ABSTRACT
For many years I have been working on aspects of indigenous South American social organization, and scrutinizing data on the pre-Columbian Andes. Meanwhile, I have been trying to reconceptualize precisely in which respects modern industrial technology represents a historical discontinuity or new mode of accumulation (Hornborg 1992). This chapter articulates both projects by comparing ancient Andean mechanisms of accumulation with those prevalent in the modern world. My basic question is how to define ‘capital accumulation,’ a central concept in world systems discourse.
