State Power

Bob Jessop presents an up-to-date account of his distinctive approach to the dialectics of structure and strategy in the exercise of state power. While his earlier work critically surveys other state theories, this book focuses on the development of his own strategic-relational approach. It introduces its main sources, outlines its development, applies this approach to four case studies, and sketches a strategic-relational research agenda. Thus the book presents a comprehensive theoretical statement of the approach and guidelines for its application. Key features of the book include: an account of the authors theoretical development; a review of recent developments in state theory and the cultural turn in political economy; critical strategic-relational re-readings of major state theorists Marx on political representation, Gramsci on the spatiality of state power, Poulantzas on the state as a social relation, and the later Foucault on statecraft; applications of the strategic-relational approach to important issues concerning the contemporary state: its gendered selectivity, the future of the national state, the states temporal sovereignty, and the relevance of multi-scalar meta-governance in Europe for the more general future of the state. The book concludes with recommendations for future strategic-relational research in political economy and state theory.

Bob Jessop presents an up-to-date account of his distinctiveapproach to the dialectics of structure and strategy in theexercise of state power. While his earlier work critically surveysother state theories, this book focuses on the development of hisown strategic-relational approach. It introduces its main sourcesoutlines its development, applies this approach to four casestudies, and sketches a strategic-relational research agenda. Thusthe book presents a comprehensive theoretical statement of theapproach and guidelines for its application.Key features of the book include: an account of the authorstheoretical development; a review of recent developments in statetheory and the cultural turn in political economy; criticalstrategic-relational re-readings of major state theorists Marx onpolitical representation, Gramsci on the spatiality of state powerPoulantzas on the state as a social relation, and the laterFoucault on statecraft; applications of the strategic-relationalapproach to important issues concerning the contemporary state: itsgendered selectivity, the future of the national state, the statestemporal sovereignty, and the relevance of multi-scalarmeta-governance in Europe for the more general future of the state.The book concludes with recommendations for futurestrategic-relational research in political economy and statetheory.

List of Abbreviations.List of Boxes, Figures and Tables.Acknowledgments.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-RelationalApproach.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-RELATIONALAPPROACH.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, andStatecraft.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 GlobalizingCapitalism.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 theSRA.Complexity and Contingent Necessity.Complexity and the Selection of Selections.Semiosis and Complexity Reduction.Towards a New Strategic-Relational Agenda.Conclusions.Original Sources of Chapters.Bibliography.Name Index.Subject Index