Book Review: General Politics: The Rise and Demise of the Capitalist World System
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12016_74 |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Author | Cemal Burak Tansel |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
The Rise and Demise of the Capitalist World
System by Hartmut Elsenhans. Leipzig: Leipziger
Universitätsverlag, 2011. 217pp., £17.68, ISBN 978 3
86583 608 3
The Rise and Demise of the Capitalist World System is an
unconventional book. Originally written as an exten-
sive essay for Hartmut Elsenhans’ Festschrift,1the text
represents an introductory sketch to the author’s forth-
coming six-volume series with the same title.
Elsenhans offers an impressive analysis of the his-
torical emergence of capitalism and its expansion on
a global scale by interweaving insights from social
anthropology, political economy and global history
literatures. Rejecting stadial and narrowly defined cul-
tural conceptualisations of socio-economic develop-
ment, he situates the rise of capitalism at a specific
spatio-temporal juncture in which successful labour
resistance to the pre-existing forms of exploitation in
feudal Europe constitutes the genesis of the capitalist
mode of production. For Elsenhans, the elimination of
rent (‘surplus appropriated on the basis of market
imperfections and/or political power’ [p. 25]) and the
empowerment of labour through full employment
pave the way for the transition to capitalism, but the
systemic structuring does not automatically engender
the same circumstances in different societies; hence
the thorny issue of capitalist development on the
peripheries.
While the exhaustive utilisation of world history as a
canvas with which to trace the historical origins and
conditions of capitalist development bolsters the pro-
posed conceptual framework, Elsenhans’ attempt to
design a grand theory comes at a price.The multi-linear
narrative often devolves into a hastily drawn synopsis
incapable of providing substantial engagement with a
plethora of historical developments. The reader fre-
quently faces sections where the discussion moves
rapidly from one period to another; thus the distinctions
between different epochs and social formations become
increasingly vague. It also prevents the author from
unpacking some of his more provocative arguments such
as his rejection of Luxemburg’s capital accumulation
thesis (pp. 98–9). This can be justified on the grounds
that the original text was written as a preamble for a
larger project, but The Rise and Demise of the Capitalist
World System on its own suffers from an overextended
scope of analysis.
Elsenhans’ introductory ‘essay’ provides an immense
outline that captures the heterogeneity of socio-
economic development by breaking down the barriers
between bifurcated departments of social science
research.The drawback of his stunning range of analysis
is the relative paucity of empirical and conceptual depth
with which to substantiate all of his hypotheses. The
present material, however,is captivating enough to rouse
anticipation for the forthcoming multi-volume opus.
Note
1 See Globalisierung: begrenzte Welten versus begrenzte Iden-
titäten?, edited by Rachid Ouaissa and Heidrun Zinecker,
Leipzig University Press, 2009.
Cemal Burak Tansel
(University of Nottingham)
Evaluating Democratic Innovations: Curing the
Democratic Malaise? by Brigitte Geissel and
Kenneth Newton (eds). Abingdon: Routledge, 2012.
222pp., £26.99, ISBN 978 0 415 66920 7
‘A democratic innovation may be defined for present
purposes as the successful implementation of a new
idea that is intended to change the structures or process
of democratic government and politics in order to
improve them’(p. 4),wr ite the editors of this collection
of timely new essays.The contr ibutors to this volume
represent some of the most recognisable scholars
working in the field of democratic theory and practice:
David Beetham, James S. Fishkin and Graham Smith,
among others.
The chapters are organised in three categories: Part
I: ‘New and Old Forms of (Direct) Democracy’; Part
II: ‘Deliberative Democracy’; and Part III: ‘Comparing
Innovations’. Part I begins with Ian Budge’s chapter
in which he argues ‘that many of the critical argu-
ments against direct democracy are valid against its
unmediated forms, but not against its mediated (via
parties, groups, courts, government legislatures, etc.)
forms’ (p. 25). Next, Hanspeter Kriesi draws on the
Swiss experience to highlight the successes of direct
democratic institutions – specifically with regard to
economic and social benefits. David Beetham then
focuses on citizen engagement practices, some new,
some old, and concludes ‘that the present situation
demands a reinvention of the processes of representa-
tive democracy’ (p. 66).
BOOK REVIEWS 273
© 2013 TheAuthors. Political Studies Review © 2013 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2013, 11(2)
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