Impersonal power : the history and theory of the bourgeois state

The point of departure of Heide Gerstenberger's path-breaking work is a critique of structural-functionalist theory of the state, in both its modernisation theory and materialist variants. Prof. Gerstenberger opposes to these a historical-theoretical explanation that proceeds from the long-term structuring effect of concrete social practice. This is elucidated by detailed investigation of the development of bourgeois state power in the two key examples of England and France. The different complexions that the bourgeois state assumed are presented as the results of processes of social and cultural formation, and thus irreducible to a simple function of capitalism. This approach culminates in the thesis that the bourgeois form of capitalist state power arose only where capitalist societies developed out of already rationalised structures of the Ancien Régime type. Pt. 1. The Rise Of Bourgeois States : Preconditions For An Explanation -- 1. Miracles, For Example -- 2. States In General, 'bourgeois' States In Particular -- 3. Examples Of Explanatory Approaches -- 4. False Conclusions From Structural Analysis -- 5. Pitfalls In Historical Comparison -- 6. Advice On Reading -- Pt. 2. From Ancien Regime To Bourgeois State : England -- 'how Then Did They Do It?' -- Ch. 1. English Feudalism : Appropriation By Land Lordship And Force Of Arms Under Feudally Generalised Royal Power -- Ch. 2. The Ancien Regime In England -- Ch. 3. The Estate Constitution Of Public Power -- Ch. 4. The Revolutionising Of The Forms Of Rule Of The Ancien Regime Into Bourgeois State Power -- Pt. 3. From Ancien Regime To Bourgeois Society : France -- Ch. 1. The Development Of 'feudal' Power Relations -- Ch. 2. Plague, War And Difference -- Ch. 3. The French Ancien Regime -- Ch. 4. The French Revolution As Event And Structural Change -- Pt. 4. Results Of The Historical Comparison -- 1. The Conditions Of Personal Rule In England And France -- 2. Conditions For The Emergence Of The Ancien Regime -- 3. Contradictory Development Of The Ancien Regime -- 4. From Ancien Regime To Bourgeois State Power : Reasons For The 'special Roads' -- Pt. 5. The Organisation Of Generalised Power : A Conceptual Framework For Historical Epochs -- 1. Feudalism -- 2. Ancien Regime -- 3. Bourgeois State. By Heide Gerstenberger ; Translated By David Fernbach. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [689]-789) And Index. The point of departure of Heide Gerstenberger's path-breaking work is a critique of structural-functionalist theory of the state, in both its modernisation theory and materialist variants. Prof. Gerstenberger opposes to these a historical-theoretical explanation that proceeds from the long-term structuring effect of concrete social practice. This is elucidated by detailed investigation of the development of bourgeois state power in the two key examples of England and France. The different complexions that the bourgeois state assumed are presented as the results of processes of social and cultural formation, and thus irreducible to a simple function of capitalism. This approach culminates in the thesis that the bourgeois form of capitalist state power arose only where capitalist societies developed out of already rationalised structures of the Ancien Regime type In this volume. Heide Gerstenberger investigates the development of bourgeois state power by on the one hand proposing a critique of different variants of the structural-functionalist theory of the state and on the other hand analysing the examples of England and France. The central thesis of the work is that the bourgeois form of capitalist state power arose only where capitalist societies developed out of state structures that were already rationalised