Beverly J. Silver and Giovanni Arrighi
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814772775
- eISBN:
- 9780814723555
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814772775.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This chapter compares the present with previous periods of financialization, and the long twentieth century with previous long centuries. It identifies similarities among three previous periods of ...
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This chapter compares the present with previous periods of financialization, and the long twentieth century with previous long centuries. It identifies similarities among three previous periods of financialization, pointing to patterns of recurrence across time, then focuses on patterns of evolution. The chapter argues that long centuries should not be understood as primarily recurrent (cyclical) phenomena; rather, the financial expansions that mark the beginning and end of each long century have been periods of fundamental reorganization of the world system. These successive reorganizations have produced an evolutionary pattern in which the dominant governmental business complex increased over time in size, power, and complexity—including social complexity.Less
This chapter compares the present with previous periods of financialization, and the long twentieth century with previous long centuries. It identifies similarities among three previous periods of financialization, pointing to patterns of recurrence across time, then focuses on patterns of evolution. The chapter argues that long centuries should not be understood as primarily recurrent (cyclical) phenomena; rather, the financial expansions that mark the beginning and end of each long century have been periods of fundamental reorganization of the world system. These successive reorganizations have produced an evolutionary pattern in which the dominant governmental business complex increased over time in size, power, and complexity—including social complexity.
