{"id":226768,"date":"2023-01-16T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=226768"},"modified":"2023-01-04T10:29:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T10:29:40","slug":"immanuel-wallerstein-on-the-global-left-and-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/01\/immanuel-wallerstein-on-the-global-left-and-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Immanuel Wallerstein on the Global Left and Right"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Immanuel_Wallerstein\" >Immanuel Wallerstein<\/a> is unique.\u00a0 Nobody else has presented such a coherent theory of what he calls the modern world-system&#8211;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/World-systems_approach\" >World-Systems Approach<\/a>&#8211;from &#8220;the long 16th century&#8221; up till today; essentially capitalist.\u00a0 There are ups and downs during those four centuries.\u00a0 He is very much at home in the economic Kondratiev cycles&#8211;A for up, B for down, but not that much down&#8211;and in the political-military hegemonic cycles of the would-be hegemons in the same period.\u00a0 Read Wallerstein and become wiser.<\/p>\n<p>He warns against the Global Right &#8220;Lampedusa tactic&#8221; of &#8220;changing things so that they remain the same&#8221;. And insists on Liberty, Equality <em>and<\/em> Fraternity for the Global Left&#8211;but sees the French Revolution more as normalizing <em>change<\/em> than as people&#8217;s sovereignty.\u00a0 Like faith in the middle classes: they are actually helping the Global Right, when in minority they are enlarged by the majority working classes, when in majority they neglect the working class minority left behind.<\/p>\n<p>Right now Wallerstein sees capitalism in crisis with no remedy&#8211;of which I am not so sure&#8211;and the US hegemony also in a crisis with no remedy&#8211;a view I share&#8211;, as the fall of an empire for which local elites used to kill and rule; now having to do most killings itself.<\/p>\n<p>The Global Right, in power for a long time, is now faltering. Time for the Global Left?\u00a0 Or does Zizek&#8217;s brilliant formula &#8220;<em>the left never misses a chance to miss a chance<\/em>&#8221; apply?<\/p>\n<p>Wallerstein: Yes, it does! And he offers six Global Left proposals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use, promote, the Spirit of Porto Alegre, the World Social Forum;<\/li>\n<li>Use electoral tactics at least to defend what has been achieved;<\/li>\n<li>Demand ever more welfare state&#8211;free education, health, life income;<\/li>\n<li>Make liberals liberal: open borders, have companies pay for failure;<\/li>\n<li>Fight racism (and we might add: sexism, ageism, centrism, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Decommodify education-health as human rights, not buying-selling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>No problem agreeing with these general principles.\u00a0 But concrete cases of the Left progressing may be more problematic: the Zapatista revolt in Chiapas 1-1-1994 (the day NAFTA came into force), and the first Porto Alegre meeting 2001.\u00a0 I was active in both.<\/p>\n<p>Chiapas: The &#8220;Zapatista Revolt&#8221; was marketed by a clever outside professor; the &#8220;revolt&#8221; imported high culture from central Mexico.\u00a0 No Maya revolt in Chiapas-Yucatan-Guatemala-Belize-Honduras for equality.<\/p>\n<p>Porto Alegre: an impressive parade of the diversity in &#8220;another world is possible&#8221; message; many worlds in search of unifying themes and action. Like the theme of inequality and the action of boycotting companies with unacceptable CEO\/worker income ratios.<\/p>\n<p>HOWEVER, more basic: Wallerstein&#8217;s breathtaking overview is limited and limiting; to the West, and to one period, &#8220;modernity&#8221;.\u00a0 Not Global; and Right vs. Left&#8211;pro-contra capitalism&#8211;is modern. Modernity fostered State, Capital and People: Capital produced more capital and met material demands from people who could pay; State cooperated with Capital, was bought, also protecting People; People fighting for the basic needs survival, wellness, freedom, identity.<\/p>\n<p>I see Western history as expansion\/contraction&#8211;also before Greco-Roman expansion&#8211;now contracting, in a world with Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese, Japanese civilizations to mention some&#8211;neglected by Western universalist arrogance and ignorance.\u00a0 Next door is Islam, suffering from the same universalism, the only true faith for all at all times, and counter-cyclical to the West: when one contracts the other expands.\u00a0 Right now: Islam expands, the West contracts.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Right&#8221; stands for Capital growth for material, body, demands; &#8220;Left&#8221; for State-People cooperation against Capital, for distribution.\u00a0 BUT, for distribution of what?\u00a0 Of the same?\u00a0 Of more things that lead to more empty lives marred by egocentric loneliness?\u00a0 With Islam expanding, offering <em>wecentric<\/em> togetherness sharing for basic needs?<\/p>\n<p>Crisis, indeed.\u00a0 The way out is a new discourse, less material, more spiritual; something to live for, not only from.\u00a0 Could be <em>causes<\/em> beyond egocentric satisfaction; religions offer answers, so do causes like peace, development, environment, the UN Three.<\/p>\n<p>Could be the incredible <em>creativity<\/em> of the human spirit, beyond God&#8217;s Creation, by consuming arts and sciences produced by others, or by becoming creative producers.\u00a0 Or, simply the <em>search<\/em>, the wandering and wondering monks not letting the material stand in the way.<\/p>\n<p>New Middle Ages. But all ages are &#8220;middle&#8221;, between one and the next.\u00a0 A new contraction phase, into inner, more spiritual lives, into smaller units, is more indicative.\u00a0 Maybe in Europe and USA with 500 rather than 50 autonomous units?\u00a0 Woven together, cooperating for mutual and equal benefit; wanting less, hence struggling less?<\/p>\n<p>And the economy?\u00a0 In &#8220;land, labor, capital&#8221; or &#8220;Nature, Humans, Capital&#8221;, nature and humans are indispensable, and not only as means, inputs in an economy for growth, distribution or both, but as absolute ends in themselves.\u00a0 The economy must balance naturism, humanism and capitalism, so must economics. Today&#8217;s &#8220;economics&#8221; focuses on capital and growth.\u00a0 Throw it out, produce a human-nature focused economics.<\/p>\n<p>Modernity with its dominant State-Capital-People discourse and reality is now fading.\u00a0 What comes next?\u00a0 &#8220;Post-modernity&#8221; is a sloppy expression, only &#8220;after modernity&#8221;.\u00a0 The hypothesis offered here is contraction, in an oscillating history; brought about in both phases in the West by less sense of balance than in other civilizations.\u00a0 The bigger the exaggeration, the bigger the power, but the bigger is also the fall&#8211;Germany, Russia, Turkey, Spain, France, England, USA.<\/p>\n<p>Let what will happen happen, but add to Wallerstein&#8217;s Six Western Left six humanist-naturist for more balance in the coming contraction:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lift up suffering humanity at the bottom, for full participation;<\/li>\n<li>Lift up suffering nature at the bottom, for full participation;<\/li>\n<li>Promote a Western We-culture of togetherness and sharing;<\/li>\n<li>Promote a materially simpler, spiritually richer, creative life;<\/li>\n<li>Promote equivalents of monasteries, with freedom to join, leave;<\/li>\n<li>Promote an exit from this rhythm in favor of a balanced both-and.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How about &#8220;global&#8221; as the other civilizations?\u00a0 Except Islam they are much older than &#8220;modernity&#8221;, and have survived.\u00a0 Perhaps through more diversity, symbiosis, balance.\u00a0 Maybe West can learn from that.<\/p>\n<p>______________________________________<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/johan-galtung.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-120361\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/johan-galtung-150x141.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"141\" \/><\/a><\/em><em>Johan Galtung, a professor of peace studies, dr hc mult, is founder of <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/\" >TRANSCEND International<\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/\" >TRANSCEND <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/\" >Media Service<\/a>,<em> and rector of <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tpu\/\" >TRANSCEND Peace University<\/a><em>. <\/em><em>He was awarded among others the 1987 Right Livelihood Award, known as the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize.<\/em> <em>Galtung\u00a0has mediated in\u00a0over 150 conflicts in more than 150 countries, and written more than 170 books on peace and related issues<\/em>,<em> 96 as the sole author. More than 40 have been translated to other languages, including <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tup\/index.php?book=1\" >50 Years-100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives<\/a><em> published by <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tup\/\" >TRANSCEND University Press<\/a><em>. His book, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tup\/index.php?book=46\" >Transcend and Transform<\/a>, <em>was translated to 25 languages<\/em>.<em> He has published more than 1700 articles\u00a0and book\u00a0chapters and over 500 Editorials for <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/\" >TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a>.<em> More<a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/galtung\/\" > information about Prof. Galtung<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/galtung\/#publications\" >all of his publications<\/a> can be found at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/galtung\/\" >transcend.org\/galtung<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crisis, indeed.  The way out is a new discourse, less material, more spiritual; something to live for, not only from. Right now Wallerstein sees capitalism in crisis with no remedy&#8211;of which I am not so sure&#8211;and the US hegemony also in a crisis with no remedy&#8211;a view I share&#8211;, as the fall of an empire for which local elites used to kill and rule; now having to do most killings itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[232,1425,1731,870,1639,1160],"class_list":["post-226768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","tag-capitalism","tag-immanuel-wallerstein","tag-left-politics","tag-reviews","tag-right-politics","tag-world-order"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}