ABSTRACT
The state may be seen in terms of three types of problematic: the foundations of theory, theory itself and economic policy. There is a logical hierarchy in descending order from the foundations of theory to theory and then to economic policy. Each level is dependent on the previous level. In the context of the present volume we shall focus on theory, emphasising a particular theoretical category and the concept of the state that underlies it. The theoretical category is the mode of relation between the state and the economy (mode de relation entre l’état et l’économie, MREE) and the state is conceived as relational, integrated and complex (l’état relationnel intégré complexe, ERIC). These two concepts have gradually emerged from our research into relations between the state and the economy.
