Utopistics

Possibly the shortest summary of one of Wallerstein's main theses: That capitalism as a world-system with a 500 year old history is on the way out. In fact, this world historical transition already began some fifty years ago and will continue in the next decades. The thing is, the end of capitalism won't necessarily usher in a better era. It might get even worse and there are already actors trying to propose elements for a new world-system that will continue the legacy of hierarchy in a new format, that will not be capitalist, but something else.

That we live in transitional times also means two important things, which Wallerstein never stops repeating: First, we will experience unprecedented levels of chaos. Our times are already painful on many levels and the certainties of yesterday are long gone. This goes for many things like geopolitics (with shifting and multi-polar alliances instead of American hegemony, which is rapidly declining) and ideology (with new conservatism on the rise, from the so-called neoliberals to the brown resurgence globally, the collapse of centrist liberalism, and the possible emergence of new anti-systemic movements that do not want to capture the state [Wallerstein wrote this in 1999 and should be happy to see projects like the Zapatistas still flourishing and the Kurds in Syria essentially developing a similar paradigm, not to mention that they study Wallerstein himself]). Second, because the world-system is in so much stress, or technically chaos (a term Wallerstein takes from complexity theory), the factor of change is extremely strong. This means that even the smallest push in one direction, might have historical consequences. It's in times like these that singular individuals and small groups have the potential to influence their world the most. This is ultimately the most inspiring and hopeful note in Wallerstein's overall very frightening but sober analysis of the end of capitalism. There is almost no buzz about world-systems theory these days in those parts of the anti-systemic movement I relate to. I guess the general consensus is that these were some sociological theories of some interest in the 80's, which dealt primarily with concept like core and periphery. I believe this is a big mistake to overlook Wallerstein, because obviously this man continued to produce highly recommendable work that should be widely read. Especially when it is in such a compact format like this one: You will more or less get his main thesis in an afternoon.