The Historical Sociology of Long- Term Social Change: Notes on the Contribution of Christopher Chase- Dunn to World- System Analysis

World-systems analysis emerged in the early seventies as a new approach to research on long-term social change. In this chapter, I will try to discuss the evolutionary, comparative-historical approach on world-systems analysis developed by the American sociologist Chris Chase-Dunn and his collaborators, among whom the American anthropologist Thomas D. Hall has perhaps played a major role. Chase-Dunn’s perspective, institutional materialism, compares the modern capitalist world-economy, emerged during the 16th century, with earlier social systems. This comparison allows to identify patterns of reproduction and transformation that occur in all the world-systems, from the simple, stateless systems of the past to the current global capitalist system. The chapter outlines the approach developed by Chase-Dunn and collaborators, in order to highlight its main features and its usefulness for the analysis of social changes in the world of today.