ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how Marxist theorising on class, state and the world economy has evolved in Britain in relation to European integration, drawing largely on the 'open Marxism' tradition developed within the Conference of Socialist Economists (CSE). It examines European capitalism through the lens of the 'varieties of capitalism' literature, arguing that the left has too readily accepted a discourse that excludes socialist transformation in favour of reformist attempts to moderate the effects of global neoliberalism. The chapter looks more directly at political strategy; it begins by rejecting any attempt by the left to reconstruct nationalism as progressive, and goes on to argue that the increasing entrenchment of neoliberalism in Europe has removed any possibility of the European Union (EU) moderating the anti-working class policies of New Labour. In Europe, there was a parallel espousal of alternatives to 'Anglo-Saxon' neoliberalism.
