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A review by fuhhlarzablur
Historical Capitalism with Capitalist Civilization by Immanuel Wallerstein
4.0
Even considering that these two essays are soon to be 40 years out of date, they present a penetrating (although concise) overview of the strengths and vagaries of the capitalist world-system, and go as far as broadly projecting the new systemic forms that may arise as the capitalist system falls further into decay.
Possibly the boldest argument raised here by Wallerstein is his insistence that anti-systemic movements, in their various forms from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth, are not only inevitable consequences of capitalist hegemony, they are essential to its very functioning. He paints a convincing picture of capitalism as a world-system held in equilibrium by its own internal tensions, and a close reading of this and other works may well serve to illustrate some of the points where excess tension might be most effectively applied.
Possibly the boldest argument raised here by Wallerstein is his insistence that anti-systemic movements, in their various forms from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth, are not only inevitable consequences of capitalist hegemony, they are essential to its very functioning. He paints a convincing picture of capitalism as a world-system held in equilibrium by its own internal tensions, and a close reading of this and other works may well serve to illustrate some of the points where excess tension might be most effectively applied.