Immanuel Wallerstein > Quotes

“People resist exploitation. They resist as actively as they can, as passively as they must.”
― Immanuel Wallerstein, Transforming the Revolution

“The capitalist world-economy needs the states, needs the interstate system, and needs the periodic appearance of hegemonic powers. But the priority of capitalists is never the maintenance, much less the glorification, of any of these structures. The priority remains always the endless accumulation of capital, and this is best achieved by an ever-shifting set of political and cultural dominances within which capitalist firms maneuver, obtaining their support from the states but seeking to escape their dominance.”
― Immanuel Wallerstein, World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction

“The language of intrinsic human rights represented a significant advance beyond the previous language of world religions in terms of its universal applicability and its thiswordliness.”
― Immanuel Wallerstein

“Far from being Eurocentric, my analysis "exoticizes" Europe. Europe is historically aberrant. In some ways this was a historical accident, not entirely Europe's fault. But, in any case, it is nothing about which Europe should boast. Perhaps Europe and the world will one day be cured of this terrible malady with which Europe (and through Europe the world) has been afflicted.”
― Immanuel Wallerstein

“La science sociale di XIXe siecle nous a legue un terrible heritage, l'idee que els processus se divisent en trois champs separes: le politique, l'economique et le socioculturel.”
― Immanuel Wallerstein, Unthinking Social Science: Limits of 19th Century Paradigms

“Imagination is usually nothing but the search for middle run profits by those to whom short run channels are blocked. When”
― Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century

“Las pocas personas que se atreven a cuestionar las prácticas y justificaciones del sistema social histórico en que viven no solamente son valientes sino también temerarias, dado que seguramente el grupo se volverá contra ellas y con la mayor frecuencia las castigará por descarriadas inadmisibles.”
― Wallerstein Immanuel, L'universalisme européen. De la colonisation au droit d'ingérence

“Estar en la cumbre es estar seguro de que el futuro no será nuestro por mucho que el presente lo sea, pero no deja de ser bello.”
― Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600–1750

“Capitalism is based on the constant absorption of economic loss by political entities, while economic gain is distributed to "private" hands.”
― Wallerstein Immanuel