Braudel, capitalism, and the new economic sociology

Research Foundation of SUNY

Braudel, Capitalism, and the New Economic Sociology
Author(s): Giovanni Arrighi
Source: Review (Fernand Braudel Center), Vol. 24, No. 1, Braudel and the U.S.: Interlocuteurs
valables? (2001), pp. 107-123
Published by: Research Foundation of SUNY for and on behalf of the Fernand Braudel Center
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BraudelyCapitalismeand the
New EconomieSociology
Giovanni
Arrighi

THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY AND ITS
DOUBLE SILENCE ON CAPITALISM AND BRAUDEL
thefactthatcapitalismtendsto become the sole subject
Despite
matterof économies,neitherthe termnor the concepthas as
ofacadémieécorecognizedbyreprésentatives
yetbeen universally
nomies"(Sombart,1951: 195). These remarksbyWernerSombartwho firstintroducedthe concept of capitalismin the social sciences-refer to the earlytwentieth
Theyapplywitha venCentury.
The
statement
that"capitalism
late
twentieth
to
thè
Century.
geance
tendsto become the sole subjectmatterof économies"is certainly
But thereptruertodaythanitwas at thebeginningof theCentury.
of académieéconomiesuse thetermor theconceptof
résentatives
less frequently
even
todaythantheydid a hundredyears
capitalism
ago.
nature
In lightof theeminently
(and increasingly)

metaphysical
ofacadémieéconomies,we shouldnotbe surprisedbythisgrowing
discrepancybetweenitsactualsubjectmatterand itssemanticand
in myviewis thefactthat
conceptualapparatus.Farmoresurprising
be
in
a
can
observed
a similardiscrepancy
subdiscipline(Economie
in
at
the
of
that
Century
beginning thetwentieth
emerged
Sociology)
reactionto the metaphysicaldispositionsof académie économies.
influencedbytheGermanHistoriPioneeredbyeconomistsstrongly
cal School- mostnotablyMax WeberandJosephSchumpterbesides
Sombarthimself-the subdisciplinewas importedinto the United
versions:TalcottParsons'"structuralStatesintworadicallydifférent
version.For
Karl
and
functionalist"

version;
Polanyi's"substantivist"
more than 40 yearsafterits transplantin the United States,ecoREViEW,
xxiv, 1, 200 1, 107-23

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107


108

GiovanniArrighi

nomicsociologylanguishedas an académiediscipline,althoughone
of the by-produets
of the Parsonianversion("modernizationthein
thrived
the
fieldof developory")
newlycreatedinterdiseiplinary
mentstudies.Startingin thèmid-1980's,however,thèsubdiscipline
experienceda sudden renaissancegivingrise to whatits practitionersliketo cali theNew EconomieSociology.
The New EconomieSociology,liketheold, is firstand foremost
a reactionto whatParsonshad earliercalled "The Imperialismof
Economies;"thatis,thetendencyoféconomiesto setitselfup as the
social scienceand, at thesame time,
one and onlytruly"scientific"
to invadethedomainsoftheothersocialscienceswithitsdeduetive

rationalistic
theoreticalapparatus.Like
methodologyand formally
the originalEconomie Sociology,it was also a reactionagainstthe
real or imagined"economicism"of Marxism.Whetherliberai or
Marxist,"economicism"is the true bete noire in "antithesis"to
whichEconomie Sociologyboth old and new have definedthemselves.In spiteof theNew EconomieSociology'sdaims to be a rethatI havebeen able to
vivaloftheold, thisis theonlycommonality
findbetweenthetwo.
Byitsown admission,whatmakestheNew EconomieSociology
and "em"new"in relationto theold is itsemphasison "networks"
beddedness."Networksand embeddednesswere of courseprésent
in Polanyi'ssubin theold EconomieSociologyas well,particularly
But even in Polanyi,let alone in theearlierpiostantivist
synthesis.
neers,theydid not oecupythecentralpositionthattheyhave come
to occupyin theNew EconomieSociology.The diesis thatmarkets
are embeddedin social networkshas been themainweapon in the
New EconomieSociology'scritiqueof theeconomists'beliefin selfregulatingmarketsas thèbeginningand end of ali social theory.
the
is anotherdifférence:
Less recognizedbutmorefundamental
New
Ecoof
the
"social-interacüonist"
"micro,"
approach
distinctly
nomieSociologyin comparisonwiththedistinctly

"macro,""socialold
Economie
of
the
Sociology.Withrareexcepsystemic"
approach
that
are
the
networks
tions,
investigatedlinkindividualeor small
shortperiodsoftime.In anyevent,anyinvestigroupsoverrelatively
of
and "large processes,"to use Charles
structures"
gation "big
outsidetherealmof
Tilly'sexpressions(1984), lie almostcompletely
the New Economie Sociology,and so does anythingresembling
return.
Braudel'slonguedurée,an issue to whichI shallpresently

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BRAUDEL AND THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

1 09

is a thirddifférence,
Evenlessrecognizedand morefundamental
first
two:
the
to
the
in
related
disappearancefromtheNew
only part
EconomieSociologyof the centraltheoreticalconcernof theoriginal EconomieSociologywithcapitalismas historicalsocial System.
The extentofthisdisappearancecan be gaugedfromtheréférences
to "capitalism" in The Handbook of EconomieSociology,a text pre-

sentedby its editorsas "a generaiStatementand consolidationof
work... in economiesociology,in ail itsmanifesta[the]accelerating
tions. . . duringthepast tenyears"(Smelser& Swedberg,1994: vii).
or thederivedadjective"capitalist"
appearsin
Although"capitalism"
thetitleofordyone of thebook's 31 chapters,accordingto thesubject index 15 of the 31 chaptersand 51 of the 797 pages referto
"capitalism."On doser inspection,mostof thèseréférencesare not
to "capitalism"but to whatMarx,Weber,and otherwritersof an
traditionhad to sayabout capitalism.In onlyfive
earlieror différent
chaptersand fourteenpages is theterm"capitalism"chosenbythe
Butifwe look for
usefulsignifier.

as a minimally
authorsthemselves
somethingmorethana passingréférenceto such thingsas "market
capitalism,""statecapitalism,""organizedcapitalism,""managerial
capitalism"and thelike,thecountdropsto a singleréférencein an
almost800-pagebook. The référencereads:
Labor marketshâve formedchieflyundercapitalism,thesystemof productionin whichholdersof capital,backed bylaw
and statepower,make the crucialdécisionsconcerningthe
characterand allocationofwork(Tilly& Tilly,1994: 286).
I hâve dwelton theNew EconomieSociologyand itssilenceon
"capitalism"forthreemainreasons.First,amongthedisciplinesand
subdisciplinesofthesocialsciencesas practicedin theUnitedStates
Fernand
(leavingaside workcarriedout at BinghamtonUniversity's
Braudel Center) economie sociologyseems to me the most likely
ofBraudel'swork.The factthatithas almostcompletely
interlocutor
ignoredBraudel'sworkis in itselfa measureof thelack of validor
SecforthatworkamongU.S. socialscientists.
valuableinterlocutors
lack
New
Economie
the
for
Sociology's
ondly,in myviewthereasons
of interestin Braudel'sworkare prettymuchthesame as thosefor
its silenceon capitalismas historicalsocial System.Understanding
thelatteris essentialtounderstanding

whyBraudelhas failedtofind
validor valuableinterlocutors
amongU.S. social scientists.Finally,
the
related
to
and closely
above, it is myconvictionthatthe New

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110

GiovanniArrighi

EconomieSociology,or forthatmatterthèsocialsciencesin generai,
can learnto speakmeaningfully
about capitalismas historicalsocial
to
terms
with
Braudel'snotionoflonguedurée
System
onlybycoming
and his implicittheoryof historicalcapitalism.Let me deal briefly
witheach of thèsethreepoints.
On thèfirstpointthereis notmuchto sayotherthancheckonce
again The HandbookofEconomieSociologyfor référencesto Braudel.

Accordingto thèname index,only4 of thè31 chaptersand 7 ofthè
797 pages hâve référencesto Braudel.One of thèseis a mereréférence to Braudel as an authorityon a spécifiehistoricalfact.That
leavesthreetwo-pageréférencesto Braudel'sideas:one to Braudel's
to worldcapitalism(Hamilton,
attempito linkWesterncivilization
about thèpossibility
1994: 188-89); anotherto Braudel'sskepticism
of developinga singletheorycapturingthè essence of ali markets
that have existedhistorically
(Swedberg,1994: 255-56); and yet
as one approach
anotherto Braudel'sconceptof "world-economy"
thè
others
to
understanding relationshipbetween trade,
among
of human activity(Irwin&
thè
and
spatialdistribution
transport,
Kasarda, 1994: 355-56). Withthè partialexceptionof thè thirdwhichoccursin thècontextofan open-endedsurveyofthèliterature
on a spécifietopic-none of thèseréférencesconsistsof seriousengagementsin a dialogue or conversationwithBraudel.The use of
and accidentai.And of
Braudel is strictly
one-sided,instrumental,
course thisconcernsthè small minorityof economie sociologists
who at leastuse Braudel.The vastmajority

just ignoreshim.
The double silenceof thèNew EconomieSociologyon "capitalism"and on Braudelhas a singleroot:itsdistinctly
"micro,""socialat
most
or
eventinteractionist,"
approachto
conjuncture-oriented
ofBraudelto thèsocial
economyand society.The greatcontribution
sciencesis to have shownthatcapitalismcan be understoodonly
and longue-durée-orìented
approach.
througha "macro,""structural,"
a
more
in
line
with
an
such
abandoned
generai
approachHaving
tendencyof thè social sciences-thè New Economie Sociologyhas
aboutcapitalism
itscapacitybothofspeakingmeaningfully
forfeited
as historicalsocialSystemand ofappreciatingthètheoreticalsignifiof sucha System.
cance of thèBraudelianreconstruction

This bringsme to thèthirdand mostimportantpoint-thèconis a necessary
tention,thatcomingto termswiththisreconstruction
conditionforthèNew EconomieSociologyand thè social sciences
aboutcapitalism.This
moregenerallytolearnto speakmeaningfully

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BRAUDEL AND THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

111

contentionis largelybased on myown expériencein dealingwith
historicalcapitalismthrougha dialoguewithBraudel.This is an ongoingdialogue thathas so farmaterializedin twobooks (Arrighi,
1994;Arrighi& Silveret al., 1999) and severalpublishedand unpublishedpapers(especiallyArrighi,1998; 1999; Arrighi,Hui & Hung,
1999) on thèdevelopmentofworldcapitalismas historicalsocialsystem.It is a dialoguethathas also led me to rereadin an altogether
new lightsome of the classictextsof the old Economie Sociology
and supplémentsto Brauand discoverin themusefulcompléments
historical
of
del's reconstruction
capitalism.In whatfollows,I shall
firstsketchwhatI foundmostusefulin Braudelformyown reconstructionof historicalcapitalism.I shall thentryto show thatthe
most promisingwayforthe New Economie Sociologyto learn to
speak about capitalismis to enterinto a dialogue withBraudel's
work.
BRAUDEL ON CAPITALISM
ofcapitoourunderstanding

Braudel'smostcrucialcontribution
restson threecloselyrelateddaims.
talismas historicalsocialSystem
The firstis thattheessentialfeatureofhistoricalcapitalismoverits
has been its"flexibility"
longuedurée,thatis, overitsentirelifetime,
and "eclecticism"ratherthanthèconcreteformsit assumedat diftimes.The seconddaim is that,worldférentplaces and at différent
the financialratherthanthe commercialor industriai
historically,
arenas has been the real home of capitalism.And the thirdis that
withstatesratherthanmarketsis whathas enabled
theidentification
to
capitalism triumphin themodem era.
For whatconcernsthefirstdaim, Braudelstrongly
emphasizes
and
for
and
that"unlimited
adaptation"
flexibility" "capacity change
ofcapseemto himthemostessentialfeaturesofthègeneraihistory
in
italism."If thereis, as I believe,a certainunity capitalism,from
West,it is hère above ail
thirteenth-century
Italyto thepresent-day
thatsuchunitymustbe locatedand observed"(1982: 433). In certain
periods,evenlongperiods,capitalismdid seem to "specialize,"as in

into the
when "[it]movedso speetacularly
the nineteenthCentury,
led
"to
indus
This
of
new world
many
try."
regard
specialization
idenits
'true'
as
the
final
which
industry
gave capitalism
flowering
But
this
is
a
short-term
view.
tity."

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GiovanniArrighi

112

thèmostadvanced
[After]thèinitialboom ofmechanization,
kindof capitalismrevertedto edecticism,to an indivisibility
of interestsso to speak,as ifthècharacteristic
advantageof
Standingat thècommandingheightsof thèeconomy,today
just as muchas in thèdaysofJacquesCoeur (thèfourteenthcenturytycoon)consistedpreciselyof nothavingto confine
oneself to a single choice, of being eminentlyadaptable,
hence non-specialized(1982: 381; emphasisin thè originai;
1991: 213).
amendedas indicatedin Wallerstein,
translation
Althoughthèemphasishèreis on rejectingthèpracticestiliprédominantamongMarxistsand Weberiansalikeof identifying
capiBraudel'sremarksapplyalso to thèidentitalismwithindustrialism,
ficationof capitalismwith commerce.This is evidentfromhis
ofcapital,"
seconddaim thatwhattodaywe calithè"financialization
farfrombeinga newbornchildofthèearly(letalone late) twenüeth
has been a constantof capitalisthistory.
Century,
Hilferding. . . sees theworldofcapitalas a rangeofpossibila veryrécentarrivai
ities,withinwhichthèfinancialvarietyas he sees it-has tendedto winout overtheothers,penetrating themfromwithin.It is a viewwithwhichI am willingto

of capitalism
concur,withthèprovisothatI see theplurality
as goingbacka longway.Financecapitalismwas no newborn
childofthe1900's;I wouldevenarguethatin thepast-in say
incommercial
Genoa or Amsterdam-^/fowmg·
a waveofgrowth
capitalismand theaccumulationofcapital on a scale beyondthe

financecapitalismwas already
normalchannehfor
Investment,
in a positionto takeoverand dominate,fora whileat least,
ail the activitiesof the businessworld(Braudel, 1984: 604;
emphasisadded).
The point is elaboratedfurtherin Braudel's discussionof the
withdrawalof the Dutch fromcommercearound 1740 to become
of thiskind,suggestsBrau"thebankersof Europe." A withdrawal
is
a
récurrent
del,
tendency.The same tendencyhad
world-systemic
Italy,and againaround
alreadybeen in évidencein fifteenth-century
1560, when the leading groupsof the Genoese businessdiaspora
fromcommerceto exerciseforabout 70 yearsa
graduallywithdrew
rule over European financescomparableto thatexercisedin the

at BasletwenüethCentury
Settlement
bytheBankofInternational

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BRAUDEL AND THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

113

"a rule thatwas so discreetand sophisticatedthathistoriansfora
longtimefailedto noticeit."AfterthèDutch,thètendencywas replicated by the English duringand afterthe Great Depression of
1873-96, when thè end of "thèfantasticventureof thè industriai
révolution"createdan overabundanceof moneycapital(Braudel,
1984: 157, 164, 242-43, 246).
ventureof so-calledFordism-KeynesAfterthe equallyfantastic
ianism,U.S. capitalsincethe1970'shas followeda similartrajectory.
Braudeldoes notdiscussthefinancialexpansionofour days,which
gainedmomentumin the 1980's,thatis,afterhe had completedhis
we can easilyrecand Capitalism.
on Civilization
Nevertheless,
trilogy
of
finance
"rebirth"
in
latest

this
capitalyetanotherinstance
ognize
whichin thepasthas been
reversaito "eclecticism"
ofthatrécurrent
associated with the maturityof a major capitalistdevelopment.
"[Every]capitalistdevelopmentofthisorderseems,byreachingthe
stage of financialexpansion,to hâve in some sensé announcedits
it [is] a sign ofautumn"(Braudel, 1984: 246, emphasis
maturity:
added).
of"financial
Braudel'scharacterization
expansion"as a symptom
of
ofa particularphase capitalistdevelopmentis closely
ofmaturity
relatedto his conceptualizationof capitalismas thè top layerof a
The lowestand untilveryrecentlybroadest
structure.
three-tiered
layeris thatof an extremelyelementaryand mostlyself-sufficient
economy.For wantof a betterexpression,Braudel called thisthe
thesoil into
life,"thestratumof thenon-economy,
layerof material
whichcapitalismthrustsitsrootsbutwhichitcan neverreallypenetrate"(1982: 21-22, 229).
Above [thislowestlayer],cornesthefavouredterrainof the
bewithitsmanyhorizontalcommunications

market
economy,
markets:hèrea degreeofautomaticcoortweenthedifférent
dination usually links supply,demand and prices. Then
alongside,or ratherabove thislayer,cornesthezone of the
wherethe greatpredatorsroam and the law of
anti-market,
thejungle opérâtes.This-todayas in the past,beforeand
afterthèindustriairévolution-is thereal home of capitalism
(Braudel,1982: 229-30, emphasisadded).
As Braudelunderscores,thetop layerthatconstitutes"thereal
and less exploredthanthe
home of capitalism"is less transparent
thè
market
of
intermediate
economy.The transparenceof the
layer

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114

GiovanniArrighi

activitiesthatconstitute
thelayerofmarketeconomyand thewealth

of data (particularly
data) thatthèseactivities
quantitative
generate,
arena"ofhistorical
made
this
have
intermediate
layerthe"privileged
and social scientific
inquiry.The layersbelowand above themarket
instead
are
"shadowyzones" (zonesd'opacité).The bottom
economy
layerof materiallifeis "hardto see forlack of adequate historical
documents."The upperlayer,in contrast,is hardto see because of
of theactivitiesthatconstitute
and complexity
theactualinvisibility
itssubstance(Braudel,1981: 23-24; Wallerstein,1991: 208-09).
At thisexaltedlevel,a fewwealthymerchantsin eighteenthGenoa could throw
centuryAmsterdamor sixteenth-century
whole sectorsof thè European or evenworldeconomyinto
confusion,froma distance. Certain groups of privileged
actorsare engagedin circuitsand calculationsthatordinary
people knew nothingof. Foreign exchange,for example,
whichwas tiedto distanttrademovementsand to thecompliforcrédit,was a sophisticatedart open
cated arrangements

at most.To me, thissecond shadowy
to
a
initiâtes
few
only
zone,hoveringabove thesunlitworldofthemarketeconomy
its upper limitso to speak,representsthe
and constituting
favoreddomainof capitalism Withoutthiszone, capitalism is unthinkable:thisis where it takesup residenceand
prospers(Braudel,1981: 24).
And this,of course,is wherecapitalismhas once again takenup
whole
residenceand prosperedin the 1980's and 1990's,throwing
sectorsof the global economyintoconfusionfroma distance.We
effects
and fundamental
shalllaterreturnto thèdisruptive
instability
financial
of
ofhistoricalcapitalismin itsrécurrent
expansion.
phases
examineBraudel'sthirddaim conFor now,however,let us briefly
cerningthe long-termvitalityof historicalcapitalism.This is the
daim thatcapitalismhas prosperedoverthecenturiesbecause ofits
ofthemarketeconomy,but
notwiththetransparency
identification,

withincreasingly
powerfulstates.
withthe
whenitbecomesidentified
Capitalismonlytriumphs
of the
that
In
first
state.
its
when
it
is
thè
state,
greatphase,
ofVenice,Genoa, and Florence,powerlay
Italiancity-states
in thè hands of thè moneyedelite. In seventeenth-century
Holland the aristocracyof the Régentsgovernedfor the

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BRAUDEL AND THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

115

benefitand evenaccordingto thedirectivesof thebusinessmen, merchants,and money-lenders.
Likewise,in England
the Glorious Revolutionof 1688 markedthe accession of
businesssimilarto thatin Holland (Braudel, 1977: 64-65;
emphasisadded).
And has not "business"been the businessof the U.S. government,notjust in the 1920's underCoolidge,but also and especially
in the 1980's and 1990's underReagan, Bush,and Clinton?Is not
theUnitedStatesgovernedforthebenefitand evenaccordingto the
and mondirectivesof corporations,privatefinancialinstitutions,
UnitedStates-as in the
eyedélites?To be sure,in twentieth-century
in seventeenth-century
Holland and in eighteenthItaliancity-states,
of stateand
and nineteenth-century
England-the interpénétration
challengedand subject to ups and
capital has been recurrently
downs.Butin each instance,includingtheUnitedStates,at no time
more evidentthan in the course of the
was the interpénétration
financialexpansionsthatmarkedboth the "triumph"and the "autumn" of capitalismat everystage of its developmentas worldhistoricalsocial System.
thereis an
AlthoughBraudeldoes notmakethepointexplicitly,
betweenhissecondand thirdclaimconcerning
différence
important
thè generaihistoryof capitalism.The second and thirdclaimsare
and capacity
both consistentwiththe firstthatunlimitedflexibility

forchangeand adaptationare essentialfeaturesofhistoricalcapitalism. Nevertheless,the second claim emphasizescontinuity/recurMorespecifirence,whereasthethirdemphasizeschange/évolution.
financial
of
the
the
récurrence
expansionssignais conjunctural
cally,
and capacityforchangeand adaptationofhistoricalcapiflexibility
talism.Whenever,theaccumulationof capitalproceeds"on a scale
theleadingagenciesof
beyondthenormalChannelsofInvestment,"
capitalistdevelopmenttendto withdrawfromindustry/commerce
and spéculation.The identifito engagein financialintermediation
of
states
in
cationof capitalismwith
increasingsize and complexity,
and capacityforchangeand
contrast,signaisitsstructural
flexibility
The
states
with
which
capitalismbecomes identifiedat
adaptation.
social Systemare
each stage of its developmentas world-historical

constructs
than
différent
the
ones
it
had
become
identified
quite
withat earlierstages.

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116

GiovanniArrighi

Taken jointly,Braudel's threedaims concerningthe essential
featuresof historicalcapitalismrevealimmediately
the difficulties
involvedin analyzingand theorizing
or evenjust speakingmeaningfullyabout thephenomenon.Not onlyis therealhomeofcapitalism
a "shadowyzone." Not onlyis capitalismsometimesat home (as in
thecourseoffinancialexpansions)and sometimesawayfromhome
intotradeand production).On top of
(as whenitplungesmassively
formand

all that,itbecomesidentified
withstatesof ever-changing
substance.No wonderthateconomiesociologistsfocusingon spécifieplaces and spécifietimesfindit hard to turncapitalismintoa
meaningfulobjeetof analysis.
theproblèmethatdevelopmenttheoryfaces
Thus,inintroducing
in the 1990's,Douglas Kinkaidand AlejandroPortesappeal toJean
Baudrillard'sdictumthat"inthis'capitalist'societycapitalcan never
actuallybe graspedin its présentreality"-"italwaysstaysa length
ahead" of the criticswho try"to run afterit
Capital cheats.It
doesn'tplaybytherulesof critique."
While not directedpreciselyat the field of development
studies,Baudrillard'scausticcommentary
aptlyportraysits
contemporarydilemmas.As we near mid-pointin the last
itis apparentthattheworld
decade ofthetwentieth
Century,
of nationsis at once integrateci
economicallyand sociallyto
and
an unprecedentedextent,and yetbesetbyfundamentally
and
existence
national
of
disparateconditions
increasingly
for

prospects change(Kinkaid& Portes,1994: 1).
Froma Braudelianperspective,theproblemis not thatcapitalism "cheats."Rather,it is thatcriticsand observersgenerallyfailto
horizonneeded to grasptherulesof the
adopt thespatial-temporal
combinationofdisparatelocai
and
thè
ever-changing
capitalistgame
conditionsunder whichthe game is played out. No matterhow
manyof thèse local conditionswe analyzeseverallyand comparatherulesofthecapitalistgamewillremainbeyondour grasp.
tively,
For the firstand mostimportantof thèserulesfrombeginningto
of the locales and
end has been preciselya continuaireshuffling
and instrumensectorswithwhichcapitalismbecomes temporarily
tallyidentified.

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BRAUDEL AND THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

117

TOWARDS A THEORY OF CAPITALIST HISTORY
In seekingreasons forBraudel's failureto findvalid/valuable
in U.S. socialscience,histendencyto privilègedescripinterlocutors
cornesto mind.The idea thatBraudel

tionovertheoryimmediately
was a greathistorianbut a poor theoristis a commonplacethatI
oftenheard even in Binghamton'sBraudelianenclave.Even ifthis
were a true and meaningfulstatementthoughI doubt thatit is
either-it would be no excuse for not takingseriouslyBraudel's
social System.As Michel
account of capitalismas world-historical
Lai's disMorineauhas underscoredin respondingto Cheng-chung
missalofBraudelon thègroundthathe cüdnotbase hisworkon an
adequate theoreticalmodel, it is not clear what model Braudel
should hâve trustedsince théoriesof politicaieconomyhâve capsized so manytimes,forcingtheorists"to re-dotheircalculationsat
everycrisis,expressingsometimesrepentanceand sometimesunanswerabletruisms"(1997: 629-30). Indeed, whattheoreticalmodel
should Braudel hâve trusted-we mayadd paraphrasingSombartwhenthesilenceon capitalismof thesocial sciencesin generaiand
of économiesin particularhas grownin directproportionto the
extentthatcapitalismhas become the sole subjectmatterof économies?
Economies,notesMorineau,"hasnotbeen able to throwlighton
the future,nor has it managedto providethe keyto changesthat
took place in thepast,"because it "developedfromintuitionsthat
were 'genial' but fromthè startill-adaptedto real situationsand,
became more and more illowingto the forceof circumstances,
adapted as theyearspass by."
And so the firsttaskis to . . . establishwhat has been and
whatthe présentis. Knowledgeof the laws of astrophysics
does notexemptone frompeeringat thesky.FernandBraudel's book is theéquivalentof a historical-geographical
map
of economie life.It fulfillsan essentialfunction.I am sure
thattheresolution-in theopticalsenséoftheterm-is notyet
Lai's hope for
broughtintofocus,and I shareCheng-chung
elucidationof themechanisms-bothnowand in theirdevelopment.It does not seem to me impossiblea priorito approachthem.However,one willreachthemonlybyimpugning obsolete economie théories,the historians'reflexin

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118

GiovanniArrighi

bowingdownbeforemagicalformulaeand theircosyrefuge
in studying
a narroweventin a narrowtimespan and within
a narrowgeographicalarea. Thus the merk of Civilisation
etcapitalisme
...
économie
matérielle,
maylie in ... stimulating
in
a realdialogueamonghistorians,
economists,sociologists,
a tightening
up ofresearchand a bettergraspingofissues;in
short,thepursuitof a granddesign(Morineau,1997: 630).
This bringsus back to the questionof whyBraudel'sworkhas
of
failedto stimulatesuch a dialogueevenamongthepractitioners
the New Economie Sociology.For not onlydo thèse practitioners
fullysubscribeto thecontentionthateconomietheoryis ill-adapted
the

to real situations.In addition,theypridethemselvesof fighting
écomodeis
of
theoretical
of
the
"dean"
but
unrealistic
imperialism
modeis(Hirsch,
nomieswithdata-driven,
"dirty-hands"
interpretative
disMichaels& Friedman,1990: 41-42, 46). And yet,thisempiricist
Economie
done
to
the
New
has
Sociology
position
nothing bring
intoa dialoguewithBraudel'swork.
involvedin the
The problem,I suspect,lies in the difficulties
kindofworld-historical
analysisthataecordingtoBraudelis essential
on

ofthecapitalistdynamic.Thus,commenting
to an understanding
note
a
and Capitalism,
strikes
Civilization
regarding
TUly
pessimistic
thepossibility
of followingintoBraudel'sfootsteps.
Ifconsistency
be a hobgoblinoflittleminds,Braudelhas no
troubleescapingthedemon.WhenBraudelis notbedeviling
he parades . . . indécius withour demandsforconsistency,
sion.ThroughoutthesecondvolumeofCivilisation
matérielle,
betweencapitalhe repeatedlybeginstotreattherelationship
istsand statemakers,
thenveersaway Preciselybecause
theconversationrangesso widely,a look back overthethird
volume's subjeet matterbringsastonishment:The grand
thèmesof thefirstvolume-population,food,clothing,techdisappeared!. . . Shouldwe have
nology-havealmostentirely
else froma man of Braudel'stemper?He
expectedanything
itséléments;fondling
a
approaches problembyenumerating

the
itsironies,contradictions,
and complexities;
confronting
various théoriesscholarshave proposed; and givingeach
theoryitshistoricaldue. The sum of ali théoriesis, alas, no
theory If Braudel could not bring off the coup, who
could? Perhapssomeone else willsucceed in writinga "total

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BRAUDEL AND THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

119

history"thataccountsfortheentiredevelopmentof capitalAtleast
ismand thefüllgrowthofthèEuropeanstateSystem.
forthetimebeing,we are betterofftreatingBraudel'sgiant
essayas a sourceofinspirationratherthana modelofanalysis. Exceptwitha Braudellendingit extrapower,a vesselso
largeand complexseems destinedto sinkbeforeit reaches
thefarshore(Tilly,1984: 70-71, 73-74).
Tilly'srecommendationis thatwe deal withmore manageable
The more manageable
unitsof analysisthanentireworldSystems.
unitshe prefersare thè componenteof particularworldSystems,
such as networksof coercionthatdüsterin statesand networksof
exchangethatdusterin regionalmodesofproduction.Bysystematicallycomparingthèsecomponente,we maybe able "to fixaccounts
and processeswithinparticularworldSystems

of spécifiestructures
to historicallygrounded generalizationsconcerningthose world
(Tilly,1984: 63, 74).
Systems"
Knowledgeaboutcomponentsis ofcourseessentialto an understandingof the totality.But no matterhow much knowledgewe
acquireabout thecomponents,we shallfailto graspthemostessentialfeatureof thècapitalistgame if,as Braudeldaims, thatfeature
ofthecomponentswithwhichthe
consistsofa continuaireshuffling
identiand instrumentally
keycapitalistplayersbecome temporarily
thisprocess
fiedin theirceaselesspursuitofprofit.Comprehending
of ceaselesschangeand adaptationalso requiresan analysisof networksof coercionand exchangethatdüsterin spécifiestatesand
markets,as Tillyrecommends.But theparticularnetworksthatwe
in processesof
analyzemustbe selectedbecause of theircentrality
and marketsas
of
states
of
the
level
at
the
System
capitalistexpansion
markets.In
states
and
of

individuai
level
at
the
a whole,ratherthan
mapofworld
makingthissélection,Braudel'shistorical-geographical
but
an
useful
a
me
not
to
seems
indispensablestaring
just
capitalism
point.
Braudel'snotionoffinancialexpansionsas the
More specifically,
of
closingphase majorcapitalistdevelopmentsenables us to break
downthedevelopmentofworldcapitalismintodistinctcycles,each
exconsistingof a phase of material(thatis, commercial-industrial)
pansion followedbya phase of financialexpansion.These cycleswhichI hâve called "systemic
cyclesofaccumulation"-are centered
on (indeed engenderedby) the activitiesof the particulargovern-

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GiovanniArrighi

120

mental-business
complexesthataccordingto Braudelhâve led the
worldcapitalistSystem,
firsttowardsthe materialand thentowards
thefinancialexpansionsthatjointlyconstitute
thecycles-theGenoese-Iberiancomplexin thelong sixteenthCentury,
the Dutch comin
the
the
British
seventeenth
Century,
complexin thelong
plex
long
and the United States complex in the long
nineteenthCentury,
It followsthatbyinvestigating
thenetworksspun
twentieth
Century.
the
thèse

we
elucidate
by
complexes
properties,notjust of thèse
but also of theexpandingworldcapitalistSystem
spécifienetworks,
1994;
(Arrighi,
Arrighi& Silveret al., 1999;Arrighi& Moore,2001).
Braudel'sworkis less usefulwhenwe startlookingforplausible
and consistentexplanationsof thepatternsof récurrenceand évolutionthatit bringsto our attention.Braudeldoes indeed describe
morethanhe theorizes.Thisdoes notmean,however,thatBraudel's
foundationsor thatwewouldhâvebeen
lacktheoretical
descriptions
betteroffif Braudel had describedless and theorizedmore.Ail it
means is thatin uncoveringtheimplicittheoreticalfoundationsof
Braudel's work and in explainingthe patternsthat Braudel describes,we are prettymuchon our own.
Braudelis as eclecticas thècapitalismhe
Althoughtheoretically
describes,itis not truethatin his case the"sumofail théoriesis . . .
hisaccountofcapitalism
no theory,"as Tillydaims. For underlying
we can detecta theoreticalconstructthathas manylineagesbutalso
The
affinities
withverysolid theoreticalframeworks.
some striking
is withSchumpeter'sThe Theory

moststrikingof thèseaffinities
of
Economie
(1961 [1911]). Althoughto myknowledgeno
Development
one (Braudelincluded)has so farnoticedit,a close parallelcan be
establishedbetweenBraudel'sand Schumpeter'sconceptualization
of capitalismin relation(and in opposition)to a marketeconomy.
Terminologiesdifferbut theconceptsare muchthesame.
Braudel'sconceptof"market
economy"("withitsmanyhorizontal
and "a degreeofautomarkets"
betweenthedifférent
communications
andprices"[1982:
demand
maticcoordination
usually[linking]
supply,
flowof
to Schumpeter's
229-30]) corresponds
conceptof"thecircular
thiscircularflow"leavesno gapsbeeconomielife."Once established,
ofwants.Both
and thesatisfaction
effort
tweenoutlayor productive
are ... automatically
(Schumpeter,1961: 38). Somesynchronized"

wherein thecircularflow"a demandis,so to say,readyawaiting
every
comwithout
supply,and nowherein the[flow]are thèsecommodities
1961:8).
pléments"(Schumpeter,

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BRAUDEL AND THE NEW ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY

121

The individuaihouseholdor firmacts. . . accordingto empirdeterminedmanicallygivendata and in equallyempirically
therecorrespondssomewhere
To each contribution
ner
in thesystema daim of anotherindividuai And since ail
knowfromexpériencehow much theymustcontributein
orderto getwhattheywant,havingregardto the condition
the circular
thateach share involvesa certaincontribution,
mustcancel
flowofthesystemis closed,and ail contributions
to
which
the
distributhe

whatever
out,
principleaccording
1961:
tionis made (Schumpeter,
8-10).
and automaticcoordinationof
In thiseconomyof transparent
demandand supply,capitaland capitalismare no less at home than
as forBraudel,capiin Braudel'smarketeconomy.For Schumpeter,
in thesenséthatitcan onlyexistand prostalismis the"anti-market"
a
continuai
disruptionfroma distanceof the circular
per through
flowofeconomielife.His "capitalist
economy"is a[t]hatformofeconomie organizationin whichthe goods necessaryfornew producfromtheirsettledplace in the circularflowby
tionare withdrawn
of purchasingpower created ad hoc" Capital is
the intervention
this
but
purchasingpower-notpurchasingpoweringenerai,
nothing
forthepurpose
butpurchasingpowercreatedand used specifically
of destroyingan existingcircularflowand creatinga new one in
market"is always,as it
viewof a profit.Hence, the money/capital
were,the headquartersof the capitalistsystem,fromwhichordeïs

go out to itsindividuaidivisions"(Schumpter,1961: 116-26).
thereare also manydisAlong withtheseand otheraffinities,
and Braudel's
construet
between
ideo-typical
Schumpter's
crepancies
historicalconstruet.It is not clear,however,whichconstruetwould
gain more from mutuai elucidation.While Braudel's construet
would undoubtedlygain in consistencyand darity,Schumpeter's
wouldgainatleastas muchin concretenessand historicity.
construet
ofthe
mobilization
Similarconsidérations
applytoanysystematic
theoreticalrépertoireof the social sciences thatwe maywant to
undertakein orderto explainwhatBraudeldescribesbut does not
crises,as wellas
explain.Thus, Marx'stheoryof overaccumulation
for
mobile
interstate
that
Weber'sdiesis
capitalconsticompétition
of the [modem] era"
distinctiveness
tutes "the world-historical

in explainingtheréin
useful
are
view
1978:
354),
(Weber,
my
very
currenceof lengthyperiods of fìnancialexpansionand the emer-

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GiovanniArrighi

122

gencein thècourseof suchexpansionsofevermorepowerfulcomand businessorganizationscapable ofleadplexesof governmental
a new materialexpansion(Arrighi,
towards
world
capitalism
ing
1994: 220-38; Arrighi& Silveret al., 1999: 31-35). Throughthè
mobilizationof thèse and otherthéories,we can explainwhatremains unexplainedin Braudel. But again, the théoriesthemselves
and concreteness.
willgreatlygainin historicity
forsocialsciIn short,Braudel'sworkoffersmanyopportunities

entistsin generaiand economie sociologistsin particularto show
relevantratherthan the
theirworthin theorizingthe historically
thatis,preciselywhereone wouldexpecttheir"comparairrelevant,
for
tiveadvantage"to lie. Above all, it offersa goldenopportunity
about and
economie sociologiststo learn to speak meaningfully
theorizehistoricalcapitalism.RolandBarthesonce wrote
eventually
thata potentsurreptitious
powercarnefromthatwhichcouldnotbe
named. By refusingto name capitalism,académie économiesbuttressesthesurreptitious
powerthatcapitalismdérivesfrommasqueras
market
economy.A dialoguewithBraudelis thesurestway
ading
of uncoveringwhatcapitalismhas reallybeen and is.
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