Since the 1990s, the global economy has experienced a series of financial crises of a frequency and intensity unprecedented in post-war history. This “endless crisis” is usually associated with the financialization of major economies in North America, Europe, and other OECD countries. In this article, the emergence of the “endless crisis” is understood as the result of a specific spatial constitution of global financial capitalism. On the one hand, global industrial production has shifted to Asia, particularly to China; this has created a crisis-ridden transnational constellation in which the Anglo-American-dominated global financial system builds on and is interlinked with the Chinese manufacturing sector and financial system. On the other hand, the increasing transnationalization of capitalism and statehood has contributed to a more coordinated response to major crises. Unlike in the Great Depression of 1929–1933, a network of central banks and government institutions has responded to the crisis, thus increasing the resilience of the capitalist world economy. This constellation is analyzed drawing on world-systems analysis and the sociology of space. Three different periods of transformation and reconfiguration are identified that have defined the “endless crisis”.

The article starts from the thesis that (private) property represents a culturally and structurally foundational institution of modern societies. It examines firstly whether, in view of the conflicts ...

Das Berliner Journal für Soziologie ist eine allgemeine soziologische Fachzeitschrift, die Beiträge aus allen Forschungs- und Themenbereichen der Soziologie ...