Marxism and the Capitalist State: Towards a New Debate

✍ Scribed by Rob Hunter; Rafael Khachaturian; Eva Nanopoulos (editors)

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 285
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book builds on the recent revival of interest in Marx and Marxism, calling for a renewal and refinement of Marxist state theory. It aims to provoke and encourage new debates and critiques that build on—but also update and extend—the rich tradition of Marxist analyses of the capitalist state, including the well-known debates of the 1970s. The chapters present a dynamic and diverse constellation of arguments and perspectives on a range of topics, from general re-appraisals of the capitalist state to investigations of contemporary challenges—including digitalisation, the ecological crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, social reproduction, and critical political economy. What they share is a commitment to an understanding of the specifically capitalist character of the modern state and its significance for any serious discussion of the causes of our current age of global catastrophe and the overcoming of capitalist social relations.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Praise for Marxism and the Capitalist State
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
1 Why Theorize the Capitalist State Today?
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
2 Theorizing the Capitalist State: A Brief History
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
3 Theorizing the Capitalist State: Towards a Renewed Debate
3.1 Attending to Pressing Challenges
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
3 Theorizing the Capitalist State: Towards a Renewed Debate
3.2 Reconsidering Enduring Questions
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
3 Theorizing the Capitalist State: Towards a Renewed Debate
3.3 Developing New Approaches
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
3 Theorizing the Capitalist State: Towards a Renewed Debate
3.4 Common Themes and Concerns
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
4 Theorizing the Capitalist State: Future Directions
Introduction: Reopening the State Debate
References
State, Capital, Nature: State Theory for the Capitalocene
State, Capital, Nature: State Theory for the Capitalocene
1 Capitalism and Nature
State, Capital, Nature: State Theory for the Capitalocene
2 Capitalism and the State
State, Capital, Nature: State Theory for the Capitalocene
3 State, Nature, Capital
State, Capital, Nature: State Theory for the Capitalocene
References
‘Bursting Asunder the Integument’: Democracy, Digitalization, and the State
1 Introduction
‘Bursting Asunder the Integument’: Democracy, Digitalization, and the State
2 Digitalization, Imperialism, and the Capitalist State
‘Bursting Asunder the Integument’: Democracy, Digitalization, and the State
3 Digital Platforms, Bourgeois Democracy, and False Consciousness
‘Bursting Asunder the Integument’: Democracy, Digitalization, and the State
4 The Emancipatory Potential of Digitalization
‘Bursting Asunder the Integument’: Democracy, Digitalization, and the State
5 Conclusion
‘Bursting Asunder the Integument’: Democracy, Digitalization, and the State
References
Crisis, Social Reproduction, and the Capitalist State: Notes on an Uncertain Conjuncture
1 Pandemic as Social Crisis
Crisis, Social Reproduction, and the Capitalist State: Notes on an Uncertain Conjuncture
2 The State as Social Protection?
Crisis, Social Reproduction, and the Capitalist State: Notes on an Uncertain Conjuncture
3 The General Role of the Capitalist State
Crisis, Social Reproduction, and the Capitalist State: Notes on an Uncertain Conjuncture
4 Social Reproduction Under Authoritarian Neoliberalism
Crisis, Social Reproduction, and the Capitalist State: Notes on an Uncertain Conjuncture
5 Contradictions of the American State
Crisis, Social Reproduction, and the Capitalist State: Notes on an Uncertain Conjuncture
6 From Crisis to Restabilization?
Crisis, Social Reproduction, and the Capitalist State: Notes on an Uncertain Conjuncture
References
From Economic to Political Crisis: Trump and the Neoliberal State
From Economic to Political Crisis: Trump and the Neoliberal State
1 The Neoliberal Authoritarian State
From Economic to Political Crisis: Trump and the Neoliberal State
2 Trump and the State Economic Apparatus
From Economic to Political Crisis: Trump and the Neoliberal State
3 Neoliberalism and Trumpism
From Economic to Political Crisis: Trump and the Neoliberal State
References
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
1 Introduction
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
2 Origins of the Military
2.1 State and Military
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
2 Origins of the Military
2.2 Force (Cooperative, Mass, Organized)
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
3 Human Material and Class Struggle
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
3 Human Material and Class Struggle
3.1 The Soldier and Surplus Value
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
3 Human Material and Class Struggle
3.2 The Soldier and Class
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
4 Conclusion
Soldiers and the State in Marx and Engels
References
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
1 Neither Reject nor Embrace: Pacification Theory
1.1 Critique of Security and Pacification Theory
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
1 Neither Reject nor Embrace: Pacification Theory
1.2 Beyond the Dichotomy: Prospects and Limitations
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
2 Back to Marx and Engels: Sometimes Reject, Sometimes Embrace
2.1 The War Metaphor: War as Class War
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
2 Back to Marx and Engels: Sometimes Reject, Sometimes Embrace
2.2 To Embrace or to Reject? From Strategy to Tactic
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
3 Thinking Tactically
3.1 Reject?
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
3 Thinking Tactically
3.2 Embrace?
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
4 Conclusion(s)
To Embrace or To Reject: Marxism and the ‘War-Emergency Paradigm’
References
Socially Reproductive Workers, ‘Life-Making’, and State Repression
1 Introduction
Socially Reproductive Workers, ‘Life-Making’, and State Repression
2 Is Reproducing Labour Power a Good Thing?
Socially Reproductive Workers, ‘Life-Making’, and State Repression
3 ‘Life-Making’ and the Reproduction of Capitalist Society
Socially Reproductive Workers, ‘Life-Making’, and State Repression
4 State Repression via Health, Education, and Social Services
Socially Reproductive Workers, ‘Life-Making’, and State Repression
5 Conclusion
Socially Reproductive Workers, ‘Life-Making’, and State Repression
References
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
1 Capitalism in General
1.1 Market Dependence and the Valorization Imperative
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
1 Capitalism in General
1.2 The Capitalist State and the Concrete Institutionalization of Capitalist Social Relations
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
2 Engels and Marx on Social Murder and Its Transformation
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
2 Engels and Marx on Social Murder and Its Transformation
2.1 Engels on Social Murder
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
2 Engels and Marx on Social Murder and Its Transformation
2.2 Marx on Social Murder’s Specificity to Approaches to Accumulation
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
2 Engels and Marx on Social Murder and Its Transformation
2.3 Engels and Marx on the Systemic Necessity of Social Murder
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
2 Engels and Marx on Social Murder and Its Transformation
2.4 Patterns in Where and How Social Murder Occurs
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
3 Social Murder and the State
3.1 The Capitalist State
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
3 Social Murder and the State
3.2 Stability Through Instability; Reproduction by Transformation
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
4 Conclusion: Capitalism is Always Death-Dealing
Social Murder: Capitalism’s Systematic and State-Organized Killing
References
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
1 Contingency and Constraints
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
2 Whither Poulantzas?
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
3 Varieties of Liberal Democracy
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
3 Varieties of Liberal Democracy
3.1 What is Relative About Relative Autonomy?
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
3 Varieties of Liberal Democracy
3.2 Class Capacity in Politics as Variable
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
3 Varieties of Liberal Democracy
3.3 Role of State Personnel as Variable
3.3.1 Compelled Towards Accumulation
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
3 Varieties of Liberal Democracy
3.3 Role of State Personnel as Variable
3.3.2 Compelled Towards Legitimation
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
4 Democratic Ruptures
Beyond Abstractionism: Notes on Conjunctural State Theory
References
The Marx Revival and State Theory: Towards a Negative-Dialectical Critical Social Theory of the State
1 Introduction
The Marx Revival and State Theory: Towards a Negative-Dialectical Critical Social Theory of the State
2 State Theory in the Marx Revival
The Marx Revival and State Theory: Towards a Negative-Dialectical Critical Social Theory of the State
3 Critical Theories and Critiques
The Marx Revival and State Theory: Towards a Negative-Dialectical Critical Social Theory of the State
4 Towards a Negative Dialectical Critique of the State
The Marx Revival and State Theory: Towards a Negative-Dialectical Critical Social Theory of the State
5 Conclusion
The Marx Revival and State Theory: Towards a Negative-Dialectical Critical Social Theory of the State
References
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
1 Introduction
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
2 The State in the Critique of Political Economy
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
3 Historical Specificity and Social Form
3.1 The Historical Specificity of Capitalist Social Relations
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
3 Historical Specificity and Social Form
3.2 The Historical Specificity of the Capitalist State
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
4 The Fetishism of the Political
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
4 The Fetishism of the Political
4.1 Fetishism and Domination
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
5 Conclusion
The Capitalist State as a Historically Specific Social Form
References
Index