JWSR Volume X, Number 2, Summer 2004


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journal of world-systems research, x, , summer , –
http://jwsr.ucr.edu/
issn 1076–156x 
© 2004 Thomas Reifer

By Th omas Reifer
Managing Editor

This issue of JWSR brings together a very important mini-sympo-
sium around Peter Gowan’s challenge 
to one of the long-held tenets among 
many world-systems analysts: the dis-
tinction between the capitalist world-
economy and world-empires. Gowan 
poses the question as to whether there 
might be another possibility, that of 
a capitalist world-empire. He analy-
ses the United States as a contempo-
rary example of this phenomenon. 

Th e essay by Gowan, as well as the 
articles by Terry Boswell and John 
Gulick, critically examine these issues, 
including larger questions about the 
role and trajectory of U.S. hegemony 
in the contemporary world. Giovanni 
Arrighi’s piece, while not directly writ-
ten in response to Gowan, is included 
here, as it addresses questions germane 
to the issues raised by Gowan, includ-
ing David Harvey’s recent work on 
“the new imperialism.” Th is mini-sym-
posium is intended to contribute to 
the contemporary debate about these 
important issues. 

ER R ATA

Volume X, Number 2, Summer 2004
A pagination error caused a gap between pp. 435–470. Th omas Reifer’s 
introduction to the JWSR Mini-Symposium has been repaginated to p. 471. 
No other modifi cations have been made to the text or pagination.

January 17, 2005

http://jwsr.ucr.edu/

	Mini-Symposium
	Introduction