To: "Nikolai S. Rozov" <ROZOV@cnit.nsu.ru>
From: immanuel wallerstein <iwaller@binghamton.edu>
july 17, 1996
dear nikolai,
it's a long story. basically you are hoping for and arguin for a gentle
socialdemocratic resolution of the dilemmas of capitalism. good idea, but it
won't happen. see our forthcoming <the age of transition: trajectory of the
world-system, 1945-2025> (zed press, 1996);/...omited personal talk - N.R./
yours/immanuel
At 12:17 PM 6/26/96 -0600, you wrote:
>Dear Immanuel,
>I would be grateful for your feedback, at least brief, on my msg to wsn,
>I don't know are you in wsn now; you can send the answer to me for forwarding
> My best regards, yours
> Nikolai Rozov
>
>
>We have gone far away from criticism of WS fathers. While
>reflecting on Richard Moore's arguments I decided to suggest a new subject
>concerning objective long-term trends of World Capitalism and
>possible alternative evaluations of them.
>
> Three main views on this point can be seen:
> a) the liberal 'mainstream' position: "free market economy and democracy
>are winning, they are becoming stronger and stronger and they are really
>worthy this victory" (Fukuyama, etc)
> I think nobody in wsn needs arguments against this position.
>
> b) the left expectations of world capitalism's decline: it's a world
>desease ("virus") and it is worthy its forthcoming failure (Wallerstein,
>Chase-Dann)
> My question: What are real visible signs of decline or crisis, which
>should be stronger than all those problems and crises that world capitalism
>successfully prevailed in the past (f.e. in 1810-15, 1848-9, 1914-18, 1930-32,
>1939-45, 1968-69)?
>
> c) the left appeals for struggle against strong and threatening world
>capitalism (appeals by Maoism, Trotskism in Latin America, etc, Russian
>Communism, maybe in wsn by R.Moore in his struggle against 'imperialism' and
>TNC)
>My doubts and questions:
> Historical facts tell us that in most cases of open 'hot'
>struggle against world capitalism did not succeed, but ALL the local national
>'successes' (f.e. in Russia since 1917, China, Cuba, N.Korea, Iran, Albania)
>led inevitably to mass social disasters, poverty, frequently - mass terror.
> On the contrary most "soft" and interior attemps to ameliorate
>capitalism were successful, or at least, harmless (Second International and
>Social-Democratic reforms in Europe in the beginning of XX, laborists in
>Great Britain, socialists in Sweden, promotion of social programs in US,
>France, Germany, etc).
> Well, WS-theory can tell that it was possible only for core or
>semipripheral countries, not for periphery. Great, but in this case the
>imperative should be not a struggle against 'imperialism' (ie core countries)
>transforming them to less democratric and tolerant regimes, but vice versa -
>the imperative should be to try to rise the status (from periphery to
>semipheriphery) of most exploited countries and peoples.
> Is the last task possible without support of world capital, without
>IMF, TNC, Big- 7 and all other 'devils', without appeal to moral norms of
>humanism, justice,etc, even if we see so much hypocrisy in proclaiming these
>values by mainstream leaders?
>
> My position in brief on the question posed in the subject above:
> - World Capitalism seems to strengthen (not decline),
> - it is not a monolite, it is rather open for reforms (much more than all
>non-capitalist social regimes!),
> - many long-term trends of its transformation during last 500
>years should be morally appreciated,
> - the task is not to unmask hypocrisy of its social-moral ideology, but to
>use this ideology as a support for 'soft' promotion of reforms for humanizing
>Capitalism (first of all to work out the correspondent norms of world legal
>system in international trade, debts, raw resources, etc)
>
>now some comments to Richard Moore's msg:
>Richard Moore:
>> I ask Dr. Rozov -- Why would modern imperial managers want to
>> revert to expensive 19th Century techniques?
>
>I answer to Richard: bless God, they do not want: to be humanistic sometimes
>occurs to be more profitable.
>
>And I ask now everybody:
>1) Where World Capitalism is going from your viewpoint?
>2) Isn't it possible and reasonable to create options for further
>prolongation of these humanistic-profitable trends of World
>Capitalism instead of its demonizing?
>
> Greetings from Siberia, Nikolai
>
>
>
>
>
>Nikolai S. Rozov # Address:Dept. of Philosophy
>Prof.of Philosophy # Novosibirsk State University
>rozov@cnit.nsu.ru # 630090, Novosibirsk
>Fax: (3832) 355237 # Pirogova 2, RUSSIA
>
>Moderator of the mailing list PHILOFHI
>(PHILosophy OF HIstory and theoretical history)
>http://darwin.clas.virginia.edu/~dew7e/anthronet/subscribe
>/philofhi.html
>
Immanuel Wallerstein
Fernand Braudel Center
Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
USA
Tel: (1) (607) 777-4924
FAX: (1) (607) 777-4315
Email: iwaller@binghamton.edu