Abstract
Given the central role that is accorded to the state and public policy in “modernization” theory, it is rather striking to see how little thought is given to an examination of the nature of the state itself, its location within the matrix of a class-divided society, and its relationship with contending social forces. The state is, rather, thought of as an entity that stands outside and above society, an autonomous agency that is invested (potentially) with an independent source of rationality (enriched by “technical assistance” from metropolitan countries), and the capability to initiate and pursue programs of development for the benefit of the whole of society. There is an implicit disjunction between the state and society, slurring over questions about the social foundations of political power and the making of public policy. The problematic of the state is then narrowed down to that of the efficacy of its public institutions and organs to achieve objectives and programs of “modernization,” focusing especially on the respective roles of “ruling elites,” political parties, the bureaucracy, and the military.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
The U.S. Social Science Research Council Committee on Comparative Politics, under the chairmanship of Gabriel Almond, played a most influential role during the 1960s in extending the application of functionalist theory to the analysis of “developing societies.” The central ideas of this approach were spelled out by Almond in his “Introduction: A Functional Approach to Comparative Politics,” in G.A. Almond and J.S. Coleman, eds., The Politics of the Developing Areas (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1960).
Nicos Poulantzas remains the most outstanding and influential exponent of the political theory of functionalist Marxism. Cf. N. Poulantzas, Political Power and Social Classes (London: New Left Books, 1973).
For a critique, see Simon Clarke, “Marxism, Sociology, and Poulantzas’ Theory of the State” in Capital and Class, no. 2 (1977).
Nicos Poulantzas, “The Problem of the Capitalist State” in New Left Review 58 (1969)
Ralph Miliband, The State in Capitalist Society (London: 1969);
Ralph Miliband, “The Capitalist State—Reply to Nicos Poulantzas,” New Left Review 59 (1970);
Ralph Miliband, “Poulantzas and the Capitalist State,” New Left Review 82 (1973).
R. Miliband, “Marx and the State,” in R. Miliband and J. Saville, eds., Socialist Register 1965 (London: Merlin Press, 1965).
Paul M. Sweezy, The Theory of Capitalist Development (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1964). Originally published in 1942, this work remains unsurpassed as a clear exposition of Marxist political economy.
I.G. Shivjee, The Class Struggles in Tanzania (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1976).
Michaela Von Freyhold, “The Post-Colonial State and Its Tanzanian Version,” Review of African Political Economy 8 (1977).
Examples of this approach are: John Saul, “The State in Post-Colonial Societies: Tanzania,” Socialist Register 1974 (London: Merlin Press, 1974);
Wolfgang Hein and Konrad Steinzel, “The Capitalist State and Underdevelopment in Latin America: The Case of Venezuela,” Kapitalistate 2 (1973)
Harry Goulbourne, ed., Politics and the State in the Third World (London: 1979), a book that offers a useful collection of articles. It will be clear that Saul’s “Nizers” refers to the same class category as Hein and Steinzel’s “Patriziat,” but they arrive at diametrically opposed conclusions.
Hamza Alavi, “The State in Post-Colonial Societies,” New Left Review 74 (1972), reprinted in Goulbourne, ed., Politics and the State.
C.P. Bhambri, Bureaucracy and Politics in India (Delhi: 1971);
Myron Weiner, “India’s New Political Institutions,” Asian Survey 16, no. 9 (1976).
Ranajit Guha, “Indian Democracy: Long Dead, Now Buried,” Journal of Contemporary Asia 6, no. 4 (1976).
Editor information
Copyright information
© 1982 Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Alavi, H. (1982). State and Class Under Peripheral Capitalism. In: Alavi, H., Shanin, T. (eds) Introduction to the Sociology of “Developing Societies”. Sociology of “Developing Societies”. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16847-7_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16847-7_24
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-27562-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-16847-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)