The Rise of the Capital-State and Neo-Nationalism: A New Polanyian Moment (Global Populisms, 3)

The book makes contributions to several social science disciplines, such as political science, sociology, and global studies, and several fields within those discplines. It is geared both toward academics and students with those research/study interests. The book argues that neo-nationalism can be understood as a reaction to a renewed “great transformation,” to use Karl Polanyi’s famous term. The essence of this renewed transformation is recalibration of the nation-state from a market-limiting to a market-making one. The book’s main insight is that there is an inextricable link between free market reforms, declining state legitimacy, and identity-based mobilization. Marketization of the states and societies triggers protective reactions against economic insecurity, precarious work, and inequality. These counter movements are often reactionary, xenophobic, and violent, with people retreating into nationalism and culture. To pursue this argument, the book makes several steps. It begins by reviewing different academic approaches to what has been described as “populism,” “radical right / left,” or “far right / left.” It also challenges the over-used term “populism” and makes an important distinction between neoliberal populism and populist nationalisms of social protection, providing evidence to illustrate the rise of these different neo-nationalisms. Next, it scales up Karl Polanyi’s double-movement thesis to explain the neo-nationalist predicament, framing the argument in terms of broader research on state transformations. "What explains neo-nationalism - the surge of populist nationalism in the contemporary phase of globalized development? Drawing on Karl Polanyi's study of the "great transformation," Oleksandr Svitych argues that neo-nationalism is a societal protective reaction against the pro-market structural changes in the political economies of nation-states - conceptualized as the capital-state transformation. He shows that there is an inextricable link between free market reforms, declining state legitimacy, and identity-based mobilization. To test the book's argument, Svitych adopts a mixed methods approach of quantitative statistical analysis and qualitative case studies. First, he examines the relationship between the capital-state and neo-nationalism by using a time-series cross-sectional analysis of thirty-five member-states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Estimates suggest that the capital-state - measured through the composite capital-state index - is a significant and powerful predictor of the neo-nationalist vote. Second, through four case studies (Australia, France, Hungary, and South Korea) the mechanisms that link macro-economic transformations to neo-nationalist vote or lack thereof are explored. Svitych finds that discontented voters gravitate toward these political forces and embrace identity-based solutions - often in exclusivist and scapegoating forms - to harness their anxieties and insecurities triggered by the capital-state restructuring. Both methods demonstrate that populist nationalism of both the Left and the Right has emerged to compensate for the real and perceived inability of the state to shield citizens from the corrosive effects of market fundamentalism. The book contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of the inter-related nature of state, capital, and identity politicization through a broader social theoretical perspective"-- Provided by publisher What explains the rise of populist nationalism in the contemporary phase of globalized development? Drawing on Karl Polanyi's study of the great transformation, The Rise of the Capital-state and Neo-nationalism argues that populist nationalism is a societal reaction to the pro-market structural changes in the political economies of nation-states - conceptualized as the capital-state transformation. Oleksandr Svitych shows that there is an inextricable link between free market reforms, declining state legitimacy, and identity-based mobilization. Examining four case studies (Australia, France, Hungary, and South Korea) through a mixed method approach, the book finds that discontented voters gravitate toward populist neo-national political forces and embrace identity-based solutions - often in exclusivist and scapegoating forms - to harness their anxieties and insecurities triggered by the capital-state restructuring. Populist nationalism of both the left and the right has emerged to compensate for the real and perceived inability of the state to shield citizens from the corrosive effects of market fundamentalism. The Rise of the Capital-state and Neo-nationalism contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of the interrelated nature of state, capital, and identity politicization through a broader social theoretical perspective. This work was supported by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 822682: "Populist rebellion against modernity in 21st-century Eastern neo-traditionalism and neo-feudalism - POPREBEL". * The Rise of the Capital-state and Neo-Nationalism is now available in paperback for individual customers.