GEOPOLITICS AND GEOCULTURE IN WORLD-SYSTEMS THEORIZING - A REVIEW-ESSAY

This article discusses the strengths and weakness of world-system theo rizing in the light of recent geopolitical changes and the emergence o f new ''shatter zones'' in the world economy. It also examines the rel ationship between hegemonic social sciences and the crisis of the worl d-system. Thus, it argues, the idiographic tradition that emerged in t he nineteenth century pushed us in the direction of specialization and micro-analysis at a time when a global perspective and comparative, i nterdisciplinary analysis could have offered deeper insights into the nature and direction of social and geopolitical change in the modem wo rld. It also suggests that the nomothetic tradition which emerged in t he 1960s is being revived in order to push us away from structuralist explanation and in the direction of a theoretical and quantitative ana lysis. The article concludes with a brief discussion on the organizati onal and political problems confronting antisystemic movements in the modem world.