Nations and Capitalism: a socio-historical perspective (original) (raw)

2019, "Class, State and Nation in the Twenty-First Century - The Fourteenth Forum of the World Association for Political Economy 19-21 July 2019 University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

It has become essential to explore the critical thinking behind globalisation, according to which the current economic processes are so unprecedented that the diverse forms of the political economy would be, generally speaking, of little help in understanding the current situation. This argument is hardly convincing; neglecting political processes is surely one of the causes. We will endeavour to understand the reasons behind these representations of the economy which overlook the question of hegemony. Quite apart from any denunciatory position, the hegemony of the United States is an undeniable fact, as was British hegemony. For those looking in from the outside, America (the United-States) and Great Britain still represent the path to universality and well-being. The lack of legitimacy of Capital and the fall of the rate of return towards the end of the 1960s certainly called this cultural characteristic into question. And yet, during the 1990s neoliberal practices propelled American policies across the globe like never before. However, at the start of the twenty-first century, the misguided strategy of the ruling class in the United States and its allies opened up, once again, the field of possibilities, as seen before in the 1930s and 1960s. The 2008 crisis of American Capital followed by the stagnation in Europe confirms this hypothesis. Donald Tusk, current President of the European Council, recognised this fact 2 in his comments regarding the battle of July 2015 looking to overthrow the Greek government who refused the deflationary policy imposed on the continent by the creditor nations (primarily Germany thanks to its neo-mercantilist policy). We are driven by three convictions.