Immanuel Wallerstein
Immanuel Wallerstein
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Full Name and Common Aliases
Immanuel Wallerstein was a renowned American sociologist, economic historian, and world-systems theorist. His full name is Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein, but he is often referred to as I.M. Wallerstein or simply Immanuel.
Birth and Death Dates
Wallerstein was born on September 28, 1930, in New York City, USA. He passed away on August 31, 2019, at the age of 88.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Immanuel Wallerstein held American citizenship and worked as a sociologist and economic historian. His expertise spanned multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, history, and anthropology.
Early Life and Background
Wallerstein was born to Jewish parents in New York City. His early life was marked by his family's struggles during the Great Depression. Despite these challenges, Wallerstein demonstrated a keen interest in social sciences and politics from an early age. He attended Swarthmore College, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1951.
Major Accomplishments
Wallerstein's academic career was distinguished by several significant accomplishments:
He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University in 1960.
Wallerstein worked as a professor at various institutions, including the State University of New York at Binghamton and Yale University.
He served as the director of the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies and Societies of the World System at Binghamton University.Notable Works or Actions
Wallerstein's contributions to the field of social sciences are vast. Some notable works include:
"The Modern World-System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the 16th Century" (1974) - This book introduced Wallerstein's world-systems theory, which posits that the modern global economy is a single, interconnected system.
"Geopolitics and Geoculture: Essays on the Changing Global System" (1997) - In this collection of essays, Wallerstein examines the implications of globalization and the emergence of new forms of geopolitics.Impact and Legacy
Wallerstein's work has had a profound impact on various fields:
His world-systems theory has influenced scholars across disciplines, including sociology, economics, history, and anthropology.
His critiques of globalization have contributed to ongoing debates about the nature of global capitalism and its effects on societies worldwide.Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Immanuel Wallerstein's quotes and ideas are widely referenced due to their relevance to contemporary issues:
His concept of the "world-system" provides a framework for understanding the interconnectedness of global economies.
* His critiques of globalization offer valuable insights into the complexities of modern capitalism.
By exploring Wallerstein's life, work, and legacy, readers can gain a deeper understanding of his significance in the social sciences.
Quotes by Immanuel Wallerstein

Governments first of all have been able to amass, through the taxation process, large sums of capital which they have redistributed to persons or groups, already large holders of capital, through official subsidies.

The mode of reconciling the promise of ever-increasing reward for the cadres and the demands of the working classes for a quid pro quo for their loyalty to the state was to offer the latter a small piece of the pie.

Imagination is usually nothing but the search for middle run profits by those to whom short run channels are blocked. When.

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.

An individual or a group of individuals might of course decide at any time that they would like to invest capital with the objective of acquiring still more capital. But, before a certain moment in historical time, it had never been easy for such individuals to do this successfully.

A second variety concentrated on presumed major transformations of the capitalist system as of some recent point in time, in which the whole earlier point of time served as a mythologized foil against which to treat the empirical reality of the present.

It is this third consequence that has been elaborated in greatest detail and has formed one of the most significant pillars of historical capitalism, institutional racism.

We can tentatively credit capitalist civilization with a positive, if very geographically uneven, record in the struggle against disease.

The employment rates are in very bad shape. We vastly underestimate the unemployment.
