“The capitalist world-economy needs the states, needs the interstate system, and needs the periodic appearance of hegemonic powers. But the priority of capitalists is never the maintenance, much less the glorification, of any of these structures. The priority remains always the endless accumulation of capital, and this is best achieved by an ever-shifting set of political and cultural dominances within which capitalist firms maneuver, obtaining their support from the states but seeking to escape their dominance.” StatesCapitalismImperialismAccumulationHegemonyProfitsWorld Systems Analysis Book:World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction Source: World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction
“What distinguishes the historical social system we are calling historical capitalism is that in this historical system capital came to be used (invested) in a very special way. It came to be used with the primary objective or intent of self-expansion. In this system, past accumulations were 'capital' only to the extend they were used to accumulate more of the same.” WaySelfPastUsedSocialSpecialCallingCapitalismHistoricalObjectivesPrimariesExpansionAccumulationSocial Systems Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
“The concept that one ought to restrict one's political involvement to one's own state was deeply antithetical to those who were pursuing the accumulation of capital for its own sake.” StatesPoliticalOughtConceptsCapitalismSakeInvolvementAccumulationPolitical Involvement Book:Capistalist Civilisation Source: Capistalist Civilisation
“The first and probably most fundamental aspect of this crisis is that we are now close to the commodification of everything. That is, historical capitalism is in crisis precisely because, in pursuing the endless accumulation of capital, it is beginning to approximate that state of being Adam Smith asserted was 'natural' to man but which has never historically existed. The 'propensity [of humanity] to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another' has entered into domains and zones previously untouched, and the pressure to expand commodification is relatively unchecked.” MenFirstsStatesHumanityNaturalOne ThingCapitalismAspectPressureCrisisFundamentalsHistoricalEndlessZoneAdamTruckDomainAccumulationPropensityCommodification Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
“This is a steady, ceaseless process, impossible to contain as long as the economy driven by the endless accumulation of capital. The system may prolong its life by slowing down some of the activities which are wearing it out, but death always looms somewhere on the horizon.” MayLongProcessEconomyImpossibleActivityCapitalismDrivenEndlessHorizonSteadySlow DownAccumulationSlowing Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
“This argument has been codified in the twentieth century as meritocracy, in which those on top in the process of capitalist accumulation have merited their position.” Has BeensProcessCenturyPositionCapitalismArgumentCapitalistTwentieth CenturyAccumulationMeritocracy Book:Capistalist Civilisation Source: Capistalist Civilisation
“The way in which these two practices contain each other is that it has always been possible to use the one against the other: to use racism-sexism to prevent universalism from moving too far in the direction of egalitarianism; to use universalism to prevent racism-sexism from moving too far in the direction of a caste system that would inhibit the work force mobility so necessary for the capitalist accumulation process.” WayTwoUseMovingForceProcessPracticeRacismCapitalismSexismCapitalistAccumulationCastesMobilityEgalitarianismCaste SystemUniversalism Author:Immanuel Wallerstein
