exerting political pressure to open markets to competition.[34]
Kondratiev waves
A Kondratiev wave is defined as a cyclical tendency in the world's economy. It is also known as a supercycle. Wallerstein argues that global wars are tied to Kondratiev waves.[citation needed] According to him, global conflicts occur as the summer phase of a wave begins, which is when production of goods and services around the world are on an upswing.[35]
Honors and fellowships
- International Sociological Association Award for Excellence in Research and Practice, 2014
- N.D. Kondratieff Gold Medal, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 2005
- Distinguished Fellow, St. John's College, University of British Columbia, 2004–present
- Centro de Estudios, Información y Documentación Immanuel Wallerstein, Univ. de la Tierra-Chiapas y el CIDECI Las Casas, 2004–present
- Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award, American Sociological Association, 2003
- Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award, Political Economy of the World-System Section of American Sociological Association, 2003
- Premio Carlos Marx 2003, Fondo Cultural Tercer Mundo, Mexico
- Leerstoel (chair) Immanuel Wallerstein, University of Ghent, 2002– [Inaugural Lecture by IW on Mar. 11, 2002]
- Fellow, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1998
- IPE Distinguished Scholar, International Studies Association, 1998
- Gulbenkian Professor of Science and Technology, 1994
- Medal of the university, University of Helsinki, 1992
- Wei Lun Visiting professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991
- University Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Binghamton University, 1991
- George A. Miller Visiting professor, University of Illinois-Urbana, 1989
- Officier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France, 1984
- Sorokin Prize (for Distinguished Scholarship), American Sociological Association, 1975
- Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, 1970–71
- Ford Fellow in Economics, Political Science and Sociology, 1970–71
- Foreign Area Fellowship, Africa, 1955–57
- Phi Beta Kappa, 1951
Works
Year | Title | Author(s) | Publisher |
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1961 | Africa, The Politics of Independence | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: Vintage Books |
1964 | The Road to Independence: Ghana and the Ivory Coast | Immanuel Wallerstein | Paris & The Hague: Mouton |
1967 | Africa: The Politics of Unity | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: Random House |
1969 | University in Turmoil: The Politics of Change | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: Atheneum |
1972 | Africa: Tradition & Change | Immanuel Wallerstein with Evelyn Jones Rich | New York: Random House |
1974 | The Modern World-System, vol. I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York/London: Academic Press |
1979 | The Capitalist World-Economy | Immanuel Wallerstein | Cambridge University Press |
1980 | The Modern World-System, vol. II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600–1750 | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: Academic Press |
1982 | World-Systems Analysis: Theory and Methodology | Immanuel Wallerstein with Terence K. Hopkins et al. | Beverly Hills: Sage |
1982 | Dynamics of Global Crisis | Immanuel Wallerstein with Samir Amin, Giovanni Arrighi and Andre Gunder Frank | London: Macmillan |
1983 | Historical Capitalism | Immanuel Wallerstein | London: Verso
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1984 | The Politics of the World-Economy. The States, the Movements and the Civilizations | Immanuel Wallerstein | Cambridge: Cambridge University Press |
1986 | Africa and the Modern World | Immanuel Wallerstein | Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press |
1989 | The Modern World-System, vol. III: The Second Great Expansion of the Capitalist World-Economy, 1730-1840s | Immanuel Wallerstein | San Diego: Academic Press |
1989 | Antisystemic Movements | Immanuel Wallerstein with Giovanni Arrighi and Terence K. Hopkins | London: Verso |
1990 | Transforming the Revolution: Social Movements and the World-System | Immanuel Wallerstein with Samir Amin, Giovanni Arrighi and Andre Gunder Frank | New York: Monthly Review Press
|
1991 | Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous Identities | Immanuel Wallerstein with Étienne Balibar | London: Verso. |
1991 | Geopolitics and Geoculture: Essays on the Changing World-System | Immanuel Wallerstein | Cambridge: Cambridge University Press |
1991 | Unthinking Social Science: The Limits of Nineteenth Century Paradigms | Immanuel Wallerstein | Cambridge: Polity |
1995 | After Liberalism | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: New Press |
1995 | Historical Capitalism, with Capitalist Civilization | Immanuel Wallerstein | London: Verso |
1998 | Utopistics: Or, Historical Choices of the Twenty-first Century | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: New Press |
1999 | The End of the World As We Know It: Social Science for the Twenty-first Century | Immanuel Wallerstein | Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press |
2001 | Democracy, Capitalism, and Transformation | Immanuel Wallerstein | Documenta 11, Vienna, March 16, 2001 |
2003 | Decline of American Power: The U.S. in a Chaotic World | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: New Press |
2004 | The Uncertainties of Knowledge | Immanuel Wallerstein | Philadelphia: Temple University Press |
2004 | World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction | Immanuel Wallerstein | Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press |
2004 | Alternatives: The U.S. Confronts the World | Immanuel Wallerstein | Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Press |
2006 | European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power | Immanuel Wallerstein | New York: New Press |
2011 | The Modern World-System, vol. IV: Centrist Liberalism Triumphant, 1789–1914 | Immanuel Wallerstein | Berkeley: University of California Press |
2013 | Uncertain Worlds: World-Systems Analysis in Changing Times | Immanuel Wallerstein with Charles Lemert and Carlos Antonio Aguirre Rojas | Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers |
2013 | Does Capitalism Have a Future? | Immanuel Wallerstein with Randall Collins, Michael Mann, Georgi Derluguian and Craig Calhoun | New York: Oxford University Press |
2015 | The World is Out of Joint: World-Historical Interpretations of Continuing Polarizations | Immanuel Wallerstein (editor) | Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers |
See also
References
- ^ ProQuest 301893682.
- ^ "China and the World System since 1945" by Immanuel Wallerstein
- ^ a b "Wallerstein, Immanuel (1930– )." The AZ Guide to Modern Social and Political Theorists. Ed. Noel Parker and Stuart Sim. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997. 372-76. Print.
- ^ "Agence Global". agenceglobal.com.
- ^ "This is the end; this is the beginning". Immanuel Wallerstein. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
- ^ "ISA Presidents". International Sociological Association. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
- ^ a b M. J. Minakowski (May 27, 2018). "Wallerstein to Polak, są dokumenty" (in Polish). Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wallerstein, I. 2000. The Essential Wallerstein. New York, NY: The New Press. For a slightly adapted version of the Introductory essay to The Essential Wallerstein, see: http://iwallerstein.com/intellectual-itinerary/
- ^ a b c d Sica, Alan. 2005. "Immanuel Wallerstein". Pp. 734–739 in Social Thought: from the Enlightenment to the present. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
- ^ Ed. Lemert, Charles. 2010. "Immanuel Wallerstein." Pp. 398–405 in Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classical Readings. Westview Press.
- ^ a b c Wallerstein, I. (April 2009). Curriculum Vitae. Retrieved from http://iwallerstein.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/iwallerstein-cv-eng-09.pdf
- ^ "Immanuel Wallerstein". www.isa-sociology.org. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
- ^ Sica, Alan. 2005. "Immanuel Wallerstein." Pp. 734–739 in Social Thought: from the Enlightenment to the present. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
- ^ "Binghamton University – Fernand Braudel Center: About FBC: Intellectual Report".
- ISBN 9781412913621.
- ISBN 9780813343921.
- ^ Wallerstein, Wallerstein (3 April 2009). "Immanuel Wallerstein". Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ^ Ed. Parker, Noel and Stuart Sim. 1997. "Wallerstein, Immanuel (1930– )." Pp. 372–76 in The AZ Guide to Modern Social and Political Theorists. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf.
- ^ "The International N. D. Kondratieff Foundation". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ^ Genzlinger, Neil (10 September 2019). "Immanuel Wallerstein, Sociologist with Global View, Dies at 88". The New York Times.
- ^ "Essays in memory of Immanuel Wallerstein (1930-2019) | MR Online". mronline.org. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
- ^ "Essays in memory of Immanuel Wallerstein (1930-2019) | MR Online". mronline.org. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
- ^ Wallerstein, I. 2000. The Essential Wallerstein. New York, NY: The New Press.
- ^ Williams, Gregory. P. 2013. Special Contribution: Interview with Immanuel Wallerstein Retrospective on the Origins of World-Systems Analysis. Journal of World-Systems Research 19(2): 202–210.
- ISBN 978-0-19-956909-0.
- ^ Paul Halsall Modern History Sourcebook: Summary of Wallerstein on World System Theory, August 1997
- ^ Carlos A. Martínez-Vela, World Systems Theory, paper prepared for the Research Seminar in Engineering Systems, November 2003
- ^ Ed. Lemert, Charles. 2010. "Immanuel Wallerstein." Pp. 398–405 in Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classical Readings. Westview Press.
- ^ a b So, Alvin Y. (1990). Social Change and Development: Modernization, Dependency, and World-Systems Theory. Newbury Park, London: Sage Publications. pp. 169–199.
- ^ Abercrombie, Nicholas, Hill, Stephen, and Bryan Turner. 2006. Dictionary of Sociology. 6th ed. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd.
- ^
Stinchcombe, Arthur L. (1982). Wallerstein, Immanuel (ed.). "The Growth of the World System". American Journal of Sociology. 87 (6): 1389–1395. S2CID 146611790.
- S2CID 216163843.
- ISBN 978-0822334422.
- ^ "What Is the Kondratiev Wave?". Retrieved 30 September 2012.
Further reading
- Kenneth, A. "Contemporary social and sociological theory: visualizing social worlds". Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2006.
- Brewer, A., Marxist Theories of Imperialism: A Critical survey, London: Macmillan, 1990.
- Chase-Dunn, Christopher; Smith, Jackie; Manning, Patrick; Grubacic, Andrej (March 10, 2020). "Remembering Immanuel Wallerstein". Journal of World-Systems Research. 26 (1): 5–8. ISSN 1076-156X.
- Frank, A.G. and B. Gills (eds), The World System: 500 years or 5000?, London: Routledge, 1993.
- Hout, W., Capitalism and the Third World: Development, dependence and the world system, Hants: Edward Elgar, 1993.
- Jacob, F., ed. Wallerstein 2.0 (Open Access), Bielefeld: transcript, 2023.
- Sanderson, S., Civilizations and World Systems, London: Sage, 1955.
- Shannon, T., An Introduction to the World-System Perspective, Oxford: Westview Press, 1989.
- Wallerstein, I., The Modern World System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth Century, New York: Academic Press, 1974.
External links
- Media related to Immanuel Wallerstein at Wikimedia Commons
- Immanuel Wallerstein's Official Website
- Immanuel Wallerstein's profile at Yale.edu
- Immanuel Wallerstein's Full CV
- Wallerstein's Own Fortnightly Commentaries on Current Events Archive Immanuel Wallerstein | Açık Radyo 95.0
- Articles at Monthly Review
- Wallerstein's World-Systems Theory
- Presentation of Immanuel Wallerstein's "World-System Model"
- "Modern History Sourcebook: Summary of Wallerstein on World System Theory" – Fordham University
- Introduction to Social Macrodynamics: Compact Macromodels of the World System Growth by Andrey Korotayev, Artemy Malkov, and Daria Khaltourina
- Binghmaton University Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations
- Journal of World-Systems Research
- "World-Economic Theories and Problems: Quigley vs. Wallerstein vs Central Civilization" by David Wilkinson
- Entering Global Anarchy by Immanuel Wallerstein
- Interview with Wallerstein (2008) on the End of Capitalism and World-Systems
- Reading Fanon in the 21st Century – 2009, New Left Review essay
- Structural Crisis – 2010, New Left Review essay
- Special Collections Overview | Libraries | Binghamton University The Immanuel Wallerstein Collection Finding Aid, Binghamton University Libraries
- Video
- "The U.S. As a World Power" C-SPAN (2002)
- "The United States Facing Its Decline" – Fall 2006, Conference given by Immanuel Wallerstein at the Université de Montréal (in French)
- "Major crisis still ahead, past one was minor" (2009) on YouTube– Immanuel Wallerstein comments on America's recent financial crisis in TV interview
- "Immanuel Wallerstein – Unit of Analysis" (2010) on YouTube
- "Immanuel Wallerstein – Capitalism is reaching its end" (2011) on YouTube
- Audio
- Grace Lee Boggs and Immanuel Wallerstein Dialogue – U.S. Social Forum, 2010
- "Global Africa: Liberation Movements Since 1945" – Sept. 24, 2008, dialogue between Immanuel Wallerstein, Walter Turner, and Will Grant at CounterPULSE, part of the ongoing Shaping San Francisco Talks series
- KPFA Radio Interview – Nov. 12, 2008, Immanuel Wallerstein comments on the structural constraints faced by Obama and the current economic crisis