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The World Is Out of Joint: World-Historical Interpretations of Continuing Polarizations
The dominant view in social science has been that the modern world shows a pattern of linear development in which all positive social trends rise (albeit at an uncertain speed) toward a relatively homogenized world. In the post-1945 period, some analysts contested this linear model, arguing that the modern world was rather one of escalating polarization. Their view was strengthened by the separate emergence within the natural sciences of complexity studies, which suggested that natural systems inevitably moved away from equilibrium, and at a certain point bifurcated radically.
This book, based on a truly collaborative international research project, evaluates the empirical evidence in this debate in order to (1) give an adequate portrayal of the historical realities of the world-system, (2) draw a nuanced assessment about this debate, and (3) provide the basis on which we can not only envisage probable future trends but also draw conclusions about the policy and/or political implications of past and future research.
The work of ten research clusters, based on crucial topics of overlapping nodes of social activity, provides a vantage-point with which to assess the basic issue; a clear picture emerges of “world-historical interpretations of continuing polarizations.”
This book, based on a truly collaborative international research project, evaluates the empirical evidence in this debate in order to (1) give an adequate portrayal of the historical realities of the world-system, (2) draw a nuanced assessment about this debate, and (3) provide the basis on which we can not only envisage probable future trends but also draw conclusions about the policy and/or political implications of past and future research.
The work of ten research clusters, based on crucial topics of overlapping nodes of social activity, provides a vantage-point with which to assess the basic issue; a clear picture emerges of “world-historical interpretations of continuing polarizations.”
- GenresHistory
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2014
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About the author
Immanuel Wallerstein
209 books340 followersImmanuel Maurice Wallerstein was a scholar of politics, sociologist, historical social scientist, and world-systems analyst. His bimonthly commentaries on world affairs were syndicated.
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July 29, 2016
This book is a research directed by Immanuel Wallerstein with the aim of providing systematic empirical support to his world-system theory. The theory defies the liberal (and even Marxist) idea of lineal progress towards general wellbeing and proposes an interpretation of a polarizing, heterogeneous world, where progress isn't general nor irreversible. For the newcomers to this world-systems approach, I recommend Wallerstein's amicable introduction World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction.
His theory has been the subject of countless studies and applications through the decades, but this time the author himself coordinates the simultaneous investigations. He organizes the work in 'research clusters', decentralized research teams dedicated to a topic, each with their own chapter. The established clusters are: ecology (Ana Esther Ceceña), economic inequality (Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz, Timothy Patrick Moran), cities (Peter J. Taylor, Michael Hoyler, Dennis Smith), peasantries (Eric Vanhaute, Hanne Cottyn, Yang Wang), corporate power (Jorge Fonseca), intellectual property (Ravi Sundaram), states (Atilio A. Boron, Paloma Nottebohm), citizenship (Oleksandr Fisun, Volodymyr Golovko), women's spaces (Linda Christiansen-Ruffman) and deviance (Ari Sitas, Sumangala Damodaran, Wiebke Keim, Nicos Trimikliniotis).
The research clusters are aware of the scale of the enterprise, so most of them are limited to overview their area leaving many open ends to be deepened by further research. One of the main obstacles faced by the clusters is the lack of consistent data sets spanning from the 1500s to today, so they have to rely on estimates and data harmonization. Nonetheless, each research team is ostensibly well learnt on their respective topics.
Except for the chapter 7 (Intellectual property) where no conclusion has been reached, the other research clusters confirm or lean towards the confirmation of the world-system theory. But always aware that these essays don't hold the final word because of the research limitations.
Chapter 10 on women's spaces and the patriarchal system deserves to be highlighted. In just a chapter Linda Christiansen-Ruffman managed to put up a satisfactory theoretical framework and elaborated a historical perspective on the exclusion of women from public life. The chapter is also dutifully sourced and footnoted.
So where does all this research lead to? Wallerstein concludes that there is no general world convergence, the divergences aren't the anomaly but the rule in the contradictory world-system. Three points are to be made in this regard:
1. Some convergence do exist but so does polarization, which is often hidden from direct view. We should look at the entire world as the system, instead of using the states as units of analysis.
2. Such system, according to the author, has a life: comes into existence, develops its contradictions and eventually collapses or is replaced. For example, ecological overshooting (non sustainable exploitation of resources described in chapter 2) suggests that the system's perdurability can't be ensured. Another example is the current wave of aversion to deviances (the "bubble of panic" explained in chapter 11), like terrorism, mass migrations, conflictive otherization of many identities, etc. Both developments may hint to a structural crisis of the world-system.
3. The oppression of the system breeds its own resistance. This analysis has political implications. The lineal progress thesis reassures us that eventually the inequalities will be overcome whether through a neoliberal path (permanent market liberalization) or social democratic path (expansion of the welfare state). On the contrary, if the polarization thesis is true, as this research suggests, there isn't much room for optimism as we are allegedly reaching the point of no solution, the so called structural crisis. Yet, that is precisely what gives us a glimpse of hope. The outcome of such crisis is unpredictable because it will be the result of infinite actions by infinite actors on infinite moments. And each one really matters. It is up to us to fight for the desired outcome.
His theory has been the subject of countless studies and applications through the decades, but this time the author himself coordinates the simultaneous investigations. He organizes the work in 'research clusters', decentralized research teams dedicated to a topic, each with their own chapter. The established clusters are: ecology (Ana Esther Ceceña), economic inequality (Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz, Timothy Patrick Moran), cities (Peter J. Taylor, Michael Hoyler, Dennis Smith), peasantries (Eric Vanhaute, Hanne Cottyn, Yang Wang), corporate power (Jorge Fonseca), intellectual property (Ravi Sundaram), states (Atilio A. Boron, Paloma Nottebohm), citizenship (Oleksandr Fisun, Volodymyr Golovko), women's spaces (Linda Christiansen-Ruffman) and deviance (Ari Sitas, Sumangala Damodaran, Wiebke Keim, Nicos Trimikliniotis).
The research clusters are aware of the scale of the enterprise, so most of them are limited to overview their area leaving many open ends to be deepened by further research. One of the main obstacles faced by the clusters is the lack of consistent data sets spanning from the 1500s to today, so they have to rely on estimates and data harmonization. Nonetheless, each research team is ostensibly well learnt on their respective topics.
Except for the chapter 7 (Intellectual property) where no conclusion has been reached, the other research clusters confirm or lean towards the confirmation of the world-system theory. But always aware that these essays don't hold the final word because of the research limitations.
Chapter 10 on women's spaces and the patriarchal system deserves to be highlighted. In just a chapter Linda Christiansen-Ruffman managed to put up a satisfactory theoretical framework and elaborated a historical perspective on the exclusion of women from public life. The chapter is also dutifully sourced and footnoted.
So where does all this research lead to? Wallerstein concludes that there is no general world convergence, the divergences aren't the anomaly but the rule in the contradictory world-system. Three points are to be made in this regard:
1. Some convergence do exist but so does polarization, which is often hidden from direct view. We should look at the entire world as the system, instead of using the states as units of analysis.
2. Such system, according to the author, has a life: comes into existence, develops its contradictions and eventually collapses or is replaced. For example, ecological overshooting (non sustainable exploitation of resources described in chapter 2) suggests that the system's perdurability can't be ensured. Another example is the current wave of aversion to deviances (the "bubble of panic" explained in chapter 11), like terrorism, mass migrations, conflictive otherization of many identities, etc. Both developments may hint to a structural crisis of the world-system.
3. The oppression of the system breeds its own resistance. This analysis has political implications. The lineal progress thesis reassures us that eventually the inequalities will be overcome whether through a neoliberal path (permanent market liberalization) or social democratic path (expansion of the welfare state). On the contrary, if the polarization thesis is true, as this research suggests, there isn't much room for optimism as we are allegedly reaching the point of no solution, the so called structural crisis. Yet, that is precisely what gives us a glimpse of hope. The outcome of such crisis is unpredictable because it will be the result of infinite actions by infinite actors on infinite moments. And each one really matters. It is up to us to fight for the desired outcome.
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