View source for Immanuel Wallerstein

{{Short description|American sociologist and economic historian (1930–2019)}}
{{confused|text=his fellow world-systems economist [[Arghiri Emmanuel]]}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox academic
| honorific_prefix = 
| name = Immanuel Wallerstein
| honorific_suffix = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
| image = Immanuel Wallerstein.2008.jpg
| caption = Wallerstein giving a talk at a seminar at the [[European University at St Petersburg|European University at St. Petersburg]] in May 2008
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|9|28}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|08|31|1930|09|28}}
| death_place = [[Branford, Connecticut]], U.S.
| known_for = [[World-systems theory]]
| spouse = Beatrice Friedman
| children = Katharine Wallerstein, Robert Morgenstern, Susan Morgenstern
| signature = 
| language = 
| discipline = [[Sociologist]], [[Historian]]
| sub_discipline = [[Historical sociology]], [[Comparative sociology]], [[World-systems theory]]
| movement = 
| religion = <!-- Religion should be supported with a citation from a reliable source -->
| denomination = <!-- Religious denomination should be supported with a citation from a reliable source -->
| alma_mater = [[Columbia University]] (BA: 1951, MA: 1954, PhD: 1959)
| thesis_title = The Emergence of Two West African Nations: Ghana and the Ivory Coast<ref name=dissertation>{{cite thesis |last=Wallerstein |first=Immanuel Maurice |date=1959 |title=The Emergence of Two West African Nations: Ghana and the Ivory Coast |type=Dissertation |publisher=ProQuest LLC |id={{ProQuest|301893682}} }}</ref>
| thesis_url = 
| thesis_year = 1959
| school_tradition = 
| doctoral_advisor = {{ill|Hans L Zetterberg|sv}}, [[Robert Staughton Lynd]]<ref name=dissertation />
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students = [[Georgi Derluguian]], [[Michael Hechter]], [[John R. Logan]], [[Beverly J. Silver]]
| main_interests = 
| workplaces = [[Columbia University]]<br />[[McGill University]]<br />[[Binghamton University]]<br />[[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences|École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales]]<br />[[Yale University]]
| notable_works = 
| notable_ideas = 
| awards = <!--Notable national level awards only-->
| website = http://www.iwallerstein.com/
| footnotes = 
}}
{{Imperialism Studies sidebar|People}}
'''Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɔː|l|ər|s|t|iː|n}};<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQV0w11vVO8 "China and the World System since 1945" by Immanuel Wallerstein]<!--at 0:43--></ref> September 28, 1930 – August 31, 2019) was an American [[sociology|sociologist]] and [[economic historian]]. He is perhaps best known for his development in sociology of [[world-systems approach]].<ref name=Wall97>"Wallerstein, Immanuel (1930– )." The AZ Guide to Modern Social and Political Theorists. Ed. Noel Parker and Stuart Sim. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997. 372-76. Print.</ref> He was a Senior Research Scholar at [[Yale University]] from 2000 until his death in 2019, and published bimonthly syndicated commentaries through Agence Global on world affairs from October 1998 to July 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://agenceglobal.com/|title=Agence Global|website=agenceglobal.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwallerstein.com/this-is-the-end-this-is-the-beginning/|title=This is the end; this is the beginning|date=2019-07-01|website=Immanuel Wallerstein|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-04}}</ref>

He was the 13th president of [[International Sociological Association]] (1994–1998).<ref name=presidents>{{cite web|url=http://www.isa-sociology.org/about/presidents/ |title=ISA Presidents |publisher=International Sociological Association|access-date=2012-07-25}}</ref>

==Personal life and education==
His parents, Sara Günsberg (born in 1895) and Menachem Lazar Wallerstein (born in 1890), were [[Polish Jews]] from [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] who moved to [[Berlin]], because of World War I, where they married in 1919. Two years later, Sara gave birth to their first son, [[Robert S. Wallerstein|Solomon]]. In 1923, the Wallerstein family emigrated to [[New York City|New York]], where Immanuel was born.<ref name=minakowski>{{cite web | url = http://minakowski.pl/wallerstein-to-polak-sa-dokumenty/ | title = Wallerstein to Polak, są dokumenty | author = M. J. Minakowski | date = May 27, 2018 | access-date = September 2, 2019 | language = pl}}</ref> On the "list of alien passengers for the United States" at the time of his family's emigration, the nationality of his mother and brother was described as Polish.<ref name=minakowski/>

Having grown up in a politically conscious family, Wallerstein first became interested in world affairs as a teenager.<ref name=Wall2000>Wallerstein, I. 2000. ''The Essential Wallerstein.'' New York, NY: The New Press. For a slightly adapted version of the Introductory essay to ''The Essential Wallerstein,'' see: http://iwallerstein.com/intellectual-itinerary/{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He received all three of his degrees from [[Columbia University]]: a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in 1951, an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in 1954, and a [[PhD]] in 1959, where he completed his dissertation under the supervision of [[Hans L. Zetterberg]] and [[Robert Staughton Lynd]].<ref name=dissertation /> However, throughout his life, Wallerstein also studied at other universities around the world, including [[Oxford University]] from 1955 to 1956,<ref name=Sica>Sica, Alan. 2005. "Immanuel Wallerstein". Pp. 734–739 in ''Social Thought: from the Enlightenment to the present''. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.</ref> [[Université libre de Bruxelles]], [[Paris Diderot University|Universite Paris 7 Denis Diderot]], and [[National Autonomous University of Mexico|Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México]].

From 1951 to 1953 Wallerstein served in the [[U.S. Army]].<ref name=Wall2000/> After his discharge, he wrote a master's thesis on [[McCarthyism]] as a phenomenon of American political culture. The widely cited work, as Wallerstein himself later stated, "confirmed my sense that I should consider myself, in the language of the 1950s, a 'political sociologist{{Single double}}.<ref name=Wall2000/>

Wallerstein married Beatrice Friedman in 1964, and had a daughter, Katharine Wallerstein, two years later. He was stepfather to Beatrice's two children from a previous marriage, Susan Morgenstern and Robert Morgenstern.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=2019-09-10 |title=Immanuel Wallerstein, Sociologist With Global View, Dies at 88 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/books/immanuel-wallerstein-dead.html |access-date=2023-10-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He and Beatrice had five grandchildren.

== Academic career ==
During his time at Columbia University he was a supporter of students who were active during [[Columbia University protests of 1968]] opposing the university's involvement in the Vietnam War.<ref>Ed. Lemert, Charles. 2010. "Immanuel Wallerstein." Pp. 398–405 in Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classical Readings. Westview Press.</ref>

Originally, Wallerstein's principal sub-area of study was not American affairs, but the politics of the non-European world, specifically India and Africa.<ref name=Wall2000/> For two decades Wallerstein [[African studies|researched Africa]], publishing numerous books and articles,<ref name=Wall2000/> and in 1973 he became president of the [[African Studies Association]].<ref name=IWcom>Wallerstein, I. (April 2009). Curriculum Vitae. Retrieved from http://iwallerstein.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/iwallerstein-cv-eng-09.pdf{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Professional career ==
Wallerstein's academic career began at Columbia University where he was an instructor and then associate professor of sociology from 1958 to 1971.<ref name="Sica" /> From there he moved to [[McGill University]], in Montreal where he taught from 1971 to 1976. He became distinguished professor of sociology at SUNY [[Binghamton University]] from 1976 to 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Immanuel Wallerstein |url=https://www.isa-sociology.org//en/about-isa/history-of-isa/isa-past-presidents/list-of-presidents/immanuel-wallerstein |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=www.isa-sociology.org |language=en}}</ref>

In 1976 Wallerstein was offered the unique opportunity to pursue a new avenue of research, and so became head of the [[Fernand Braudel Center|Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems and Civilization]] at Binghamton University in New York,<ref>Sica, Alan. 2005. "Immanuel Wallerstein." Pp. 734–739 in Social Thought: from the Enlightenment to the present. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.</ref> whose mission was "to engage in the analysis of large-scale social change over long periods of historical time".<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://binghamton.edu/fbc/about-fbc/intellectual-report.html | title=Binghamton University – Fernand Braudel Center: About FBC: Intellectual Report}}</ref> The Center opened with the publishing support of a new journal, ''Review'',<ref name="Sica" /> (of which Wallerstein was the founding editor), and produced a body of work that "went a long way toward invigorating sociology and its sister disciplines, especially history and [[Political economy|political-economy]]".<ref name="Sica" /> Wallerstein served as a distinguished professor of sociology at SUNY-Binghamton until his retirement in 1999.<ref name="IWcom" />

During his career Wallerstein held visiting-professor posts in [[Chinese University of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], British Columbia, and Amsterdam, among numerous others.<ref name=Allan06>{{cite book|last= Allan|first= Kenneth|title= Contemporary social and sociological theory: visualizing social worlds|url= https://archive.org/details/contemporarysoci00alla|url-access= registration|year= 2006|publisher= Pine Forge Press|location= Thousand Oaks, CA|isbn= 9781412913621}}</ref> He was awarded multiple honorary titles, intermittently served as Directeur d'études associé at the [[École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales]] in Paris, and served as president of the [[International Sociological Association]] between 1994 and 1998.<ref name=Lemert2010>{{cite book|editor-last= Lemert|editor-first= Charles|title= Social theory : the multicultural and classic readings|year= 2010|publisher= Westview Press|location= Boulder, CO |isbn= 9780813343921|edition= 4th}}</ref> At this time he also held a titled professorship at [[New York University]] and lectured at [[Columbia University]]. Similarly, during the 1990s he chaired the [[Gulbenkian Commission| Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences]], whose object was to indicate a direction for social scientific inquiry for the next 50 years.<ref name=Wallerstein>{{cite news|last= Wallerstein|first= Wallerstein|title= Immanuel Wallerstein|date= 3 April 2009|url= http://www.iwallerstein.com/about/|access-date= 27 February 2014}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Between 2000 and his death in 2019, Wallerstein worked as a senior research scholar at [[Yale University]].<ref>Ed. Parker, Noel and Stuart Sim. 1997. "Wallerstein, Immanuel (1930– )." Pp. 372–76 in The AZ Guide to Modern Social and Political Theorists. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf.</ref> He was also a member of the Advisory Editors Council of the ''[[Social Evolution & History]]'' journal. In 2003, he received the "Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award" from the [[American Sociological Association]],<ref name=IWcom/> and in 2004 the [[International N. D. Kondratiev Foundation|International N. D. Kondratieff Foundation]] and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RAEN) awarded him the Gold Kondratieff Medal.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ikf2010.ru/index.php?id=32_0_1_0_C |title=The International N. D. Kondratieff Foundation |access-date=2012-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195235/http://www.ikf2010.ru/index.php?id=32_0_1_0_C |archive-date=2013-10-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Wallerstein died on August 31, 2019, from an infection, at the age of 88.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/books/immanuel-wallerstein-dead.html |title = Immanuel Wallerstein, Sociologist with Global View, Dies at 88|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 10 September 2019|last1 = Genzlinger|first1 = Neil}}</ref>

During his time as a lecturer some of the students in attendance recalled him as "a calm, reserved, elegant man".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-09-01 |title=Essays in memory of Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019) {{!}} MR Online |url=https://mronline.org/2020/09/01/essays-in-memory-of-immanuel-wallerstein-1930-2019/ |access-date=2023-10-05 |newspaper=Mr Online |language=en-US}}</ref> When taking criticism for his thesis, he would usually be calm and collected. As well as hinting at the fact that he was almost disappointed for the people or audience for not fully comprehending what he wished to establish.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-09-01 |title=Essays in memory of Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019) {{!}} MR Online |url=https://mronline.org/2020/09/01/essays-in-memory-of-immanuel-wallerstein-1930-2019/ |access-date=2023-10-05 |newspaper=Mr Online |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Theory==
Wallerstein began as an expert on [[Postcolonialism|post-colonial]] African affairs, which he selected as the focus of his studies after attending international youth conferences in 1951 and 1952.<ref>Wallerstein, I. 2000. ''The Essential Wallerstein''. New York, NY: The New Press.</ref> His publications focused almost exclusively on this topic until the early 1970s, when he began to distinguish himself as a historian and theorist of the global [[capitalism|capitalist]] [[economy]] on a macroscopic level. His early criticism of global capitalism and championship of "anti-systemic movements" made him an ''[[éminence grise]]'' with the [[anti-globalization movement]] within and outside of the academic community, along with [[Noam Chomsky]] (1928– ) and [[Pierre Bourdieu]] (1930–2002).

Wallerstein's most important work, ''The Modern World-System'', appeared in four volumes between 1974 and 2011.<ref>Williams, Gregory. P. 2013. Special Contribution: Interview with Immanuel Wallerstein Retrospective on the Origins of World-Systems Analysis. ''Journal of World-Systems Research'' 19(2): 202–210.</ref> In it, Wallerstein drew on several intellectual influences. From [[Karl Marx]], Wallerstein took the underlying emphasis on economic factors and their dominance over ideological factors in [[global politics]], and such ideas as the dichotomy between [[Capital (economics)|capital]] and labor, while criticizing deterministic or [[Teleology|teleological]] Marxian views of world economic development through stages such as [[feudalism]] and capitalism. From [[dependency theory]], he took the key concepts of "core" and "periphery".{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

However, Wallerstein named [[Frantz Fanon]] (1925–1961), [[Fernand Braudel]] (1902–1985), and [[Ilya Prigogine]] (1917–2003) as the three individuals who exerted the greatest influence "in modifying my line of argument (as opposed to deepening a parallel line of argument)."<ref name=Wall2000/> In ''The Essential Wallerstein'', he stated that: "Fanon represented for me the expression of the insistence by those disenfranchised by the modern world‑system that they have a voice, a vision, and a claim not merely to justice but to intellectual valuation.";<ref name=Wall2000/> that Braudel, for his description of the development and political implications of extensive networks of economic exchange in the European world between 1400 and 1800, "more than anyone else made me conscious of the central importance of the social construction of time and space and its impact on our analyses.";<ref name=Wall2000/> and that "Prigogine forced me to face the implications of a world in which certainties did not exist – but knowledge still did."<ref name=Wall2000/>

Wallerstein also stated that another major influence on his work was the [[Protests of 1968|"world revolution" of 1968]]. A member of the faculty of Columbia University at the time of the student protests, he participated in a faculty committee that attempted to resolve the dispute. He argued in several works that this revolution marked the end of "[[liberalism]]" as a viable ideology in the modern world system. He also argued that the end of the [[Cold War]], rather than marking a triumph for liberalism, indicates that the current system has entered its 'end' phase: a period of crisis that will end only when it is replaced by another system.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Globalization of World Politics |last=Baylis|first=John|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-19-956909-0}}</ref> Wallerstein anticipated the growing importance of the [[North–South divide in the World|North–South divide]] at a time when the main world conflict was the [[Cold War]].{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

Wallerstein was often mocked for arguing since 1980 that the United States is a "[[Hegemony|hegemon]] in decline",{{citation needed | date=December 2015}} but since the [[Iraq War]] this argument has become more widespread. During this time, Wallerstein also argued that the development of the capitalist world economy was detrimental to a large proportion of the world's population.<ref name=PH>Paul Halsall [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html Modern History Sourcebook: Summary of Wallerstein on World System Theory], August 1997</ref> Like Marx, Wallerstein predicted that capitalism will be replaced by a [[Socialism|socialist]] economy, a view held in the 1970s, but reassessed in the 1980s.<ref name=CAMV>Carlos A. Martínez-Vela, [http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/notebook/WorldSystem.pdf World Systems Theory], paper prepared for the [http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/notebook/NewNotebook.htm Research Seminar in Engineering Systems], November 2003</ref> He concluded that the successor system(s) is unknowable.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Wallerstein both participated in and wrote about the [[World Social Forum]].

===''The Modern World-System''===
[[File:Wallerstein's Core-periphery model.png|thumb|A model of a core-periphery system like that used by Wallerstein]]
Wallerstein's first volume on world-systems theory (''The Modern World System'', 1974) was predominantly written during a year at the [[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]] (now affiliated with [[Stanford University]]).<ref name=Wall97/> In it, he argues that the modern world system is distinguished from [[empire]]s by its reliance on economic control of the world order by a dominating capitalist center ([[Core countries|core]]) in systemic economic and political relation to [[Periphery countries|peripheral]] and [[Semi-periphery countries|semi-peripheral]] world areas.<ref>Ed. Lemert, Charles. 2010. "Immanuel Wallerstein." Pp. 398–405 in ''Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classical Readings''. Westview Press.</ref>

Wallerstein rejected the notion of a "[[Third World]]", claiming that there is only one world connected by a complex network of economic exchange relationships — i.e., a "world-economy" or "world-system" in which the "dichotomy of capital and labor" and the endless "accumulation of capital" by competing agents (historically including, but not limited, to nation-states) account for frictions.<ref name=So>{{cite book|last1=So|first1=Alvin Y.|title=Social Change and Development: Modernization, Dependency, and World-Systems Theory|date=1990|publisher=Sage Publications|location=Newbury Park, London|pages=169–199}}</ref> This approach is known as the world-system theory.

Wallerstein located the origin of the modern world-system in 16th-century Western Europe and the Americas. An initially slight advance in capital accumulation in [[Britain in the Middle Ages|Britain]], the [[Dutch Republic]], and [[France]], due to specific political circumstances at the end of the period of feudalism, set in motion a process of gradual expansion. As a result, only one global network or system of economic exchange exists in modern society. By the 19th century, virtually every area on earth was incorporated into the capitalist world-economy.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

The capitalist world-system is far from homogeneous in cultural, political, and economic terms; instead, it is characterized by fundamental differences in social development, accumulation of political power, and capital. Contrary to affirmative theories of [[modernization]] and capitalism, Wallerstein did not conceive of these differences as mere residues or irregularities that can and will be overcome as the system evolves.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

A lasting division of the world into ''core'', ''semi-periphery'', and ''periphery'' is an inherent feature of world-system theory. Other theories, partially drawn on by Wallerstein, leave out the semi-periphery and do not allow for a grayscale of development.<ref name=So/> Areas which have so far remained outside the reach of the world-system enter it at the stage of "periphery". There is a fundamental and institutionally stabilized "[[Division of labour|division of labor]]" between core and periphery: while the core has a high level of technological development and manufactures complex products, the role of the periphery is to supply raw materials, agricultural products, and cheap labor for the expanding agents of the core. Economic exchange between core and periphery takes place on [[unequal exchange|unequal terms]]: the periphery is forced to sell its products at low prices, but has to buy the core's products at comparatively high prices. Once established, this unequal state tends to stabilize itself due to inherent, quasi-deterministic constraints. The statuses of core and periphery are not exclusive and fixed geographically, but are relative to each other. A zone defined as "semi-periphery" acts as a periphery to the core and as a core to the periphery. At the end of the 20th century, this zone would comprise Eastern Europe, [[China]], [[Brazil]], and [[Mexico]]. It is important to note that core and peripheral zones can co-exist in the same location.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

One effect of the expansion of the world-system is the [[commodification]] of things, including human labor. Natural resources, land, labor, and human relationships are gradually being stripped of their "intrinsic" value and turned into commodities in a [[Market (economics)|market]] which determines their exchange value.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

In the last two decades of his life, Wallerstein increasingly focused on the intellectual foundations of the modern world-system and the pursuit of universal theories of human behavior. In addition, he showed interest in the "structures of knowledge" defined by the disciplinary division between sociology, [[anthropology]], [[political science]], [[economics]], and the [[humanities]], which he himself regarded as [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]]. In analyzing them, he was highly influenced by the "new sciences" of theorists like [[Ilya Prigogine]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

===Criticism===
{{more references|section|date=August 2025}}
Wallerstein's theory provoked harsh criticism, not only from [[neo-liberalism|neo-liberal]] or [[Conservatism|conservative]] circles but even from some historians who say that some of his assertions may be historically incorrect. Some critics suggest that Wallerstein tended to neglect the cultural dimension of the modern world-system, arguing that there is a world system of global culture which is independent from the economic processes of capitalism;<ref>Abercrombie, Nicholas, Hill, Stephen, and Bryan Turner. 2006. Dictionary of Sociology. 6th ed. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd.</ref> this reduces it to what some call "official" ideologies of states which can then easily be revealed as mere agencies of economic interest.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

Nevertheless, his analytical approach, along with that of associated theorists such as [[Andre Gunder Frank]], [[Terence Hopkins]], [[Samir Amin]], [[Christopher Chase-Dunn]], Thomas D. Hall, [[Aníbal Quijano]] and [[Giovanni Arrighi]], has made a significant impact on the field and has established an institutional base devoted to the general approach of intellectual inquiry. Their works has also attracted strong interest from the anti-globalization movement.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

[[Arthur Stinchcombe]] was very critical of Wallerstein's ''The Modern World-System'', writing that the book presents no theoretical argument and no determinate mechanisms. Instead, the theory of the book "reduces to a general imperative for the scholar to look for world system influences, perhaps wise advice but not very specific." Stinchcombe also argues that the book does not define its concepts independently of their effects, thus entailing tautologies regarding cores, peripheries and semi-peripheries.<ref>
{{Cite journal|last=Stinchcombe|first=Arthur L.|date=1982|editor-last=Wallerstein|editor-first=Immanuel|title=The Growth of the World System |journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=87|issue=6|pages=1389–1395|doi= 10.1086/227600|jstor= 2779368|s2cid=146611790|issn=0002-9602}}
</ref>

==Terms and definitions==
===Capitalist world-system===
Wallerstein's definition follows dependency theory, which intended to combine the developments of the different societies since the 16th century in different regions into one collective development. The main characteristic of his definition is the development of a global division of labour, including the existence of independent political units (in this case, states) at the same time. There is no political center, compared to global empires like the [[Roman Empire]]; instead, the capitalist world-system is identified by the global [[market economy]]. It is divided into core, semi-periphery, and periphery regions, and is ruled by the [[Capitalist mode of production (Marxist theory)|capitalist mode of production]].

===Core/periphery===
Defines the difference between developed and developing countries, characterized e.g. by power or wealth. The core refers to developed countries, the periphery to the dependent developing countries. The main reason for the position of the developed countries is economic power. Wallerstein "used the term ''core'' to suggest a multicentric region containing a group of states rather than the term ''center'', which implies a hierarchy with a single peak."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chase-Dunn|first1=Christopher|last2=Smith|first2=Jackie|last3=Manning|first3=Patrick|last4=Grubacic|first4=Andrej|date=2020-03-10|title=Remembering Immanuel Wallerstein|journal=Journal of World-Systems Research|volume=26|issue=1|doi=10.5195/jwsr.2020.995|s2cid=216163843 |issn=1076-156X|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Semi-periphery===
Defines states that are located between core and periphery, and who benefit from the periphery through unequal exchange relations. At the same time, the core benefits from the semi-periphery through unequal exchange relations.

===Quasi-monopolies===
Defines a kind of [[monopoly]] where there is more than one service provider for a particular good/service. Wallerstein claims that quasi-monopolies are self-liquidating because new sellers go into the market by exerting political pressure to open markets to competition.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wallerstein|first=Immanuel|title=World-systems analysis : an introduction|url=https://archive.org/details/worldsystemsanal0000wall|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham|isbn=978-0822334422|edition=5. print.}}</ref>

===Kondratiev waves===
A [[Kondratiev wave]] is defined as a cyclical tendency in the world's economy. It is also known as a ''supercycle.'' Wallerstein argues that global wars are tied to Kondratiev waves.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} According to him, global conflicts occur as the summer phase of a wave begins, which is when production of goods and services around the world are on an upswing.<ref>{{cite web|title=What Is the Kondratiev Wave?|url=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-kondratieff-wave.htm|access-date=30 September 2012}}</ref>

==Honors and fellowships==
{{MOSLOW|section|reason=MOSLOW|date=June 2025}}
*[[International Sociological Association]] Award for Excellence in Research and Practice, 2014
*N.D. Kondratieff Gold Medal, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 2005
*Distinguished Fellow, St. John's College, University of British Columbia, 2004–present
*Centro de Estudios, Información y Documentación Immanuel Wallerstein, Univ. de la Tierra-Chiapas y el CIDECI Las Casas, 2004–present
*Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award, [[American Sociological Association]], 2003
*Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award, Political Economy of the World-System Section of [[American Sociological Association]], 2003
*Premio Carlos Marx 2003, Fondo Cultural Tercer Mundo, Mexico
*Leerstoel (chair) Immanuel Wallerstein, University of Ghent, 2002– [Inaugural Lecture by IW on Mar. 11, 2002]
*Fellow, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1998
*IPE Distinguished Scholar, [[International Studies Association]], 1998
*Gulbenkian Professor of Science and Technology, 1994
*Medal of the university, University of Helsinki, 1992
*Wei Lun Visiting professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991
*University Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Binghamton University, 1991
*George A. Miller Visiting professor, University of Illinois-Urbana, 1989
*Officier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France, 1984
*Sorokin Prize (for Distinguished Scholarship), American Sociological Association, 1975
*Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, 1970–71
*Ford Fellow in Economics, Political Science and Sociology, 1970–71
*Foreign Area Fellowship, Africa, 1955–57
*[[Phi Beta Kappa]], 1951

==Works==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="border:1px; background:#f7f8ff; margin:auto;" cellpadding="7"
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e6e9ff;"
!width="15"|Year !!Title !!Author(s) !!Publisher
|-
| 1961 || ''Africa, The Politics of Independence'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: [[Vintage Books]]
|-
| 1964 || ''The Road to Independence: Ghana and the Ivory Coast'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Paris & The Hague: Mouton
|-
| 1967 || ''Africa: The Politics of Unity'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: [[Random House]]
|-
| 1969 || ''University in Turmoil: The Politics of Change'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: [[Atheneum Books|Atheneum]]
|-
| 1972 || ''Africa: Tradition & Change'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with Evelyn Jones Rich || New York: Random House
|-
| 1974 || ''The Modern World-System, vol. I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York/London: [[Academic Press]]
|-
| 1979 || ''The Capitalist World-Economy'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || [[Cambridge University Press]]
|-
| 1980 || ''The Modern World-System, vol. II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600–1750'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: Academic Press
|-
| 1982 || ''World-Systems Analysis: Theory and Methodology'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with Terence K. Hopkins et al. || Beverly Hills: Sage
|-
| 1982 || ''Dynamics of Global Crisis'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with [[Samir Amin]], [[Giovanni Arrighi]] and [[Andre Gunder Frank]] ||London: [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]
|-
| 1983 || ''Historical Capitalism'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || London: [[Verso Books|Verso]]
|-
| 1984 || ''The Politics of the World-Economy. The States, the Movements and the Civilizations'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
|-
| 1986 || ''Africa and the Modern World'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press
|-
| 1989 || ''The Modern World-System, vol. III: The Second Great Expansion of the Capitalist World-Economy, 1730-1840s'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || San Diego: Academic Press
|-
| 1989 || ''Antisystemic Movements'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with [[Giovanni Arrighi]] and Terence K. Hopkins || London: Verso
|-
| 1990 || ''Transforming the Revolution: Social Movements and the World-System'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with [[Samir Amin]], [[Giovanni Arrighi]] and [[Andre Gunder Frank]] || New York: [[Monthly Review Press]]
|-
| 1991 || ''Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous Identities'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with [[Étienne Balibar]] || London: Verso.
|-
| 1991 || ''Geopolitics and Geoculture: Essays on the Changing World-System'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
|-
| 1991 || ''Unthinking Social Science: The Limits of Nineteenth Century Paradigms'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Cambridge: Polity
|-
| 1995 || ''After Liberalism'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: New Press
|-
| 1995 || ''Historical Capitalism, with Capitalist Civilization'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || London: Verso
|-
| 1998 || ''Utopistics: Or, Historical Choices of the Twenty-first Century'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: New Press
|-
| 1999 || ''The End of the World As We Know It: Social Science for the Twenty-first Century'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Minneapolis: [[University of Minnesota Press]]
|-
| 2001 || ''Democracy, Capitalism, and Transformation'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Documenta 11, Vienna, March 16, 2001
|-
| 2003 || ''Decline of American Power: The U.S. in a Chaotic World'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: New Press
|-
| 2004 || ''The Uncertainties of Knowledge'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Philadelphia: [[Temple University Press]]
|-
| 2004 || ''[https://archive.org/details/worldsystemsanal0000wall World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction]'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Durham, North Carolina: [[Duke University Press]]
|-
| 2004 || ''Alternatives: The U.S. Confronts the World'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Press
|-
| 2006 || ''European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || New York: New Press
|-
| 2011 || ''The Modern World-System, vol. IV: Centrist Liberalism Triumphant, 1789–1914'' || Immanuel Wallerstein || Berkeley: [[University of California Press]]
|-
| 2013 || ''Uncertain Worlds: World-Systems Analysis in Changing Times'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with [[Charles Lemert]] and Carlos Antonio Aguirre Rojas || Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers
|-
| 2013 || ''Does Capitalism Have a Future?'' || Immanuel Wallerstein with [[Randall Collins]], [[Michael Mann (sociologist)|Michael Mann]], [[Georgi Derluguian]] and [[Craig Calhoun]] || New York: [[Oxford University Press]]
|-
| 2015 || ''The World is Out of Joint: World-Historical Interpretations of Continuing Polarizations'' || Immanuel Wallerstein (editor)|| Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers
|-
| 2022 || ''The Global Left: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow'' || Immanuel Wallerstein (editor)|| Routledge
|}

==See also==
*[[Historical sociology]]
*[[Marxist sociology]]
*[[Late capitalism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Kenneth, A. "Contemporary social and sociological theory: visualizing social worlds". Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2006.
*Brewer, A., ''Marxist Theories of Imperialism: A Critical survey,'' London: Macmillan, 1990. 
* {{Cite journal |last1=Chase-Dunn |first1=Christopher |last2=Smith |first2=Jackie |last3=Manning |first3=Patrick |last4=Grubacic |first4=Andrej |title=Remembering Immanuel Wallerstein |journal=Journal of World-Systems Research |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=5–8 |date=2020-03-10 |language=en |doi=10.5195/jwsr.2020.995 |doi-access=free |issn=1076-156X |df=mdy-all }}
*Frank, A.G. and B. Gills (eds), ''The World System: 500 years or 5000?'', London: Routledge, 1993. 
*Hout, W., ''Capitalism and the Third World: Development, dependence and the world system'', Hants: Edward Elgar, 1993. 
*Jacob, F., ed. ''[https://www.transcript-publishing.com/978-3-8376-6044-9/wallerstein-2.0/?number=978-3-8394-6044-3 Wallerstein 2.0 (Open Access)],'' Bielefeld: transcript, 2023.
*Sanderson, S., ''Civilizations and World Systems,'' London: Sage, 1955.
*Shannon, T., ''An Introduction to the World-System Perspective,'' Oxford: Westview Press, 1989.
*Wallerstein, I., ''The Modern World System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth Century,'' New York: Academic Press, 1974.
*{{cite book |last=Williams|first=Gregory P. |date= 2020|title=Contesting the Global Order: The Radical Political Economy of Perry Anderson and Immanuel Wallerstein|url= |location= |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]]|page= |isbn=978-1438479651|access-date=}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=61553720}}
*{{commons category-inline|Immanuel Wallerstein}}
*{{wikiquote-inline}}
*[http://www.iwallerstein.com Immanuel Wallerstein's Official Website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190901130629/https://sociology.yale.edu/people/immanuel-wallerstein Immanuel Wallerstein's profile at Yale.edu]
*[http://iwallerstein.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/iwallerstein-cv-eng-09.pdf Immanuel Wallerstein's Full CV]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[https://conifer.rhizome.org/binglibraries/fernand-braudel-center-for-the-study-of-economies-historical-systems-and-civilizations-2/list/fbc/b1/20200514022418/https://www.binghamton.edu/fbc/commentaries/commen-archive.html Wallerstein's Own Fortnightly Commentaries on Current Events Archive] [https://acikradyo.com.tr/kisi/immanuel-wallerstein?page=0 Immanuel Wallerstein {{!}} Açık Radyo 95.0]
*[https://monthlyreview.org/author/immanuelwallerstein/ Articles at Monthly Review]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080408185434/http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Wallerstein/index.htm Wallerstein's World-Systems Theory]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080408185434/http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Wallerstein/index.htm Presentation of Immanuel Wallerstein's "World-System Model"]
*[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html "Modern History Sourcebook: Summary of Wallerstein on World System Theory"] – Fordham University
*[http://cliodynamics.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=124&Itemid=70 Introduction to Social Macrodynamics: Compact Macromodels of the World System Growth] by [[Andrey Korotayev]], Artemy Malkov, and [[Daria Khaltourina]]
*[http://binghamton.edu/fbc/index.html Binghamton University Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations]
*[http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr Journal of World-Systems Research]
* [http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/63 "World-Economic Theories and Problems: Quigley vs. Wallerstein vs Central Civilization"] by David Wilkinson
*[https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/154-general/25626.html Entering Global Anarchy] by Immanuel Wallerstein
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081020022824/http://www.theory-talks.org/2008/08/theory-talk-13.html Interview with Wallerstein (2008) on the End of Capitalism and World-Systems]}}
*[http://www.campusincamps.ps/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Wallerstein-Reading-Fanon.pdf Reading Fanon in the 21st Century] – 2009, New Left Review essay
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170320233759/http://archives.cerium.ca/IMG/pdf/4-_Structural_Crisis.pdf Structural Crisis] – 2010, New Left Review essay
*[https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/143 Immanuel Wallerstein Papers]  Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections 
*[https://archivesspace.binghamton.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/144 Fernand Braudel Center at Binghamton University records] Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections

'''Video'''
*[https://www.c-span.org/video/?170952-4/us-world-power "The U.S. As a World Power"] C-SPAN (2002)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080422082106/http://www.cerium.ca/article1623.html "The United States Facing Its Decline"] – Fall 2006, Conference given by Immanuel Wallerstein at the [[Université de Montréal]] ''(in French)''
*{{YouTube|wBMnDLQr7-M|"Major crisis still ahead, past one was minor" (2009)}} – Immanuel Wallerstein comments on America's recent financial crisis in TV interview
*{{YouTube|h43c2uC-y4A|"Immanuel Wallerstein – Unit of Analysis" (2010)}}
*{{YouTube|EPcryvhSOco|"Immanuel Wallerstein – Capitalism is reaching its end" (2011)}}

'''Audio'''
*[https://archive.org/details/GraceLeeBoggsImmanuelWallersteinDialogue Grace Lee Boggs and Immanuel Wallerstein Dialogue] – U.S. Social Forum, 2010
*[https://archive.org/details/GlobalAfricaLiberationMovementsSince1945 "Global Africa: Liberation Movements Since 1945"] – Sept. 24, 2008, dialogue between Immanuel Wallerstein, Walter Turner, and Will Grant at CounterPULSE, part of the ongoing Shaping San Francisco Talks series
*[http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/45901 KPFA Radio Interview] – Nov. 12, 2008, Immanuel Wallerstein comments on the structural constraints faced by Obama and the current economic crisis

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