Christopher Chase-Dunn

Christopher Chase-Dunn (b. 10-Jan-1944) is an American sociologist best known for his contributions to world-systems theory.

Education and Carrier

He earned his Ph.D. in 1975 at Stanford University (studying under John Meyer) and has taught at The Johns Hopkins University (1975-2000) and at the University of California at Riverside (2000-today). He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has served as President (2002-2006) of Research Committee 02 (Economy and Society) of the International Sociological Association, Chair (1984-1986) of the Section on International Political Economy of the International Studies Association, and Chair (1982) of the Section on the Political Economy of the World-System of the American Sociological Association. He is the founder of the Institute for Research on World-Systems at the University of California at Riverside. Chase-Dunn is also the founding editor of the Journal of World-Systems Research, which is the official journal of the Political Economy of the World-System section of the American Sociological Association.

Publications

Chase-Dunn is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of over a dozen books, including most notably Global Formation: Structures of The World-Economy, a major theoretical synthesis and restatement of the world-systems approach to the study of social change. Breaking free from what is often seen as the dogmatism of scholars working in the world-systems tradition, Chase-Dunn takes a pragmatic approach to understanding the structure of the modern world-economy and its evolution over time. This means that he incorporates data and appropriates theoretical models from a variety of sources, including from the work of scholars not associated with the world-systems tradition. As a result, Global Formation has become a standard reference work for world-systems scholars, even though they may not always agree with Chase-Dunn's approaches to the problems they study.

Contributions

This catholic approach characterizes his work as a whole. Chase-Dunn is not known for any one theory or "big idea," but instead is known for applying a wide range of theories and theoretical approaches (hegemonic decline theory, population ecology, cyclical theory, historical materialism) to a wide range of historical situations (the ancient Near East, the pre-Columbian California coast, post-colonial states, emerging global governance institutions). In a similar vein, he has collaborated widely, co-authoring or co-editing books in cooperation with Salvatore Babones, Volker Bornschier, Terry Boswell, Jonathan Friedman, Thomas Hall, and others. He has been especially prolific in publishing papers with student co-authors. Many of his former students are now active scholars working in the world-systems tradition, including Salvatore Babones, Jeffrey Kentor, and Andrew Jorgenson.

Chase-Dunn has been married twice and has three daughters: Cori, Mae and Frances.

Bibliography

Chase - Dunn Ch. K. (1975), 'The Effects of International Economic Dependence on Development and Inequality: a Cross - national Study' American Sociological Review, 40: 720 - 738.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. (1983), 'The Kernel of the Capitalist World Economy: Three Approaches' in 'Contending Approaches to World System Analysis' (Thompson W.R. (Ed.)), pp. 55 – 78, Beverly Hills: Sage.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. (1984), 'The World - System Since 1950: What Has Really Changed?' in 'Labor in the Capitalist World - Economy' (Bergquist Ch. (Ed.)), pp. 75 – 104, Beverly Hills: Sage.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. (1991), 'Global Formation: Structures of the World Economy' London, Oxford and New York: Basil Blackwell.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. (1992a), 'The National State as an Agent of Modernity' Problems of Communism, January - April: 29 - 37.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. (1992b), 'The Changing Role of Cities in World Systems' in 'Waves, Formations and Values in the World System' (Bornschier V. and Lengyel P. (Eds.)), pp. 51 – 87, New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. (Ed.), (1982), 'Socialist States in the World System' Beverly Hills and London: Sage.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. and Grimes P. (1995), ‘World - Systems Analysis’ Annual Review of Sociology, 21: 387 - 417.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. and Hall Th. D. (1997), ‘Rise and Demise. Comparing World - Systems’ Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Chase - Dunn Ch. K. and Podobnik B. (1995), ‘The Next World War: World - System Cycles and Trends’ Journal of World Systems Research 1, 6 (unpaginated electronic journal at world - wide - web site of the World System Network: http://jwsr.ucr.edu/).