Toward a Critical Theory of States : The Poulantzas-Miliband Debate After Globalization

In-depth study of the enduring impact of the 1970s debate between state theorists Ralph Miliband and Nicos Poulantzas. We have recently lived through the turmoil of a global financial crisis that originated in the United States and, despite the platitudes of neo-liberal ideology, nation-states were deeply involved in managing this crisis. If the state is again a preeminent actor in the global economy, then state theory and the problem of the state should also return to the forefront of political theory. Toward a Critical Theory of States is an intensive analysis of the 1970s debate between state theorists Ralph Miliband and Nicos Poulantzas, including its wider impact on Marxist theories of the state in subsequent decades. Clyde W. Barrow makes unique arguments and contributions to this continuing discussion in state theory and lays the foundation for more theoretically informed empirical and historical research on the state in the age of globalization. He argues that by merely moving past the Poulantzas-Miliband debate, as some have recommended, scholars have abandoned much that is valuable in understanding the state, particularly the need to comprehend the contemporary transformation of the state form and the state apparatuses as part of the new conditions of globalization and transnational capital accumulation. Building upon themes of state restructuring found in Poulantzas and Miliband, Barrow establishes the outlines of an approach that integrates the thought of both to propose a synthetic understanding of the new imperialism. Clyde W. Barrow is Professor and Chair of Political Science at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley. His books include Critical Theories of the State: Marxist, Neo-Marxist, Post-Marxist and Class, Power and the State in Capitalist Society: Essays on Ralph Miliband (coedited with Paul Wetherly and Peter Burnham). Contents Ac knowledgments Abbreviations Preface 1 Marxism and the Critique of Bourgeois Social Science Background to the Poulantzas-Miliband Debate Biographical Background: The 1960s Intellectual Background: Bourgeois Social Science Intellectual Background: The Marxist Tradition 2 The Poulantzas-Miliband Debate Miliband’s Theory of the State Social Class and Political Practice Poulantzas’ Theory of the State The First Exchange: The Problem of Method The Second Exchange: The Problem of Method Again (1973) 3 Plain Marxists and Sophisticated Marxists and Marxism Marxism and The Power Elite What Is Marxism? Sophisticated Marxists and The Power Elite Moving Beyond C. Wright Mills? 4 The Analytic (Mis)Construction of Instrumentalism The Defining Moment for an Ideal-Type The Problem of the Subject Miliband on Structural Constraint The Problem of Ideological Apparatuses The Problem of State Autonomy The Problem of Economic and Social Reform The Mirage of Instrumentalism 5 The Poulantzas-Althusser Debate The Poulantzas-Althusser Debate From Structuralist Abstractionism to Historical Structuralism 6 The Return of the State Globalization: The Form and Function of the Nation-State The Internationalization of the State: A Case Study The New Imperialism Toward a New State Form? Conclusion 7 The Return to State Theory Why Return to the State Theory? State Theory Beyond the Poulantzas-Miliband Debate What Next? Notes Bibliography Index