Historical Capitalism with Capitalist Civilization
by Immanuel Wallerstein
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In this short, highly readable book, the master of world-systems theory provides a succinct anatomy of capitalism over the past five hundred years. Considering the way capitalism has changed and evolved over the centuries, and what has remained constant, he outlines its chief characteristics. In particular, he looks at the emergence and development of a world market, and of labor; in doing so, he argues that capitalism has brought about immiseration in the Global South. As long as they show more remain within a framework of world capitalism, Wallerstein concludes, the economic and social problems of developing countries will remain unresolved. Historical Capitalism, published here with its companion essay Capitalist Civilization, is a concise, compelling beginners' guide to one of the most challenging and influential assessments of capitalism as a world-historic mode of production. show lessTags
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This seems to be my year for reading books where authors are complaining that we are not making progress. For example, Hans-Hermann Hoppe argues that democracy was a mistake and monarchy was much better and Robert Gordon, in "the Rise and Fall of American Growth" argues that our rapid progress stopped growing so quickly after WWII. Now, Wallerstein argues that capitalism has not really brought progress to society.
The book forces the reader to look at capitalism with new eyes. Unfortunately, the author's turgid writing style means that those new eyes are often just drooping with weariness. The writing style is Marxist, which can be tolerated, but the real weakness is the lack of historical examples to justify Wallerstein's judgements of show more history. show less
The book forces the reader to look at capitalism with new eyes. Unfortunately, the author's turgid writing style means that those new eyes are often just drooping with weariness. The writing style is Marxist, which can be tolerated, but the real weakness is the lack of historical examples to justify Wallerstein's judgements of show more history. show less
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128+ Works 3,310 Members
Wallerstein studied at Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in sociology in 1959. His work has focused primarily on what he calls "world systems theory," which deals with the socioeconomic dynamics of global dependence and interdependence. As Wallerstein sees it, the wealthy nations of the world control and manipulate the destinies of show more weaker nations and keep them dependent. The world system is an outcome of historic global, political, and ideological forces leading to Western hegemony. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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