ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the state at the level of class relations, abstracting from the nature of the state under capitalism. It begins with the claim that the state is influenced by economic relations. The scope of ‘economic relations’ as a concept is expanded to emphasize the structure of class relations. The chapter focuses on the state and class struggle on the assumption that the relation of the state to class relations is not the same as its relation to class struggle. The structure of the state and the structure of class relations are internally connected. The chapter deals with the idea that as forms of class relation change, so do the nature and forms of the class-state. The state is affected by numerous processes in a class society. It is affected by the changing balance of power of the basic classes, that is, by class struggle, which often coexists with other kinds of struggles such as ecological and anti-oppression struggles.
