World-system theory by Immanuel Wallerstein: An analysis of the ideological background of some controversial assertions on Russian History by Immanuel Wallerstein

摘要

The article is devoted to the analysis of the most controversial aspects of the world-system theory by Immanuel Wallerstein. Trying to force the real world history into the frame of his theoretical model Wallerstein is balancing on the thin line between science and conspirology. He brands the Soviet Union as a ‘subimperial’ power under a secretive control of the United States. He puts forward a very dubious and poorly reasoned theory about an obscure agreement between the two superpowers to imitate the Cold War era hostility just to veil the true nature of their relations. Such an approach makes Wallerstein ignore or distort some historical facts and put forward several unprovable guesstimates. The author of this article makes an attempt to explain the weakness of this hypothesis by applying to the broader context of the Wallerstein’s theory. The Wallersteinean conceptualization of hegemony is being questioned as misinterpreting the historical facts. His theory of hegemony fails to explain the struggle between the non-capitalist countries for the world domination because it recognizes only the capitalistic hegemons. This approach is deeply rooted in the very essence of the Wallersteinean world-system theory. Finally the Wallerstein’s theory is criticized for being politically biased.