Clearing the Minefield: State Theory and Geopolitical Economy

Four recent books on competition and crisis in the 20th century have contributed to renewed interest in Marxist theory while reopening some contentious issues. While central to all four books, the role of the capitalist state is not theorised systematically, a weakness which reflects an enduring gap in Marxist theory. One of the challenges when theorising the state is that the latter must be situated within a complex set of multiscalar relationships involving accumulation and competition. The author argues that the state must be understood as having multiple, intersecting determinations and suggests that a satisfactory theory of the state may be constructed by showing how these determinations arise from the logic of capitalist competition and crisis. Conceptualised as generative mechanisms, they denote not only the main influences on state decisions and behaviour but also—and crucially—the fundamental limits on state decision making.