Jonathan Berman Says Money Isn't Everything

Let's face it, money can't buy you happiness and, if you think about it, it won’t get you enlightenment either. What I’m getting at is that economics isn’t responsible for everything that goes on in the world. I think historical materialists (Marxists) and world system theorists put so much emphasis on economics as the root cause of events in IR that they forget that there are other factors that may be equally important. Thus, they suffer from economism.

Personally, I am a fan of "complimentary holism" developed by Professor Hahnel (although I recommend he find a new name for it). Hahnel's theory is that all societies have four basic spheres. They are the economic sphere (production/consumption), the political sphere (government/law), the kinship sphere (family/gender roles), and the community sphere (culture/society).

Marxists and world system theorists look at societies as being created to merely decide what to make and who gets what. Thus, under a Marxist approach the economic sphere is the most important sphere and it undoubtedly influences politics, the family, and society.

However, I believe this is where Marxism goes astray. I do not believe that all societies are inherently influenced by their economics. Certainly, this could be the case; however, we cannot just make a blanket assumption of that magnitude. For example, South Africa had a capitalist economic system, however, the reason blacks were excluded was not because of capitalism. It was because in the political sphere the whites had all the power and in the community sphere people were assigned to different ethnic groups which determined their station in life. Thus, community membership determined what most people could and could not do.

According to Hahnel, fundamental change occurs in "complimentary holism" when the operating procedures of one of the spheres (economic, political, community, or kinship) changes. In South Africa, once blacks achieved the end of apartheid this opened up the options blacks had and allowed them to serve in the government. As a result, blacks managed to alter the political and community sphere. However, this didn't radically change South Africa's economic system. As we are all aware, it is still capitalist, only blacks can now own property and enter the business world.

Marxism espouses a belief that change throughout history is driven by economics. On the other hand, "complimentary holism" teaches us there are a number of ways for societies to change. As a result, any group who is advantaged or disadvantaged in one of the spheres can act as an agent of history, not just the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.