Special Contribution: Interview with Giovanni Arrighi At Some Point Something Has To Give  Declining U.S. Power, the Rise of China, and an Adam Smith for the Contemporary Left

Kevan Harris

doi:10.5195/jwsr.2012.465

Abstract

iovanni Arrighi (1937-2009) spent his life thinking and writing about what he saw on his well-traveled path: liberation movements in Africa, worker rebellion in Italy, global inequality between North and South, the military and financial limits of US power, and the economic rise of China. In his many articles and books, including an unplanned trilogy on the origins and workings of global capitalism, Arrighi grappled with the complexities of history and the limitations of existing economic and political theories. This rethinking was fully on display in his final book, Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the Twenty-First Century. Although I interviewed Arrighi on May 18, 2008, several months before the financial meltdown in global markets, his prescient statements are relevant for the crises we face today. Arrighi passed away in June 2009. His scholarly and intellectual tradition continues on at the Giovanni Arrighi Center for Global Studies at The Johns Hopkins University.

Highlights

Giovanni Arrighi (1937-2009) spent his life thinking and writing about what he saw on his well-traveled path: liberation movements in Africa, worker rebellion in Italy, global inequality between North and South, the military and financial limits of US power, and the economic rise of China
In his many articles and books, including an unplanned trilogy on the origins and workings of global capitalism, Arrighi grappled with the complexities of history and the limitations of existing economic and political theories
“Billions of people are escaping from abject poverty

Summary

Introduction

Giovanni Arrighi (1937-2009) spent his life thinking and writing about what he saw on his well-traveled path: liberation movements in Africa, worker rebellion in Italy, global inequality between North and South, the military and financial limits of US power, and the economic rise of China. First Europe and Japan narrowed the gap in relation to the United States in the decades immediately following the Second World War, and more recently certain regions in the global South.

Results

Conclusion