Re: "rise of china" and wst

 The bigger issue, however, is (as always) the (mis)conceptualization of
 WST as a positivist theory.  Of course, the Owl of Minerva business
 applies to it as much as to any other theoretical framework.  In this
 case, however, we have Wallerstein's explicit statement that we are in a
 period of systemic transition, when traditional rules no longer apply

Remind me again--why exactly are we supposed to declare 'anything goes'?

, and
 free choice dominates over established structures 

I've never understood how one can reconcile 'free choice' with the concept of 
social science.  Religious believers in free choice believe the creator endowed 
his favorite creation (man) with this capacity--why should anyone else believe 
it?  Determinations may be so complex that they defy predictability, this, 
however, does not mean actions cease to have causes.  And if they have causes, 
it is difficult to know what 'free choice' means..  No matter how chaotic the 
current period is/becomes, everything that happens will probably be explicable 
by looking at what came before (in different temporalities).  As always, 
efforts to control the process of change will be severely compromised by the 
many forces beyond the control of those trying to do the controlling.


  This means that past precedents of
 hegemonic transitions may be largely useless in elucidating (much less
 predicting) the outcome of the current transition (though Wallerstein
 himself sometimes forgets this in practice).

Thank goodness!  Otherwise it would appear that his entire project of 
illuminating the processes of the world system is basically a waste of time...

Steven Sherman


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 Subject: Re: "rise of china"