The Changing Contours of "Stateness" and Prospects for Democracy under Neoliberal Globalization

Yoshikazu NAKATANI
This paper sets out to differentiate among connotations of political concepts concerning the state so that we may better understand the changing contours of statehood under contemporary neoliberal globalization. More particularly, it introduces the concept of "stateness" which can help us grasp ongoing de(re)articulation of socioeconomic relations through the transformation of liberalism. Additionally, it explores the potency of the state in visions for democracy. The paper consists of five
more » ... ions. It starts from a differentiation of concepts concerning the state on the grounds that it is necessary to distinguish between the particularities of each state. Second, it ideal-typically traces the difference of "stateness" in the US and Japan to illustrate its meaning in state theory. Third, as capitalism and liberalism have an inseparable, co-evolutional relation, the paper sketches the genealogy of liberalism, and summarizes its successive phases: protective, reformative and neoliberal. In the forth section, regarding the regime shift of the contemporary capitalist state, the paper investigates some characteristics of neoliberal state, and in conclusion, emphasizes the relative autonomy of the state rather than its decline, and stresses the continuing importance of the state as a foothold for internal and worldwide democratization in theory and practice. * This paper was presented at the international symposium on "Multiple Crises and Sustainable Social Integration in Contemporary Society," held at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, February 20-22, 2014. I am grateful to Prof. Ian Hosack for his comments and advices about expressions in English.
doi:10.34382/00006589 fatcat:yctfvrdrkrcgjljidtceafdeey