Fall Issue of JWSR

We are pleased to present the Fall 2026 issue of the Journal of World-Systems Research at a moment of profound global uncertainty and transformation. Across the world, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, ecological crises, democratic backsliding, widening inequalities, and challenges to existing forms of global governance have renewed the urgency of world-systems perspectives. The contributions in this issue demonstrate the continuing relevance of longue durée and relational approaches for understanding the structural dynamics of the contemporary world-system. They demonstrate how processes of accumulation, power, and domination continue to shape unequal development across time and space, while highlighting the institutions, movements, and intellectual traditions that challenge those inequalities.

First, we wish to highlight the exciting development of Caravanserai, a new commentary series affiliated with the Journal of World-Systems Research. This commentary series is intended to foster timely dialogue on contemporary events through a world-systems lens. Like the fortified roadside inns that connected travelers across Afro-Eurasia, Caravanserai seeks to provide a space where scholars can collectively reflect upon unfolding global developments and situate them within broader historical trajectories. In an era of accelerating geopolitical conflicts and crises, the series offers a venue for timely, accessible reflections grounded in historical depth and global analysis. Caravanserai aims to foster dialogue across scholarly communities and contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges and possibilities of our historical moment.

We are honored that the inaugural contributions were authored by Christopher Chase-Dunn “Autocracy, Democracy and EcoSocialism in the Geosphere”, Patrick Bond “Pushing back against Capital’s Devaluation: Workers versus Eco-Destructive Multinational Corporations”, Ravi Palat “briCs+, and Changing Geopolitics in the Twenty-First Century”, Marina Karides The Uses of Islands in the Capitalist World-System”, and Paul Ciccantell  “The Materiality of the 21 st Century”. This month, Manuela Boatcă, asks us to consider the current state, not as a new phase or a crisis, but as a continuity of decline moving further towards force and extraction; “The Hegemon in Decline – Or, the Plot is Thickening”.

These scholars invite us to fully consider the global historical moment that we are in and consider possibilities for resistance, alternative futures, and systemic transformation. Across diverse topics ranging from BRICS+ and global geopolitics to labor struggles, ecological crisis, island coloniality, and democratic futures, Caravanserai contributors demonstrate the value of world-systems analysis for making sense of contemporary events by situating them within the deeper historical dynamics of capitalist development, hegemonic transformation, and global inequality. Taken together, Caravanserai has sought to engage us with how intertwined crises are reshaping the contemporary world-system, while highlighting emerging forms of resistance and alternative futures through a longue durée analytical lens.

We invite scholars to join this ongoing conversation through contributions that bring world-systems analysis to bear on current events and emerging global realities. Please join us in this endeavor by submitting commentaries of 2,000 to 5,000 words that analyze pressing current events from a longue durée perspective. Submissions may be directed to Devparna Roy or Dan Pasciuti.

Second, we would like to celebrate the continued expansion of the Journal of World-Systems Research Editorial Board which was approved by the ASA this summer. With 21 distinguished scholars, they reflect JWSR’s longstanding commitment to international and interdisciplinary scholarship. Drawn from across the globe, they bring a remarkable breadth of expertise in world-systems analysis, political economy, development, social movements, agrarian studies, environmental change, and global inequality.

We warmly thank Toivo Asheeke, David Baronov, Patrick Bond, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Paul Ciccantell, Cinzia D. Solari, Shelley Feldman, Paul Gellert, Andrej Grubačić, Ricardo Jacobs, Sahan Karataşlı, Marina Karides, Patricio Korzeniewicz, Şefika Kumral, Jason Mueller, Corey Payne, Kristin Plys, Anthony Roberts, Jackie Smith, Shaohua Zhan, and Lu Zhang.

We are deeply grateful for their enthusiasm, interest, and willingness to contribute their time and expertise to the journal. Their insights, thoughtful reviews, and instrumental support will continue to strengthen JWSR’s mission of fostering innovative, globally engaged scholarship and advancing critical conversations across the social sciences.

Third, the Fall 2026 issue features eight research articles organized around interconnected political, ecological, and historical questions. Collectively, they illuminate how violence, exclusion, and inequality are reproduced through the structures of the modern world-system while also identifying important sites of resistance, alternative political imaginaries, and pathways toward more equitable futures. These articles demonstrate the breadth and vitality of contemporary world-systems scholarship, and, taken together, they show that understanding the present requires not only attention to immediate events but also an appreciation of the deeper historical processes that continue to shape our world.

Victor Ramiro Fernandez, “Understanding Divergent Convergence”     Victor Fernandez's article will also be featured in ASA journal podcasts this month; available on Spotify and Libsyn.   Ege Demirel, Muhammed Kürşad Özekin, and Ayça Özekin, “The Capitalist World-System in Interregnum”   Leonid Grinin, Anton Grinin, and Andrey Korotayev, “Donald Trump and Radical Reconfiguration of the World-System in the Context of the World Order Transformation”   Sefika Kumral and Şahan Savaş Karataşli, “Longue Durée Dynamics of the Far Right in the Capitalist World-System”   Getent Addisu Gelaneh and Mohammed Seid Ali, “The Coloniality of Political Theory”   David Fields and Adem Elveren , "The Capitalogenic Security Trilemma”   Gala Kumec, “The System Changes, Inequality Does Not”   Nicholas Matheou, “Commercial Revolution in the Central Eurasian Middle Ages”  

As this issue demonstrates, world-systems scholarship remains vital for understanding the interconnected crises and transformations of our historical moment. From shifts in global accumulation and geopolitical power to the resurgence of authoritarianism, the persistence of colonial forms of knowledge, and the deepening contradictions of climate governance, these contributions reaffirm the value of historical, relational, and unidisciplinary analysis. In an era of turbulence and systemic transition, World-Systems Analysis offers both critical tools for understanding global inequalities and intellectual resources for imagining alternatives. Together with the ongoing Caravanserai commentary series, this issue reflects our commitment to fostering dialogue that bridges historical inquiry and contemporary debate while contributing to more just, democratic, and sustainable futures.

Best,

Dan, Dev, Madelief, Jun, Paige, and Robin