ABSTRACT
Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–) was among the first to understand the global implications of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its client states in 1990–1991. The selection is from World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction (2004), which succinctly summarizes the analytic history and concepts of his analytic method, culminating in a sharp examination of the present period of uncertainty that threatens the future prospects of a capitalist world-system. The world-economy in the years after 1945 saw the largest expansion of productive structures in the history of the modern world-system. The years after 1945 thus became a period of great optimism. The economic future seemed bright, and popular movements of all kinds seemed to he achieving their objectives. The benefits of globalization are undeniable. But Friedmanlike optimism rests on very fragile foundations. Liquids, unlike solids, cannot easily hold their shape. Fluids, so to speak, neither fix space nor bind time.
