Description
Book SynopsisIt is often remarked that critical – and especially Marxist – state theory began to lose its central place in the study of comparative politics in the 1980s. Ironically, this shift occurred just as neoliberal policies were transforming the social form and spatial scales of the state, radically restructuring the practices of state economic intervention, and extending the capabilities of the coercive arms of the state. This volume addresses the ‘impoverishment of state theory’ over the last decades and insists on the continued salience of class analysis to the study of states. The book’s title, State Transformations, reflects several central themes in the comparative study of states: the neoliberal restructuring of capitalist states, the changing economic and political architecture of imperialism, and the prospects of a democratic transformation of capitalist states. The essays collected here on these themes are in honor and memory of Leo Panitch, whose influential body of work has shaped debates on the state, imperialism, and socialism over the past four decades. Contributors are: Clyde W. Barrow, Caio Bugiato, Frank Deppe, Ruth Felder, Ana Garcia, Sam Gindin, Doug Henwood, Martijn Konings, Colin Leys, Sebnem Oguz, Bryan D. Palmer, Dennis Pilon, Larry Savage, Charles Smith, Michalis Spourdalakis and Hilary Wainwright
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Notes on Contributors Introduction State TransformationsIntroduction: State Transformations Greg Albo, Stephen Maher and Alan Zuege part 1 State Theory and Capitalist Democracy 1 From the Canadian State to the Making of Global Capitalism Clyde W. Barrow 2 Beyond the Impasse of State Theory Martijn Konings 3 Working-Class Politics Matters Identity, Class, Parties Dennis Pilon and Larry Savage part 2 Imperialist Restructuring and Global Capitalism 4 Globalization as Internationalization of Capital Understanding Imperialism and State Restructuring Sebnem Oguz 5 The State and Imperialism in International Relations Theory Ana Garcia and Caio Bugiato 6 Bringing Class Back in The State, the ‘Pink Tide’, and the Case of Argentina Ruth Felder part 3 From Neoliberalism to Political Crisis 7 The Rebirth of Nationalism and the Crisis of the European Union Frank Deppe 8 The UK’s Organic Crisis Colin Leys 9 The Coronacrisis A Body Blow to the Rotting American State Doug Henwood 10 The State, Trade Union Freedoms, and the Impasse of Working-Class Power in Canada Charles Smith part 4 Transforming Class Politics and the State 11 Transformative Agency from a Time of Revolt to a Time of Pandemic Hilary Wainwright 12 Class Politics and Strategies for Party Building Michalis Spourdalakis 13 Notes toward a Plausible Socialism Sam Gindin 14 Between the State and the Streets A Study in Socialist Sobriety Bryan D. Palmer Postscript Greg Albo, Stephen Maher and Alan Zuege References Index
