Search results

Intro -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication -- Preface -- Tables -- Abbreviations -- 1: Introduction -- Notes -- Part I: The State as Concept, Relation, and Reality -- 2: The Concept of the State -- Notes on the Difficulties of Studying the State -- So What Is the State? -- The Three-Element Approach -- More on the Territorialization of Political Power -- The Polymorphic Character of the State -- Stateness as a Variable -- Constituting the State -- A Four-Element Definition of the State -- Interim Conclusions -- Notes -- 3: The State as a Social Relation -- The Strategic-Relational Approach -- Dimensions of the State -- The Paradox of State and Society -- Conclusions -- Notes -- 4: Power, Interests, Domination, State Effects -- Power as the explanans or the explanandum? -- Interests and Domination -- The State and Class Domination -- The Articulation of Economic, Political, and Ideological Domination -- The Limits to Form Analysis and the State in Capitalist Societies -- On Social Imaginaries and the Critique of Ideologies -- Conclusions -- Note -- Part II: On Territory, Apparatus, and Population -- 5: The State and Space-Time -- Sociospatiality -- Territorialization and State Formation -- Territory, Place, Scale, Network -- Domination and Spatiotemporal Fixes -- Conclusions -- Notes -- 6: State and Nation -- National State and Nation-State -- Europe as a Territorial State and as a Nation-State -- Towards a World State and a World Society? -- Notes -- 7: Government + Governance in the Shadow of Hierarchy -- Governance and Complexity -- Governance Failure and Meta-Governance -- From Government to Governance -- Meta-Governance as Politics and Policy -- The Success and Failure of Meta-Governance in the Shadow of Hierarchy -- Conclusions -- Note -- Part III: Past and Present (Futures) of the State.

"Debates about the role and nature of the state are at the heart of modern politics. However, the state itself remains notoriously difficult to define, and the term is subject to a range of different interpretations. In this book, distinguished state theorist Bob Jessop provides a critical introduction to the state as both a concept and a reality. He lucidly guides readers through all the major accounts of the state, and examines competing efforts to relate the state to other features of social organization. Essential themes in the analysis of the state are explored in full, including state formation, periodization, the re-scaling of the state and the state's future. Throughout, Jessop clearly defines key terms, from hegemony and coercion to government and governance. He also analyses what we mean when we speak about 'normal' and 'exceptional' states, and states that are 'failed' or 'rogue'. Combining an accessible style with expert sensitivity to the complexities of the state, this short introduction will be core reading for students and scholars of politics and sociology, as well as anyone interested in the changing role of the state in contemporary societies"--

This volume develops a novel approach to state theory. It offers a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the state and sets a new agenda for state research. Four central themes define the scope of the book: an account of the bases of the operational autonomy of the state; the need to develop state theory as part of a more general social theory; the possibilities of explaining 'capitalist societalization' without assuming that the economy is the ultimate determinant of societal dynamics; and a defence of the method of articulation in theory construction. In developi

General Introduction What is the State? A Preliminary Definition of the State 'Putting this Book in its Place' PART I: THEORIZING THE STATE 1. The Development of the Strategic-Relational Approach Three Sources of the Strategic-Relational State Approach The First Phase in the Strategic-Relational Approach The Second Phase of the Strategic-Relational Approach The Third Phase of the Strategic-Relational Approach Interim Strategic-Relational Conclusions 2. Bringing the State Back in (Yet Again) Introduction The Marxist Revival and the Strategic-Relational Approach Strategic-Relational Tendencies in the Second Wave New Directions of Research Conclusions PART II: SOURCES OF THE STRATEGIC-RELATIONAL APPROACH 3. Marx on Political Representation and the State What does The Eighteenth Brumaire accomplish? On Periodization The Political Stage The Social Content of Politics The State Apparatus and Its Trajectory More on Political Representation Conclusions 4. Gramsci on the Geography of State Power Spatializing the Philosophy of Praxis Gramsci and the Southern Question Gramsci on Americanism and Fordism Gramsci on Territoriality and State Power Gramsci and International Relations Conclusions 5. Poulantzas on the State as a Social Relation Marxist Theory and Political Strategy New Methodological Considerations The State and Political Class Struggle The Relational Approach and Strategic Selectivity Re-Reading Poulantzas Exceptional Elements in the Contemporary State Periodizing the Class Struggle The Spatio-Temporal Matrix of the State Conclusions 6. Foucault on State, State Formation, and Statecraft Foucault and the "Crisis of Marxism" Poulantzas and Foucault compared The Analytics of Power versus State Theory Foucault as a Genealogist of Statecraft With Foucault beyond Foucault Conclusions PART III APPLYING THE STRATEGIC-RELATIONAL APPROACH 7. The Gender Selectivities of the State Analyzing Gender Selectivities Gender Selectivities in the State Strategic Selectivity and Strategic Action Political Representation The Architecture of the State Conclusions 8. Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Temporal Sovereignty Globalization Defined Globalization and the Spatial Turn Some Spatio-Temporal Contradictions of Globalizing Capitalism The Implications of Globalization for (National) States Conclusions 9. Multiscalar Metagovernance in the European Union State-Centric Perspectives Governance-Centric Approaches Changes in Statehood in Advanced Capitalist Societies The EU as a Schumpeterian Workfare Post-National Regime The European Union and Multiscalar Metagovernance Conclusions 10. Complexity, Contingent Necessity, Semiosis, and the SRA Complexity and Contingent Necessity Complexity and the Selection of Selections Semiosis and Complexity Reduction Towards a New Strategic-Relational Agenda Conclusions

This volume develops a novel approach to state theory. It offers a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the state and sets a new agenda for state research. Four central themes define the scope of the book: an account of the bases of the operational autonomy of the state; the need to develop state theory as part of a more general social theory; the possibilities of explaining 'capitalist societalization' without assuming that the economy is the ultimate determinant of societal dynamics; and a defence of the method of articulation in theory construction. In developi.