chapter 1 Theories of Socioeconomic Impact: from Immanuel Wallerstein’s ‘World Systems’ to Kondratiev/Schumpeter Waves

1.1 World Systems Analysis: from Business Cycles to Ancient World Theory

In scholarly literature, we find wide-ranging theoretical inquiries related to the perception of trade and the origins of past economic phenomena.1 Different approaches determine the particular interpretations of economic changes,

1 One of these theoretical currents in the literature is a concept of the functioning of the world systems in the past, known as the ancient world systems theory, created on grounds formed by Immanuel Wallerstein’s inquiries. In particular, the ancient world systems theory involves the question of how far back in the past it is possible to project the phenomena observed by Wallerstein. See Kajsa Ekholm and Jonathan Friedman, “Capital imperialism and exploi- tation in ancient world systems,” in Historical Transformations: The Anthropology of Global Systems, eds. Kajsa Ekholm and Jonathan Friedman, (Lanham/New York/Toronto/Plymouth: AltaMira Press, 2008), pp. 59–70. See also Jonathan Friedman and Michael J. Rowlands, “Notes toward epigenetic model of the evolution of civilization,” in Historical Transformations: The Anthropology of Global Systems, pp. 87–92. This current in inquiries concerning archaeologi- cal research was summarized by Christoph Kümmel. Christoph Kümmel, Frühe Weltsysteme: Zentrum und Peripherie-Modelle in der Archäologie, (Tübinger Texte. Materialen zur Ur-und Frühgeschichtlichen Archäologie) 4 (Rahden/Westfalen: Verlag Marie Leidorf, 2001). What might be of interest in the model of ancient world systems theory is precisely its historical as- pect: the possibility of perceiving the ancient empires through the prism of the world system (or rather of world systems). One can also find here a concept which is not Eurocentric. This aspect was discussed by Janet Abu-Lughod. See Janet Abu-Lughod, “Discontinuities and per- sistence. One world system or a succession of systems?,” in The World Systems: Five Hundred Years or Five Thousand?, eds. Andre Gunder Frank and Barry K. Gills, (London/New York: Routledge, 1993), pp. 278–88. The genesis of ancient world systems theory is connected with studies referring to the theory of central places, which in turn was a form of reception of the concept of Walter Christaller and the mainstream inquiry of such scholars as Karl Polanyi, Marcel Mauss, and Fernand Braudel. See Walter Christaller, “How I discovered the theory of central places: a report about the origin of central places,” in Man, Space, and Environment: Concepts in Contemporary Human Geography, eds. Paul W. English and Robert C. Mayfield, (New York/ London/Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1972), pp. 601–11. Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time (Boston/Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2001), pp. 59–68 (2nd ed.). Marcel Mauss, The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies. trans. Ian Cunnison, (London: Norton, 1966). Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism 15th–18th Century: The Wheels of Commerce, trans. Sian Reynolds,

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004431645_003 8 chapter 1 as well as the views on their associated sociocultural transformations.2 They also limit the scope for defining observed phenomena, at the same time de- ciding on a specific conceptual apparatus.3 Among them, a set of research hypotheses referring to Immanuel Wallerstein’s theory of world systems is of particular importance.4 Wallerstein’s approach, developed in the 1970s, articulates that the mod- ern economic system (perceived through the prism of market economy) is rooted in economic processes launched in the 15th and 16th centuries.5 As he sees it, the emergence of a capitalist economy overlapped with the period of colonial domination of Spain and Portugal and the beginnings of European expansion.6 Expansion of the geographical horizon resulted in various socio- economic transformations, which in turn developed into a particular system, gradually including all ‘the external areas’ under the sphere of influence of ‘the

(London: William Collins Sons & Co Ltd., 1982). See Daniel Chirot and Thomas D. Hall, “World-system theory,” Annual Review of Sociology 8 (1982), 84–7. 2 Immanuel Wallerstein, Unthinking Social Science: The Limits of Nineteenth-Century Paradigms (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001), p. 51. 3 See Christopher Ch. Dunn, “Core-periphery relations: the effects of core competi- tion,” in Social Change in the Capitalist World Economy, eds. Barbara Hockey Kaplan and Immanuel Wallerstein, (Beverly Hills/London: Sage Publications, 1978), pp. 160–170. See also Jörg Güßefeldt, “Die Raumwirtschaftstheorien von Christaller und Lösch aus der Sicht von Wirtschaftsgeographie und ‘New Economic Geography’,” (Göttinger Geographische Abhandlungen) 114 (Göttingen: Verlag Erich Goltze, 2005), pp. 44–59. 4 Immanuel Wallerstein, World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction (Durham/London: Duke University Press, 2004), pp. 1–23. 5 Charles E. Orser, “World-systems theory, networks and modern-world archaeology,” in International Handbook of Historical Archaeology, eds. Teresita Majewski and David Gaimster, (New York: Routledge, 2009), pp. 253–56. 6 Immanuel Wallerstein published his theory in three consecutive works, referring to the breakthrough moments in the economic history of the modern world. This series of works begin a study dedicated to the transformations started in the 16th century. His subsequent works were dedicated to the concept of mercantilism and the functioning of the econo- my between 1600 and 1750. Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century (New York/San Francisco/London: University of California Press, 1974). Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the Europe and World Economy: 1600–1750 (New York/London, Toronto/Sydney/San Francisco: University of California Press, 1980). See also Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World System III: The Second Era of Great Expansion of the Capitalist World-Economy: 1730–1840 (San Diego/New York/ Berkley/Boston/London/Sydney/Tokyo/Toronto: University of California Press 1989). It is worth emphasizing that Wallerstein’s book was inspired by the works of Fernand Braudel. It was Braudel to whom it was dedicated. For the characteristics of the scientific achieve- ments of Immanuel Wallerstein and his ideas, see Jan N. Pietersee, “A critique of world sys- tem theory,” International Sociology 3 (1988), no. 3, 251–56.