Wallerstein’s analysis in the fourth volume of his series on the modern world sys­tem is perfectly consistent with the title.

The author has produced a remarkable analysis of the birth and subsequent triumph of the ‘liberal center’ in nineteenth century Europe. I do not intend to summarize this creative work whose theses are supported by strong arguments.

Read it and, whatever your opinion may be, you will learn much from it. I shall take up the four major points of this contribution to understanding our world, which are: (1) the centrality of the French Revolution; (2) the long ideological and political conflict through which the crystallization of the liberal center emerges; (3) the parallel that Wallerstein makes between France and England, the major creators of this crystallization; (4) the birth of social sci­ence, which is one of its principal products. In this way, I propose to continue the ongoing discussion that has linked Wallerstein, our now deceased colleagues, Frank and Arrighi, and me for four decades.

7.1

More on the topic Wallerstein’s analysis in the fourth volume of his series on the modern world sys­tem is perfectly consistent with the title.: