Dynamics of Global (Neo)Colonial Inequalities: Heuristics of G. Arrighi’s Concept

Abstract

The article deals with the heuristic potential of the sociological theory by Giovanni Arrighi in the study of the dynamic aspect of the formation and maintenance of global inequality systems. To achieve the goal – to analyze the applicability of the dynamic aspect of the theory to study the mentioned topic – the changes of systemic cycles of accumulation and hegemony is analyzed. Special attention is paid to transitional points in which a hegemony crisis occurs and one cycle is being replaced by another, after which one can observe the hegemony transit. The cases (Genoa, Amsterdam, United Kingdom, USA) that Giovanni Arrighi selects to illustrate the cyclical nature of the historical development of world capitalism and the financialization character of these processes are being considered. The article studies the method of how G. Arrighi applies the Marxian formula of capital accumulation (M-C-M’) to the description of the mechanism for changing accumulation cycles; its potential for studying this process is analyzed. The distinctive features of the development process of accumulation cycles are studied: movement towards the formation of a stronger cosmopolitan empire, historical and geographical conditionality, double movement forward and backward. In the final part, possible vectors of the future development of the world order and the formation of new global inequality systems according to G. Arrighi’s vision are examined. Particular attention is paid to the role of transnational corporations in the expansion of world capitalism. The result of the work is a critical analysis of G. Arrighi’s theory, which determines the strengths and weaknesses in the study of a chosen subject, and also identifies potential areas for further research. An attempt is made to apply the dynamic aspect of the concept to explain the nature and functions of global systems of inequality.