Utopistics

Or, Historical Choices of the Twenty-first Century

The founder of world-systems analysis explores what we can expect in the twenty-first century

“Lucid, informed, and insightful.” —The New York Times

The twentieth century has witnessed both the triumphs and failures of the dreams that have informed the modern world. In Utopistics, Immanuel Wallerstein argues that the global order that nourished those dreams is on the brink of disintegration. Pointing to the globalization of commerce, the changing nature of work and the family, the failures of traditional liberal ideology, and the danger of profound environmental crises, the founder of world-systems analysis argues that the nation-state system no longer works. The next twenty-five to fifty years will see the final breakdown of that system, and a time of great conflicts and disorder. It will also be a period in which individual and collective action will have a greater impact on the future than has been possible for 500 years. Utopistics distills Wallerstein’s hugely influential work on the modern world-system in an accessible way. This fascinating and provocative look into our collective political destiny poses urgent questions for anyone concerned with social change in the next millennium.

Books by Immanuel Wallerstein

The Decline of American Power
The U.S. in a Chaotic World

Immanuel Wallerstein

The Cold War and the University
Toward an Intellectual History of the Postwar Years

Noam Chomsky, Ira Katznelson, R.C. Lewontin, David Montgomery, Laura Nader, Richard Ohmann, Ray Siever, Immanuel Wallerstein, Howard Zinn

After Liberalism

Immanuel Wallerstein

The Essential Wallerstein

Immanuel Wallerstein

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