Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter
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TY - CHAP
T1 - Poulantzas's Staatstheorie as a Modern Classic.
AU - Jessop, Bob
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Poulantzas claimed that Staatstheorie, his last major work, completed the theory of the capitalist type of state that Marx and Engels had left unfinished (1978b). While this immodest but provocative claim certainly merits discussion, it cannot be seriously evaluated in a short essay. Instead I will advance four main arguments. First, Poulantzas developed a major original contribution to the theory of the capitalist type of state that goes well beyond most conventional Marxist analyses and contrasts markedly with studies of the state in capitalist society. Second, he developed a broader approach to the state as a social relation that holds for the capitalist type of state, diverse states in capitalist social formations, and statehood more generally. Third, he adopted both approaches in his own theoretical and historical analyses. And, fourth, his analysis of the current form of the capitalist type of state was highly prescient, with �authoritarian statism� far more evident now than when he noted this emerging trend in the 1970s. After I have advanced all three arguments, I will also note some basic limitations to Poulantzas�s approach to materialist state theory, concluding that Staatstheorie should be regarded as a modern classic.
AB - Poulantzas claimed that Staatstheorie, his last major work, completed the theory of the capitalist type of state that Marx and Engels had left unfinished (1978b). While this immodest but provocative claim certainly merits discussion, it cannot be seriously evaluated in a short essay. Instead I will advance four main arguments. First, Poulantzas developed a major original contribution to the theory of the capitalist type of state that goes well beyond most conventional Marxist analyses and contrasts markedly with studies of the state in capitalist society. Second, he developed a broader approach to the state as a social relation that holds for the capitalist type of state, diverse states in capitalist social formations, and statehood more generally. Third, he adopted both approaches in his own theoretical and historical analyses. And, fourth, his analysis of the current form of the capitalist type of state was highly prescient, with �authoritarian statism� far more evident now than when he noted this emerging trend in the 1970s. After I have advanced all three arguments, I will also note some basic limitations to Poulantzas�s approach to materialist state theory, concluding that Staatstheorie should be regarded as a modern classic.
KW - Poulantzas's Staatstheorie
KW - the capitalist type of state
KW - exceptional rgimes
KW - authoritarian statism
M3 - Chapter
SN - 3899651774
BT - Poulantzas Lesen
A2 - Brettauer, Lars
A2 - Gallas, Alexander
A2 - Kanankulam, John
A2 - Stützle, Ingo
PB - Das Argument Verlag
CY - Hamburg, Germany
ER -