Triggered by the profound financial and economic crises, increasing ecological degradation, rising social struggles and political and military conflicts, the structures of the world political economy seem to be, in the early 21st century, in a process of epoch-making transformation. Employing a world-historical and comparative perspective, the 14 contributions brought together in this volume deal with three core issues of global structures and dynamics: Firstly, the degree of stability and change of global hierachical structures and economic and social inequalities; secondly, the transformation of global and national political structures; and, thirdly, global ecological change and its impact on the structures of the world-economy, the world polity and the world society.

Christian Suter is Professor of Sociology at the University of Neuchâtel and President of the World Society Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland. Christopher Chase-Dunn is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Research on World-Systems, University of California, Riverside, USA.