Class, Crisis and the State

by Erik Olin Wright

Overview

One of the major works of the new American Marxism, Wright’s book draws a challenging new class map of the United States and other, comparable, advanced capitalist countries today. It also discusses the various classical theories of economic crisis in the West and their relevance to the current recession, and contrasts the way in which the major political problem of bureaucracy was confronted by two great antagonists—Weber and Lenin. A concluding essay brings together the practical lessons of these theoretical analyses, in an examination of the problems of left governments coming to power in capitalist states.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780860917199
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	09/17/1985
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Erik Olin Wright (1947–2019) was Vilas Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin and former president of the American Sociological Association. He authored many books, including Classes, Interrogating Inequality, Class Counts, Deepening Democracy (with Archon Fung), and Envisioning Real Utopias.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1                          .
Methodological Introduction                 
Linking Theory to Data in Social Research                   
Modes of Determination and Models of Determination
1.   Structural limitation                                                     
2.  Selection                                                                         
3.   Reproduction/non-reproduction                                       
4.   Limits of functional compatibility                         
5.   Transformation                                                     
6.   Mediation
                                                               
Themes of the Book                                                   
Chapter 2
The Class Structure of Advanced Capitalist Societies 
Poulantzas's Theory of the Structural Determination of Class
General Framework                                                     
Structural Determination of the Working Class and
New Petty Bourgeoisie
Structural Determination of the Bourgeoisie
Assessment and Critique of Poulantzas's Analysis
The Boundary Between the Working Class and the
New Petty Bourgeoisie
The Class Unity of the New and Traditional
Petty Bourgeoisie
The Class Boundary of the Bourgeoisie

An Alternative Conceptualization of Class Boundaries
Contradictory Locations within Class Relations
The Processes of Class Relations
The Analysis of Contradictory Locations within
Class Relations
Class Interests and the Definition of Class Positions
Immediate and Fundamental Class Interests
The Class Location of Positions not Directly Determined
by Production Relations
Extended Definitions of Classes
Class Structure and Class Struggle
Class Interests and Class Capacities
Class Structure, Class Formation and Class Struggle
Conclusion

Chapter 3
Historical Transformations of Capitalist Crisis Tendencies
Introduction
I.   The Meaning of Accumulation
1.   Capitalist Social Relations
2.   Surplus Value
II.   Impediments and Contradictions in the Accumulation Process
1.   The Organic Composition of Capital and the Falling Rate of Profit
2.   Underconsumption Theories of Economic Crisis
3.   Theories of the Profit Squeeze
4.   State Expenditures and Accumulation
III.   The Development of Capitalism and the Impediments to Accumulation
1.   The Transition from Simple Commodity Production to Expanded Reproduction
2.   The Transition from Primitive Accumulation to Manufacture
3.   The Transition from Manufacture to Machinofacture 
4.   The Rise of Consolidation of Monopoly Capital
5.   Advanced Monopoly Capitalism

Chapter 4
Bureaucracy and the State
Weber's Argument
Lenin's Argument     
Comparisons     
The Determinants of Organizational Structure
The Nature of the State and Politics: Elite-Organization versus Class-Structure
Organizational Form and Accountability           
The Meaning of Contradictions and the Limits on the Possible 
Elements of a Synthesis: Class Struggle and Organizational Structure

Chapter 5
Conclusion: Socialist Strategies and the State in Advanced Capitalist Societies
Bibliography                                       
Index

Editorial Reviews

A brilliant analysis of the class structure and crises of US capitalism.”—Choice

“This book ... is an important contribution to current debates.”—Anthony Giddens, American Journal of Sociology

“On the basis of this book Wright stands high among Western Marxists.”—Ethics

“An important contribution to the debates on class, capitalist crises, bureaucracy and the state.”—Library Journal

From the Publisher