Global Labor History and “the Modern World-System”: Thoughts at the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Fernand Braudel Center

Abstract

I regard the work of the past 20 years and of some years to come as the work of clearing the underbrush, so that we may build a more useful framework for social science.Immanuel Wallerstein (1996)In September 1976, the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations opened its doors at the State University of New York - Binghamton. The new institution made a flying start. After three months it presented its “Proposed Research Programs” in a substantial booklet. In the summer of 1977, the first issue of its journal, Review, came out. That same year, a section on the “Political Economy of World-Systems” (PEWS), inspired by the Braudel Center, was established within the American Sociological Association. The PEWS section has held annual conferences and published their proceedings ever since. Since 1979, the Center, together with the Maison des sciences de l'homme of Paris, has sponsored a book series called “Studies in Modern Capitalism”, published by Cambridge University Press.