ABSTRACT
It is commonly argued that there has been substantial erosion of state power during the past two decades. This is seen to have occurred as a direct result of changes in the nature of capitalist accumulation which, in turn, are perceived to be driven by enhanced and extended circuits of capital. This chapter will advance three arguments to illustrate how this view of the state is inadequate. First, it is shown that the conception of the state as a totalized entity with centralized structures and purposes is erroneous. It is a conception that fits neatly with periodized views of capitalism (monopoly capitalism, Fordism, post-Fordism, and so on) but which provides little assistance in the analysis of contemporary economic change, at any scale. It is argued in this chapter that a more powerful understanding of contemporary economic change can be derived from depicting the state as a domain where a complex and heterogeneous state apparatus is engaged in constant interplay with non-state institutions and agents, including those from other nations, in an irresolvable contest over accumulation and distributional goals.
