ABSTRACT

The conclusion comes back to the ideal type presented in the Coda, connecting the geocultural side of the seven reformers with the ideal-typical aspects previously highlighted. It discusses the differences of geoculture in the Modern World-System’s core states with that of the peripheral cases discussed here, thereby rectifying Wallerstein’s Eurocentrism. Compared with their core counterparts, the cases of peripheral geoculture discussed here were more strongly religiously oriented, had an anti-imperialist agenda and were less able to shape their societies. The next section addresses the question of why the progressive elements in the thought of these reformers became marginalized in favour of more conservative and even ‘fundamentalist’ elements among their successors. It is argued that the key event was what is here called the ‘world revolution of 1919’; as a result of this event, the reformers became less enthusiastic about science, disappointed with their antisystemic activities and wary about the rising power of Westernized or (in the case of the Hindu reformers) Islamic groups. The final section discusses the contemporary relevance of the seven reformers. It argues that, in light of the rising power of the non-Western world, a return to the progressive aspects of the reformers’ thought would be desirable.