Tom and the WSN:
In Tom Hall's posting, he claims that
" . . . the wealth passing through traders, first in 18th
century Dutch Republics, and later England, allowed capitalists
to seize state power and build the first capitalist system in the
world."
Now, over the past several months we've heard a lot from the discussants
on this list about the existence of capitalist behavior in other times in
other parts of the world. Tom is making the point that Europe-centered
system was the first capitalist WORLD-SYSTEM, the first world-system in
which the relations between the constituent elements of the system were
capitalist. I agree with him.
But I ask: Why did non-latter-day-European capitalists never foster the
development of a capitalist world-system in the world-systems in which
they lived? What make these latter-day-European capitalists so much
leaner and meaner, such that they were able to take over their own
governments and eventually the world?
For MY answer to this question, I ask that you read my (admittedly long)
posting of a few days ago.
Yours,
Salvatore
Salvatore Babones
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Sociology
Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D. expected May, 1998