Political Capitalism, Economic and Political Crises, and Authoritarian Statism

Year 2015, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 1 - 18, 11.05.2015

Bob Jessop

Abstract

This contribution to Spectrum Journal is an extended version of a plenary lecture presented
at the Second Spectrum conference on approaches and issues in international political economy, held
at the Middle East Technical University (METU) on 10-11 April 2014. It addresses some key issues
related to the overall conference theme. These are the nature of the world market, its crisistendencies,
the capacities of states to govern the world market and manage crises, the significance of
crises of crisis-management, and the increasing importance of states of economic as well as policemilitary-security
emergency. First, in line with Karl Marx’s analysis, it begins by positing the world
market as the presupposition and posit (result) of the expanded reproduction of capital accumulation.
As a result, the development of the world market reflects an emergent rather than pre-given logic.
Second, with Max Weber, it looks beyond the contradictions and crisis-tendencies of the pure
capitalist mode of production (CMP) as analysed by Marx to those introduced by different forms of
political capitalism as well as traditional commercial capitalism. Third, it considers the relation
between capital and the state and its implications for economic and political struggle and crises.
Fourth, it explores crises as a specific condensation of accumulating challenges that pose problems of
crisis-management and, to the extent that established crisis-management routines fail, crises of crisismanagement.
Fifth, building on the preceding parts of the article, it explores the meaning of crises of
the state and politics. Sixth, current trends in the state are identified and related to the decline of
liberal democracy. The article ends with some general observations on the current economic and
political crises.

Keywords

world market, crisis, economic emergency, military-security emergency, crisis management

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