Social Movements after Capitalism

The contemporary world may be composed of nominally sovereign states but it is also characterized by some degree of American-led global governance -- or one might say government. Effective sovereignty for the countries of the world resides partly in each country, partly in global institutions, and partly in the United States. Limits on effective sovereignty apply to every country, though more so to some than to others. The world as a whole is characterized by juridical pluralism: all people everywhere are to some degree governed by laws and governments other than those of their own countries. Some countries, however, are more subject to juridical pluralism than others. This one-sided juridical pluralism is much more important in shaping the social realities of the contemporary world-system than is usually understood.

Contrary to conventional accounts, American hegemony is not in decline but is expanding to constitute a true world-empire. This has ambiguous implications for America's democracy but all-too-certain implications for other countries' democracies, which are progressively reduced to the status of local democratic self-government. The net effect is that most of the people of the world live under what might be called a monitory empire: monitory civil society operating in a global environment that is far from democratic. The passing of democratic politics is now leading to an era of post-politics as political activists react to the reality of politics inside an American world-empire. This chain of reasoning begins from the realization that American power is not (as widely advertised) in decline but is in fact strong and growing.

Salvatore Babones is an associate professor of sociology and social policy at the University of Sydney. He is a comparative sociologist who writes on comparative international development and on quantitative methods for the social sciences. His most recent book is Methods for Quantitative Macro-Comparative Research (Sage, 2014), which examines the application of conventional statistical methods to data for countries and other geographical units. His next book, Sixteen for '16: A Progressive Agenda for a Better America will be published in April, 2015 by Policy Press.