TY - JOUR AU - Peregrine, Peter N. PY - 1996/08/31 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Legitimation Crises in Premodern Worlds JF - Journal of World-Systems Research JA - JWSR VL - 2 IS - 1 SE - Archeological and Anthropological Approaches to World-Systems DO - 10.5195/jwsr.1996.94 UR - http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/jwsr/article/view/94 SP - 254-274 AB - Scholars employing world-system theory have tended to examine how world-systemsdevelop and expand, while few have addressed the fragmentation or collapse of world-systems. This paper explores the conditions of world-system collapse using Habermas's concept of legitimation crisis as a starting point. The paper posits that legitimation crises are a recurring problem in world-systems and have led to collapse in a number of cases. Prehistoric North American and Pacific world-systems are used as examples. ER -