State Power (ePub)

Bob Jessop presents an up-to-date account of his distinctive
approach to the dialectics of structure and strategy in the
exercise of state power. While his earlier work critically surveys
other state theories, this book focuses on the development of his
own strategic-relational approach. It introduces its main sources,
outlines its development, applies this approach to four case
studies, and sketches a strategic-relational research agenda. Thus
the book presents a comprehensive theoretical statement of the
approach and guidelines for its application.

Key features of the book include: an account of the authors
theoretical development; a review of recent developments in state
theory and the cultural turn in political economy; critical
strategic-relational re-readings of major state theorists Marx on
political representation, Gramsci on the spatiality of state power,
Poulantzas on the state as a social relation, and the later
Foucault on statecraft; applications of the strategic-relational
approach to important issues concerning the contemporary state: its
gendered selectivity, the future of the national state, the states
temporal sovereignty, and the relevance of multi-scalar
meta-governance in Europe for the more general future of the state.
The book concludes with recommendations for future
strategic-relational research in political economy and state
theory.