Arrighi’s pendulum: (Re)reading The Evolution of International Society in the twenty-first century

Abstract

AbstractIn re-reading Watson’s The Evolution of International Society through the work of Giovanni Arrighi, this article makes two contributions to the English School (ES). Firstly, I offer a more grounded analysis of Watson’s ‘succession of hegemonies’ from the seventeenth century onwards. Secondly, and relatedly, through closer attention to the dynamics of capitalist international society, we are better able to apprehend the current contradictions and challenges facing contemporary international society. Rather than replace Watson with Arrighi, I argue that Arrighi’s framework of ‘systemic cycles of accumulation’ complements and extends the insights offered in Watson’s magnum opus. It is hoped that this dialogue between the ES and critical political economy may open the way for further ES research on the (dis)orderly dynamics of capitalist international society.