Chaos and the new temporality of the contemporary world-system

Abstract

This paper presents five major theses for understanding the new world conjuncture in which capitalism and humanity entered in 2015-2020. This period is characterized by the crisis of the capitalist civilization and mode of production; the terminal crisis and dismantling of the United States’ hegemony; the geopolitical bifurcation of the world’s economy into an imperialist bloc led by the United States and an emerging bloc centered on China and Russia that has been expanding towards the Global South; the ideological crisis of global liberalism and the rise of fascism and socialism as alternatives; and the crisis of the neoliberal accumulation pattern and the end of Kondratieff’s expansion phase that started in 1994. We briefly indicate the effects of these trends on Latin America.