New Labour or the Normalization of Neo-Liberalism

For some, the landslide victory of the Labour Party in 1997 held the promise of a reversal of the socio-economic transformation of Britain that had been achieved through nearly eighteen years of Conservative government. But it did not take long for the Blair government to disappoint these hopes. For, in many ways, the three successive Labour Governments under Blair’s continuing authoritarian plebiscitary tutelage have deliberately, persistently, and wilfully driven forward the neo-liberal transformation of Britain rather than halting or reversing it.

Gramsci as a Spatial Theorist

Antonio Gramsci’s philosophy of praxis is characterised by the spatialization as well as historicization of its analytical categories. These theoretical practices are deeply intertwined in his ‘absolute historicism’. Highlighting the spatiality of Gramsci’s analysis not only enables us to recover the many geographical themes in his work but also provides a useful counterweight to the emphasis on the historical dimensions of his historicism.

State- and Regulation-Theoretical Perspectives on the European Union and the Failure of the Lisbon Agenda

This contribution adopts a dual state- and regulation-theoretical approach to analyze the European Union as an emerging political system and its role in capital accumulation. It does so in three respects. First, in state-theoretical terms, I reject the two main rival descriptions of the EU in the 1980s and 1990s as a supranational state or a site of interstate struggles and propose a third interpretation.

Bringing the State Back in (Yet Again): Reviews, Revisions, Rejections, and Redirections

This article addresses West European and North American developments in theorizing the state. It briefly reviews the first major postwar revival of theoretical interest in the state that began in Western Europe during the mid-1960s. This was mainly led by Marxists interested in the general form and functions of the capitalist state; but a key supporting role was played by Marxist-feminists who extended such ideas to the patriarchal capitalist state…

Authoritarian Populism, Two Nations, and Thatcherism

This on-line version is the pre-copyedited, preprint version. The published version can be found here: Bob Jessop, Kevin Bonnett, Simon Bromley, Tom Ling, ‘Authoritarian Populism, Two Nations, and Thatcherism’, New Left Review 1984, No. 147, pp. 32-60. Faced with the devastating electoral and political successes of Thatcherism in the past five years, the British Left responded…

Finance-Dominated Accumulation and Post-Democratic Capitalism  

This on-line version is the pre-copyedited, preprint version. The published version can be found here:  ‘Finance-dominated accumulation and post-democratic capitalism’, in S. Fadda and P. Tridico, eds, Institutions and Economic Development after the Financial Crisis, London: Routledge, 83-105, 2013.  This chapter revisits the argument, advanced by advocates and critics of capitalism alike, if somewhat hyperbolically,…

Marxist Approaches to Power

This on-line version is the pre-copyedited, preprint version. The published version can be found here: ‘Marxist Approaches to Power’ in E. Amenta, K. Nash, A. Scott, eds, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, Oxford: Blackwell, 3-14, 2012. Marxist approaches to power focus on its relation to class domination in capitalist societies. Power is linked to…

Political Economy, Political Ecology, and Democratic Socialism

First Annual Nicos Poulantzas Memorial Lecture Delivered at Panteios University of Economics and Political Sciences 7th December 2007  You can also find a shortened German translation here: ‘Politische Ökonomie, politische Ökologie und demokratischer Sozial-ismus’, in A. Demirovic, S. Adolphs, and S. Karakayalı, eds, Das Staats-verständnis von Nicos Poulantzas, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag, 35-52, 2010.  *** All…