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 ofclearing the underbrush, so that we may build a more useful framework for socialscience.

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 Universityof New York - Binghamton. The new institution made a flying start. Afterthree months it presented its “Proposed Research Programs” in a substantialbooklet. In the summer of 1977, the first issue of its journal, Review, cameout. That same year, a section on the “Political Economy of World-Systems”(PEWS), inspired by the Braudel Center, was established within theAmerican Sociological Association. The PEWS section has held annualconferences and published their proceedings ever since. Since 1979, theCenter, together with the Maison des sciences de l'homme of Paris, hassponsored a book series called “Studies in Modern Capitalism”, published byCambridge University Press.