Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323

The crisis of representation: the limits of liberal democracy in the global era Alessandro Bonanno Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University, P.O. Box 2446, Huntsville, TX 77341-2246, USA

Abstract

In liberal thought, democracy is guaranteed by the unity of community and government. The community of citizens elects its government according to political preferences. The government rules over the community with powers which are limited by unalienable human, civil, and political rights. These assumptions have characterized Classical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism and contemporary Neo-liberal theories. However, the assumed unity of community and government becomes problematic in Global Post-Fordism. Recent research on the globalization of the economy and society has underscored the increasing inability of nation-states to exercise power over their communities which, in turn, limits the ability of communities to express their will at the nation-state level. The current phase of capitalism is characterized by socio-economic relations which transcend the jurisdictions of nation-states and local spaces. This paper addresses the issue of the fracture of the unity of community and government by introducing feature characteristics of Classical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism and Neo-liberalism. Moreover, it analyzes the contribution of the theory of Re#exive Modernization which represents a novel attempt to rethink democracy within the liberal tradition. The paper concludes that the inability of governments to control economic and non-economic environments creates a crisis of representation which implies serious limits to liberal democracy. This situation is particularly important for rural regions as their socio-economic development, and programs for its democratization have been historically based on the intervention of agencies of and control by the nation-state. ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction democratic alternatives. Even in settings where Soviet socialism and Marxism were clearly considered two sep- The betterment of the socio-economic conditions of arate entities, the dissolution of the Soviet block largely rural regions has been a central topic of debate in a var- meant the disquali"cation of Marxism as a possible the- iety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary circles. In a sig- ory of democracy. ni"cant number of cases, this debate assumed the The triumph of Liberalism, however, has not been establishment of democratic social relations. Indeed, for followed by a signi"cant scrutiny of its limits. Discourses a signi"cant portion of the 19th and 20th centuries dis- about democracy often take for granted the assumptions courses about democracy revolved largely around two and conditions called for by classical and contemporary opposing readings of its characteristics and content: Lib- forms of Liberalism. Indeed, analyses of works of liberal eralism and Marxism. The end of the cold war and thinkers, such as John Locke, Jeremy Bentham and John consequent talks about the unsurmountable limits of Stuart Mill are signi"cantly absent from the copious Marxism (e.g., Fukuyama, 1992) left Liberalism as the only viable context within which to conceptualize democracy. Despite various and valiant attempts to de- fend Marxism (e.g., Derrida, 1994; Kellner, 1995), its  This is the case of Western Europe's most powerful communist association with the dissolved Soviet system appeared party, the Italian Communist Party (PCI). The PCI renounced its too delegitimizing to allow it back into the realm of Marxist roots and name for a new version anchored in the liberal parliamentary form of democracy. The former PCI is now called New Democratic Party of the Left. It is important also to note that through- out its history the PCI maintained a strong distance from the reading of Marx and strategies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union E-mail address: soc}[email protected] (A. Bonanno). (Spriano, 1967).

0743-0167/00/$- see front matter ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 7 4 3 - 0 1 6 7 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 6 4 - 9 306 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 production of social science papers, in general, and those Indeed, many rural studies and programs assumed the pertaining to rural issues in particular. These classical existence of unchallenged State powers within a given works set the ground rules of liberal democracy and the national territory which could be employed to satisfy framework from which contemporary renderings of Lib- social and individual needs. At a time when signi"cant eralism originated. In e!ect, in a situation in which Lib- changes are occurring at the socio-economic level and eralism is forcefully proposed as the dominant when State powers seem increasingly inadequate to rep- framework for democratic discourses, its classical theor- resent its community of citizens and address societal ists and its fundamental characteristics are regarded only concerns, attempts which scrutinize liberal democracy's as footnote material in analyses probing the issue of limits appear overdue. Equally relevant is the current democracy in society and in its rural settings. e!ort to rede"ne rurality. Calls to overcome the crisis of The "rst objective of this paper is to rectify this situ- rural regions and to establish emancipatory processes ation by introducing the basic tenets of Classical Liberal- assume the de"nition and construction of new forms of ism. This task is carried out through a succinct review of rurality which contemplate enhanced participation of the work of John Stuart Mill, arguably the most signi"- local residents and communities in decision-making pro- cant representative of this current of social thought. Ad- cesses. This posture is often articulated in terms of com- ditionally, more modern forms of Liberalism are munities and citizens' ability to a!ect the formation and reviewed. In particular, a synopsis of the basic tenets of implementation of local, national and now supranational Revisionist Liberalism and of Neo-Liberalism are pre- policies and implies a notion of democracy which is sented. These tenets are examined in relations to the crisis "rmly anchored in liberal readings of social and political of 20th century Fordism (Antonio and Bonanno, 1996) actions. In this context, the issues of democracy and the which, I argue, invalidates Liberalism's `assumption of availability of its liberal forms emerge as central in the unitya, that is, the existence of the unity between the process of de"ning the space of rural regions in the global community of citizens and their government. society. This unity is one of the most important aspects of The paper opens with a presentation of the tenets of Liberal thinking and it is maintained by classical and Classical Liberalism which is followed by the illustration contemporary versions of Liberalism alike. However, of the most salient aspects of Revisionist Liberalism and current literature on the development of Global Neo-liberalism. The subsequent section is devoted to the Post-Fordism * the socio-economic phase of mature presentation of the theory of Re#exive Modernization. capitalism which emerged out of the crisis of Fordism This theory attempts to address the issue of democracy in * underscores the fracture between community and gov- a context in which the limits of the State and the crisis of ernment and the consequent crisis of representation. representation are acknowledged. Even Re#exive Mod- More speci"cally, the nation-state is increasingly unable ernization, however, maintains the unity of community to represent its citizens as its capacity to control and and government. This situation, it is argued in the con- regulate economic and non-economic environments is cluding portion of the paper, motivates a call for further greatly diminished. This situation implies limits to liberal theorization of the limits of liberal democracy and scru- democracy and to attempts to improve the conditions of tiny of the assumptions underlying programs aimed at society carried out theoretically and practically. The the improvement of conditions of the rural society. analysis of these aspects constitutes the other focus of this manuscript. The above is particularly relevant for debates about 2. Classical liberalism and the assumption of unity of rural issues. Over the years, students of this topic have community and state been particularly concerned with the elimination of ob- stacles to the improvement of rural regions' human and Liberalism argues for the centrality of a complex set of natural environments. The State has been one of the individual rights (e.g., property, conscience, religion, instruments often employed to carry out these tasks and, movement, press, speech, su!rage), which emerged in through its agents and agencies, it has played a promin- opposition to premodern absolutism and dependency ent role in shaping the current conditions of rural areas. and later were embodied in modern citizenship. Liberal theorists asserted the new rights against patriarchal, authoritarian, corporatist institutions, which stressed re- ciprocal obligations between unequal estates (i.e., mostly  In this work the concepts of government and State are employed duties of subordinate to privileged strata). Their ideas interchangeably. Though the current usage of these words involves originated in medieval towns from the rupture with di!erences, classical theorists employed the concept of government in seigniorial authority and the birth of the bourgeois class, a much broader way than contemporary uses. It was much closer to the ` a meanings expressed by the contemporary concept of the State. Here, market relations, private property, and free labor. As government and the State are employed to indicate the political appar- indicated by John Dewey in his 1935 essay Liberalism and atus, its agents, and agencies. Social Action, early forms of Liberalism established the A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 307 existence of `naturala rights (Locke, 1988 [1689]) which mental impact on the retheorization of Continental Lib- were aimed at protecting individuals from the exercise of eralism toward its collectivistic, pro-social measure ori- aristocratic arbitrary rule. Economically, this situation entation which emerged in the 19th century. In the indicated that the emergent bourgeoisie was able to cre- United States, social conditions which allowed for ate discourses in which taxation and other economic the retheorization of Liberalism appeared much later practices could not be carried out without people's sup- (Dewey, 1963, p. 21). port. Politically, it symbolized that the new society re- quired a corresponding unity between the actions of 2.1. Classical Liberalism: John Stuart Mill's contribution rulers and the will of the people. The government must follow the will of the community of citizens which freely The utilitarian and the collective dimensions of Lib- elected it. Simultaneously, citizens should obey legitimate eralism were integrated in 19th century Continental for- decisions made by their representatives elected to politi- mulations. John Stuart Mill's On Liberty is arguably the cal o$ces (Locke, 1988). This is the essence of Liberal- most eloquent rendering of the liberal philosophical posi- ism's assumption of unity. tion (Collini, 1989, p. vii; Danley, 1994, pp. 30}31; Gray Subsequent forms of Classical Liberalism departed and Smith, 1991, p. 1). In this short essay published in from the notion of natural rights to stress the conse- 1859, Mill illustrated the most important tenets of Lib- quences of socio-economic actions. In Dewey's formula- eralism, its historical origins and its ethical desirability tion this is the distinction between the old Lockean over competing ideological propositions. The following philosophy and the subsequent utilitarian proposal of account of the classical liberal position rests primarily on Bentham (1996) [1789]). The utilitarian philosophy of Mill's seminal work. Bentham indicated that human actions were not based For Mill one of the most important aspects of human on the existence of natural laws and rights. Instead, he civilization was the struggle between liberty and author- pointed out that humans followed behaviors whose con- ity. In ancient societies, such as feudal England, it refer- sequences they deemed bene"cial and legitimate. Accord- red to the con#ict between serfs and the seigniorial class ing to Dewey, Bentham's philosophy re#ected the who ruled them. The latter obtained power from inherit- evolution of market relations and the movement against ance or conquest and ruled regardless of the will of the the existence of signi"cant legal limits to the free circula- former (Mill, 1989, p. 5). Despite abuses, Mill argued, tion of labor and capital (Dewey, 1963, pp. 16}20). The people viewed the presence of absolute rulers as a neces- emphasis on the introduction of laissez-faire policies, sary protection from the community's external and inter- which was theorized by Bentham and by Adam Smith in nal enemies. his 1776 The Wealth of Nations (Smith, 1976), represented The collapse of feudalism and the birth of capitalism successful strikes against anti-capitalist restrictions paved the way for a fundamental reorganization of the which widely existed in 18th century Europe. relationship between rulers and communities. The suc- These events marked a split between American and cessful struggle for liberty meant that absolute powers of Continental versions of Liberalism. Bentham and Smith rulers were replaced by constitutional powers which rec- renderings of Liberalism appeared much less relevant in ognized unalienable political and human rights and the the United States than the earlier Lockean formulation. community's ability to appoint its political leaders (Mill, In the US, the non-existence of pre-capitalist forms of 1989, p. 6). In Mill's view the notion of community production, the agriculturally based economy and the represented the combination of individuality with ex- pioneer conditions provided grounds for the domination ternal social relations. Departing from the Lockean idea of local interests over national interests. For Bentham that uncontaminated individuality constituted the es- and Smith laissez-faire did not preclude State interven- sence of liberty, Mill acknowledged that social relations tion if the latter generated an augmentation of the gen- played a fundamental part in the creation and mainten- eral well-being. The utilitarian principle of the greatest ance of communities. He certainly remained distant from good to the greatest number allowed for the introduction contemporary idealist interpretations (such as those the- of redistributitive and socially oriented State intervention orized by Right Wing Hegelians) which equated the real- at the national level. In the US, the bene"ts of self-help ization of individual freedom with its dissolution into the and unrestricted private action were such self-evident community. However, he contended that the attainment realities that made Bentham and Smith remarks about of self-interest should be based on the broader notion of State intervention much less appealing than Locke's call the common good which constituted the moral grounds for unchecked individualism. Similarly, in Europe Con- on which liberty was to be established (Dewey, 1963, pp. servative Romanticism and Socialism * albeit from op- 24}25). For him, community meant a network of social posite view points * attacked the negative consequences of industrialization. Romantic Pietism and Socialist Egalitarianism lamented the deprived conditions of  See the following discussion on Revisionist Liberalism and its lower segments of society and in so doing made a funda- American application in the New Deal. 308 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 relations based on the actions of individuals freed from freedom of religion indicated that every individual arbitrary restrictions. Because Mill understood commun- should practice the religion of his/her choice without ity in terms of individuality and social relations, his interferences from political authorities. Believers should notion transcends current popular readings of the term be able to act according to their faith as long as they did which equate communities with geographical `localitiesa. not impose their views and behaviors on others. In his Instead, he employed it to indicate an entity which was account, Puritan communities in the United States socially constructed and socially reproduced. (1989), pp. 16}17) and Catholic countries such as Spain Mill stressed the assumption of unity as he maintained (1989), pp. 30}31) represented cases of oppression based that the State should be a direct expression of the people on religious monism. and that governing should be carried out in accordance Mill's extensive critique of the perils associated with with the will of the community. Change in the rule of the liberal system of representation (that is a government government should be authorized either directly by the which is a direct expression of the will of its citizens) people or by a political body which represents them. For indicated that his brand of Liberalism was centered on Mill, the essence of liberty was the elimination of the the substantive unity of community and government. His ancient regime distinction between rulers and commun- point was that democratic principles, such as `self gov- ity (Mill, 1989, pp. 7}8). ernmenta and `the power of the people over themselvesa, could no longer be considered self-evident as they were in 2.2. Representation early stages of the evolution of capitalism (1989, p. 7). The growth of market forces and the social inequalities asso- To be sure, Mill viewed the identi"cation of the State ciated with it made di!erential access to political power with the community in much more problematic terms quite evident. These conditions mandated a distinction than originally argued in continental debates. He con- between formal and substantive liberal democracy. The tended that the idea of a government which represented establishment of the latter required corrective measures the entire citizenship was inaccurate. The State represent- which he identi"ed in limited State intervention and in ed the will of only a portion of the citizens who, through a decision-making process based on continuous debates. active and successful intervention, established their views as those of society. Society is a!ected by the power of 2.3. Limited state intervention dominant classes and by their ability to condition behav- iors and ideas. He wrote: `Where there is an ascendant As far as limited State intervention is concerned, Mill class, a large portion of the morality of the country stood clearly in support of laissez-faire. For Mill social emanates from its class interests, and its feeling of class and economic laissez-faire indicated that `2leaving superioritya (1989, p. 10). Because of the imperfection of people to themselves is always better, ceteris paribus, the representative system, he called attention to the than controlling thema (1989, p. 96). He argued this point danger of `the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and by di!erentiating between ancient and contemporary so- feelinga, and urged communities to allow the presence of cieties. In ancient societies, conditions were so primitive mechanisms and sensitivities which would prevent the that wars and civil violence were widespread. Because of majority from oppressing minorities. these conditions, State intervention was desirable and Mill considered de Toqueville's concept of the tyranny often required (1989, pp. 14}16). In modern societies, of the majority as one of the more dangerous types of the spread of political rights and participation as well as political oppression. In particular, he argued against gov- the separation of spiritual and temporal authority ernmental interventions which would establish rules of conduct limiting the articulation and practice of dissent. For example, Mill forcefully denounced communities which equated the rules of conduct of the dominant  His critique of the tyranny of the majority included other instances religion to those of society. He viewed this action as as exempli"ed by his comments on Comte's positive philosophy (Mill, a fundamental infringement upon minorities' freedom of 1989, pp. 24}25). Mill described Comte's claim about the desirability of a social system based on positive knowledge as `despotica (1989; p. 17). religion (Mill, 1989, pp. 16}17; 62}64). In his opinion, Furthermore, he denounced the positivist claim about the existence of ultimate truths as oppressive. Comte and like-minded thinkers con- tended that applications of the scienti"c method allow humankind to "nd ultimate `truthsa. These truths would forever disqualify alternative interpretations as the former would permanently disprove the validity  For Mill the concept of community can be equated with those of the of the later. Although Mill was a strong supporter of rigorous scienti"c nation and the national society. His point was that when there exists inquiry, he was equally committed to the idea that scienti"c inquiry a community of individuals linked through social relations, these indi- should be grounded on continuous and open debates (1989; p. 22). He viduals should be free to express their wills through the use of political stressed that humans are fallible, therefore, assuming that any "nal means. The government is the collective expression of these wills and, truth can be achieved endorsed humans' infallibility, which is a position therefore, should represent the people from whom it is originated. inconsistent with human nature (1989; p. 23). A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 309 made strong State intervention unnecessary and even stage in the establishment and maintenance of liberal counterproductive. The State, therefore, should limit democracy. In this construct, ethics took primacy over itself to the performance of two roles. The "rst was to economical and political institutions. More speci"cally, prevent abuses of individual liberties. The second role for Mill, (but also for other classical liberal such as consisted in the enforcement of democratically estab- Jeremy Bentham and Adam Smith (Danley, 1994, p. 148; lished rules of conduct. More speci"cally, in Mill's opin- Pack, 1992)) the free functioning of the market and so- ion, liberal democracy signi"ed that individuals were free ciety was subordinate to the objective of human happi- to act as long as it would not create harm to other human ness. Because of the complex and varying nature of life, beings (a condition known as the harm principle). State ultimate decisions could not be left to inanimate mecha- intervention, therefore, should have been limited to the nisms such as the market, but they needed to be defense of the harm principle. Additionally, he was for- grounded on human experience and re#ection. Mill ar- ever warning of the ine$ciency and ine!ectiveness of gued: `human beings owe to each other help to distin- State bureaucracy which prevented him from endorsing guish the better from the worse, and encouragement to any project which relied on signi"cant State intervention. choose the former and avoid the latter. They should be To be sure, Mill stood in disagreement with positions forever stimulating each other to increase exercise of their which interpreted the harm principle in terms of radical higher faculties, and increase direction of their feelings non-interference of the State. He recommended a much and aims toward wise instead of foolish, elevating instead more extensive State intervention than was commonly of degrading, objects and contemplationsa (1989, p. 76). acknowledged in 19th century England (Collini, 1989, pp. The ethical posture, for Mill, required that human xvi, xxxiii}xxxiv). For instance, he was in favor of a State beings be engaged in open and honest criticism. In his regulation of professions. It was inadmissible, for him, view, it was the duty of any mature human being to point that the State would allow anyone to practice a profes- out the limits of others' behaviors even if this conduct sion without a license. He was also sympathetic to the called for a disregard of established rules of politeness. plight of the working class and recognized the import- He wrote `It would be well, indeed, if this good o$ce ance of intervening to improve the scant living conditions were much more freely rendered than the common no- of lower classes. However, and contrary to socialist ac- tions of politeness at present permits, and if one person counts, he attributed workers' conditions to the malfun- could honestly point out to another that he thinks him at ctioning of social institutions and lack of capitalist fault, without being considered unmannerly or presum- development. Accordingly, his sympathetic reading of inga (1989, p. 77). socialist proposals was countered by his conviction that socialist theorists lacked adequate knowledge of the fun- ctioning of capitalism and of the bene"ts that market 3. Socio-economic changes and the critique of classical competition provided to society. liberalism: revisionist liberalism and neo-liberalism In essence, Mill's interpretation of the harm principle was a #exible one. He recognized that the State should Revisionist Liberalism and Neo-liberalism stand as the not limit individual rights nor should it interfere with the most salient revisions of Classic Liberalism. According to right of individuals to pursue `new and original experi- Revisionist Liberal theory, the concentration of eco- ments in livinga. Simultaneously, he allowed State inter- nomic power typical of advanced capitalism makes the vention in some spheres which past experience revealed Classical Liberal assumption of a free market society as requiring corrections (1989, p. 81). In this case, the obsolete. It follows that the regulation of the economy community of citizens would empower the State to pre- and the satisfaction of social needs should be addressed vent `generation after generation from falling over the through State intervention (Galbraith, 1952). Neo-liberal same principle which has been fatal to their prede- theories, conversely, point to the ine!ective and ine$c- cessorsa (1989, p. 81). ient performance of the State and call for a system based on market oriented mechanisms. In their accounts, eco- 2.4. The role of debates in society nomic and social matters should be addressed through individuals voluntary association in the context of an Mill's point was that substantive democracy cannot be unrestricted free market society (Friedman, 1982). guaranteed by State intervention alone. It was in the Revisionist Liberalism and Neo-liberalism developed sphere of individuals' free action that ways of maintain- in di!erent historical periods. Revisionist Liberal theor- ing and enhancing democracy were to be sought. In izations appeared in Europe in the second portion of the Mill's liberalism, however, human initiatives entailed 19th century, gained visibility in the "rst portion of this control which he envisioned to be carried out through century and reached their highest level of popularity in open and free societal debates. the post-World War Two era of `High-Fordist Capital- Mill contended that human actions should be centered isma (Antonio and Bonanno, 1996). Neo-liberal theories on moral grounds. Ethics, in his view, occupied center have occupied center stage in social and economic 310 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 debates since the 1970s and they have been proposed as Keynes (1935), market failure was a constant condition of solutions for the crisis of Fordism arrangements. capitalism. More importantly, market generated prices Thatcherism and Reaganism popularized them in the did not re#ect hidden costs (externalities) which were 1980s and since then they have been informing the eco- unfairly charged to the community at large. These condi- nomic policies of a number of countries around the globe. tions fostered widespread economic instability and reces- sions. According to Keynesian economics, growth and 3.1. Revisionist Liberalism stability could be reached only through government spending and overall State intervention. The di!usion of Liberalism in the 19th century was At the level of social philosophy, classical liberal lais- followed by the rapid development of revisionist posi- sez-faire postures were criticized from pragmatist, ideal- tions in the 20th century (Dewey, 1963). At the historical ist, and materialist positions. Pragmatists, such as John level, the growth of large corporations and concentration Dewey, viewed Liberalism as a doctrine which, over the of economic power made the classical liberal idea of centuries, called for the elimination of oppressive forces. self-regulating markets increasingly inadequate to rep- Classical liberal formulations established prior to the resent mature capitalism. In the classical liberal tradition, 18th century were expressions of actions against, slavery, the e$cient functioning of the market assumed the ex- serfdom and despotic aristocratic rule. Nineteenth cen- clusive presence of small operators. Their limited size did tury Liberalism represented a call for the elimination of not allow them to a!ect market outcomes which were legal procedures which hampered the #ourishing of capi- determined by the aggregate working of all of the eco- talist forces of production. In the early portion of the ` nomic activities. The development of oligopolies and 20th century, Liberalism for Dewey signi"ed liberation monopolies made these assumptions untenable. Through from material insecurity and from the coercion and re- concentration of resources, corporations were able to pression that prevents multitudes from participating in a increase control over market outcomes and enhance their the vast cultural resources that are at hand (Dewey, competitive positions. Size created barriers to market 1963, p. 48). Because, classical liberals failed to view the accessibility and made assumptions about intrasectorial connection between their theories and historical events, mobility of capital and equal market information highly Dewey maintained, laissez-faire strategies have been elev- questionable (Gordon, 1996; Reich, 1991). ated to the status of desired rules of conduct in situations The expansion of capitalism fostered social polariza- where the historical conditions were overwhelmingly dif- tion and economic instability as well (Mishel and Be- ferent. In Dewey's view, the ahistorical dimension of rnstein, 1993; Strobel, 1993). Despite periods of sustained laissez-faire strategies disqualify them from representing economic growth, the "rst third of the 20th century was viable solutions to the issue of emancipation (Dewey, characterized by a series of economic crisis which cul- 1963, p. 49). From a pragmatist point of view, govern- minated with the 1930s' Great Depression. Economic ment intervention aimed at the enhancement of the com- downturns highlighted market instability and the eco- mon good was desirable when it represented the most nomic vulnerability of members of the middle and work- e!ective manner to resolve current problems. Indeed, ing classes as gains obtained during periods of expansion even for classical liberals, such as Smith, Locke and John were quickly erased during crises (Dubofsky, 1994). Dis- Stuart Mill, government intervention in economic matter trust for the self-regulating capacity of the market was was not totally inconceivable (Danley, 1994, p. 148). In widespread and calls for the alteration of laissez-faire a situation characterized by social and economic instabil- economic policies came from various sides of the social ity, pragmatist postures o!ered justi"cations for aban- spectrum. Unions' demands for economic stability were doning laissez-faire policies in favor of those calling for echoed by industrialists' concerns over social unrest and State intervention (Galbraith, 1952). limited consumer markets (Polenberg, 1980). Overall The Hegelian idealist tradition provided another im- economic and political instabilities constituted fertile portant source of critique against Classical Liberalism at grounds for a revision of Classic Liberalism. the outset of the 20th century. In a now classic volume, At the theoretical level, attacks on Classic Liberalism Hobhouse ([1911] 1979) attacked the classical liberal came from various sources. Economic theory was charac- assumption that freedom was established through the terized by the emergence of Keynesianism. According to elimination of external constraints. Following Hegel, but also Kant, Hobhouse pointed out that elimination of external constraints does not lead to substantive freedom for all people. He shared with classical liberals the idea  The Classical Liberalism's concept of self-regulating markets refers that Liberalism should be a means to achieve human to the assumption that, if left untouched by external intervention such development. However, he contended that people who as that of the State, market mechanisms tend to establish the best possible combination of supply and demand of goods, services, and did not have su$cient economic, cultural and social labor. This way of reaching market equilibrium represents the core of resources were not free to develop. The State must inter- the `laissez-fairea economic theory. vene to eliminate inequalities and to provide individuals A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 311 with opportunities to actively participate in social 3.2. From Fordism to Global Post-Fordism and the crisis and economic life. If human development was the most of Revisionist Liberalism important objective in liberal democratic societies, State intervention was necessary to remove the obstacles Revisionist Liberalism's strategies of the much larger, to the e!ective participation of people in the life of interventionist State successfully sustained steady society. growth, balancing mass production and mass consump- Theories developed with the materialist tradition pro- tion. Most importantly, "rms generated very high levels vided an even stronger critique of Classical Liberalism of productivity by re"ning widely instituted Taylorist (e.g., Hilferding, 1981; Luxemburg, 1972). Following strategies. Managers substantially enhanced their tech- Marx's accounts of the exploitation of the working class nical control by further centralizing and rationalizing the and crises in capitalism, materialists pointed out the false labor process. While this strategy sharpened the distinc- equality of market relations. The working class, they tion between production workers and managerial, pro- argued, was forced to enter market relations as it was fessional, and technical employees, the labor force was expropriated of its reproductive means. Their assumed paci"ed by steadily increasing wages, job security, oppor- voluntaristic participation in the market, therefore, mas- tunity for advancement, and expanding welfare (Harvey, ked social inequality and class exploitation. 1990; Lipietz, 1992). The economic crises of the "rst portion of the 20th This Fordist capitalism combined highly rationalized, century and the availability of discourses objecting to centralized, and vertically integrated "rms with nation- Classical Liberalism constituted grounds for the develop- wide unions and a substantially expanded State; it had ment of Revisionist Liberalism. New Deal politics argu- highly specialized and mechanized production, bureau- ably represented the most systematic implementation of cratized "rms, extensive planning, and top-to-bottom these ideals and one of the most signi"cant attempts to bureaucratic control. `High Fordisma is the term which establish a State regulated and managed market (Par- de"nes post-World War Two capitalism, or the mature, sons, 1971; Rostow, 1960). hyperrationalized type of Fordism (Antonio and Bon- The Classical Liberalism assumption of unity seemed to anno, 1996). It had an elaborately segmented labor force, come to full fruition in post-World War II capitalism. a very large and complexly organized body of profes- Revisionist Liberal policies seemed to work to reduce sional managerial and technical employees, and extreme- the uncertainties of capitalism's unwanted consequences ly sophisticated means of information, communication, as State managed resource allocation was considered transportation, and control. The High Fordist State em- to outperform the free market and address social ployed advanced Keynesian policies of much broader needs. In the opinion of many, the problems of "scal controls, socio-economic plans regulation, and Classic Liberalism were resolved without abandoning health, education, and welfare. democratic liberal ideas. The specters of unbridled capi- High Fordism enhanced inclusion of marginalized talism and command societies appeared to be forever people, raised the social wage substantially, and, in the eliminated. social democracies, sharply increased labor participation. Although greatly exaggerating this period's inclusion- Even in the United States, however, unions enrolled ary features, the rosy American vision of `postindustrial historically high percentages of workers, and wage/bene- societya (e.g., `classlessa, `pluralista, and `meritocratica) "t packages increased sharply (Chandler, 1977; Aglietta, expressed a perceived broadening of equality of oppor- 1979; Gordon et al., 1982; Harrison and Bluestone, 1988; tunity and actual ideological and institutional changes Lipietz, 1987,1992). Overall, High Fordism coordinated that made signi"cant new substantive rights an impor- mass production and mass consumption, steady accumu- tant part of the reproduction and legitimation of capital- lation, and enhanced legitimacy and produced histori- ist production. Progress seemed substantial given the cally unparalleled economic growth and abundance. The fresh memories of depression, fascism, war and continued tacit `capital-labor accorda left control over the produc- Stalinism. Moreover, despite new types of mass media tion to management, but labor's role in political dis- manipulation, elite planning, exploitation (e.g., of `guest courses, policymaking, planning, and legislation was workersa and `illegal immigrantsa), depoliticization increased. The middle class grew substantially, and en- (i.e., through mass consumption) and security mecha- joyed sharply increased standards of living. Under High nisms, the period should be seen through its own emerg- Fordism, civil, political, and social rights were expanded ent cultural critiques of technocracy, non-participation, and regulatory legislation was increased. Equal oppor- and consumerism as well as through postindustrial tunity was advanced, though the lowest strata bene"tted theory. Even the new post-materialist opposition who little and sharp inequalities between the primary and held that the working class was now integrated into the secondary sectors, production workers and professional system (e.g., Marcuse, 1964), implied that the belief in employees, and races, ethnic groups, and genders were capitalist legitimacy was strong among the `alienateda primary facets of the pattern of rationalization and masses. bureaucratization. 312 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323

Fordism impacted rural areas and some of their welfare and poverty. Also, student resistance to the war primary activities such as agriculture in a variety of in Vietnam and the intensifying protests and countercul- important ways. Indeed it is not a coincidence that in tural activities also began to split the Reformist Liberal the United States, one of the "rst and most important majority. acts of the New Deal was the Agricultural Adjustment Economic crisis accelerated High Fordism destabiliz- Act (AAA) which shaped the future of agriculture for ation. Increasingly competitive international markets (re- years to come. Fordism involved the intervention of sulting from the full recovery of Europe and Asia from the State to regulate production, labor and their rela- the ravages of World War Two), American capital's in- tionships with the territory and to stabilize unwanted su$cient investment in new technologies and organiza- consequences of capitalism. Under Fordism, through an tional stagnation, the failure of the polity to develop an elaborate and growing set of price support and other industrial policy, in#ationary impact of the Vietnam war, commodity programs as well as measurers to enhance increased costs of social welfare, and other factors the well-being of agricultural workers and rural resi- began a new, downward phase of post-war capitalism. dents,theStatewasabletoregulatemarketsand The oil crisis, severe recession of 1973, the end of the manage a steady #ow of rural-to-urban migration Bretton Woods concord, and stag#ation signi"ed a along with an unprecedented explosion of production possible decomposition of United States centered multi- and productivity. Fordist agriculture worked well not national capitalism. Harrison and Bluestone (1988) only in the United State, but also in other world regions. refer to this period as the beginning of the `U-turna in In the European Union, for instance, Fordist regulation American capitalism; a shift to low-wage, part-time jobs of commodity production and rural development and disintegration of the post-war `capital}labor ac- transformed a chronically de"citary and sub-developed corda. In the late 1970s, Thatcherism and Reaganism agricultural sector into one of the major actors in the marked a decisive shift to low-in#ation/high-unemploy- global food scene. It is also important to note that ment (and underemployment) policies (Strobel, 1993; Fordist market regulation was not simply a domestic Harrison and Bluestone, 1988; Bowles and Gintis, 1982). issue, it mandated regulation of world commodities The basic features of Revisionist Liberalism inspired and market. In the United State, for example, agricul- Fordism began to be viewed as the source of crippling tural and food programs were actively employed as rigidities. tools of international policy. PL 480 (the act which Heightened global competition and the above-men- regulated food aid to developing nations) and the stra- tioned political and economic crises brought new strat- tegic use of agricultural and food commodities are cases egies aimed at reducing in#ation by slowing growth, in point. weakening the power of organized labor, tolerating Though under Fordism the agricultural structure be- higher unemployment, and slashing the social wage came increasingly polarized and both the number of (e.g., Aglietta, 1979; Akard, 1992; Gordon et al., 1982; workers and farms declined, inclusionary processes Harrison and Bluestone, 1988; Lipietz, 1992; Strobel, emerged. Commodity programs helped stabilizing farm 1993). Revisionist liberal policies that earlier had been income and provided needed security in volatile markets. envisioned as chief motor forces of post-war growth Large producers overwhelmingly bene"tted from State were now treated as causes of the economic contraction. intervention. However, medium and small farm oper- Critics held that the capital}labor accord produced ators received support which often made the di!erence a crippling pro"t-squeeze that endangered capitalism between remaining active in farming or leaving the sec- and that a substantial part of the High Fordist institu- tor. Relatively low interest rates and in#ation further tional and ideological complex ought to be dismantled allowed for expansion of farm operations across the (Akard, 1992; Lipietz, 1992; Harvey, 1990). Most impor- sector. Simultaneously, consumers' demands for better tantly, many of the core Revisionist Liberal policies food quality translated into pertinent legislation, en- which were employed to expand opportunity and hanced sensitivities about better nutrition, and expanded rights were made into prime targets of strategies consciousness about the need for a more adequate rela- aimed at increasing the freedom of property holders tionship between agricultural production and the envi- at the expense of wage workers and subaltern strata ronment. and distributing wealth and power upward (Harvey, Fordism was functioning at nearly optimum levels 1990). from the middle 1950s to the late 1960s. But, in the early The new conditions which have emerged from the 1970s, the regime was faltering badly and exposing seri- crisis of Fordism have been grouped under the concept of ous contradictions (Harvey, 1990; Aglietta, 1979). In the United States, the rise of the civil rights movement, urban violence, growth of white fears and white #ight, and other problems related to de facto segregation and the Black  These strategies were inspired by the Neo-liberal theory which will underclass intensi"ed the contradictions surrounding be illustrated in the next section. A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 313

Global Post-Fordism (Antonio and Bonanno, 1996; Bon- (2) New patterns of socio-cultural di!erentiation and anno and Constance, 1996). Post-Fordism's most deci- socio-cultural homogenization are stimulated by Global sive aspect has been increased `#exibilitya on a global Post-Fordism's break with post-war structures of accu- scale; mobile capital, free to colonize and commodify mulation and the new highly disjunctive pattern of practically every sphere has shattered the relatively "xed socio-cultural structures and processes (e.g., decentraliz- social and temporal}spatial boundaries and generated ing and centralizing tendencies; new mechanisms of glo- decentralized production. Production is now decom- bal transport, information production, and media; highly posed into sub-units and sub-production processes, car- divergent and unequal forms of production and con- ried out by globally dispersed "rms with highly divergent sumption). forms of labor, managerial, and "nancial organizations. 3) Post-Fordism generates a `crisis of culturea that Public enterprises are privatized, and increasingly the problematizes post-war `culturea, bankrupts `moderniz- availability of vital services depends on the capacity to ationa theories and politics, stimulates diverse challenges pay and/or overall pro"tability. Global Post-Fordism is to specialized science, technology, and other cultural di$cult to map, but is not aleatory or `disorganizeda practices, and generates new `cultural theoriesa about (Lash and Urry, 1987; O!e, 1985; Piore and Sabel, 1984). the `enda of history and modernity, signi"ers without The new `#exiblea structures serve "nancial rationaliza- referents, and fresh modes of `cultural politicsa. tion, concentrating resources, by-passing obstacles, (4) More importantly for this study, the spatial}tem- locating more e$cient forms of production, hedging poral unity of the polity and the economy that character- against possible economic shifts, and taking advantage of ized the earlier phases of capitalist development has been new "nancial and tax instruments. Decentralized produc- fractured. In previous phases of capitalism * from the tion goes hand in hand with more highly centralized early competitive one to the most recent monopolistic control of "nance, research, and information. Global phase * the growth of economic relations was centered Post-Fordist `economic developmenta and free trade on the existence of nation-states whose polities (the State) policies utilize the State itself to enhance capital mobility, coordinated and mediated activities of economic actors. erode its own local, regional, and national regulatory The historical role of the State was twofold. First, it instruments, and reduce labor's bargaining power and enhanced processes of accumulation of capital. And sec- in#uence. ond, it legitimized accumulation to those segments of The turnabout from record post-war growth pro- society which did not bene"t from it (e.g., O'Connor, duces a pervasive sense that post-war structures of 1986; O!e and Ronge, 1979; Poulantzas, 1978). However, accumulation have failed and that social policy needs subordinate segments of society (such as the working to be reversed quickly. Global Post-Fordist e!orts to class) were able to use the State to advance their interests reignite growth weaken or eliminate post-war mecha- and introduce legislative measures which bene"tted them nisms aimed at increasing equal opportunity, providing (e.g., pro-labor legislation, creation of social services, for the unemployed and needy, and blocking the enhanced education opportunities, etc.) (Block, 1980; colonization of valued non-economic environments by Carnoy, 1984 Miliband, 1969). Overall, though, the al- capital. Rather than equal rights, emphasis is increas- liance between States and national bourgeoises charac- ingly on the costs of regulation and need to increase terized the creation and growth of national economies discipline and security. Several key points should be "rst, and the expansion of the interests of these bour- highlighted. geoises across the globe later (Braudel, 1982,1984). In (1) The free mobility and global extension of Post- these phases of capitalist development, key elements were Fordist capital render permeable virtually all the State ability to control economic activities which spatial}temporal, political, and social `bordersa that took place within its jurisdiction, and the identi"cation once constrained capital, creating new vulnerabilities for of corporations with countries of origin (Sassen, 1990). In the well-being and identities of individuals and national, this context, international operations were treated as regional, and local communities. extensions of entrepreneurial activities designed and en- gineered in the home country and supported by its State apparatus. Under Global Post-Fordism, the ability of the nation-  A portion of the literature on the changes which occurred in this state to control economic activities and to be identi"ed period has rejected the notion of the end of Fordism (e.g., Gordon, 1996,1988). Despite the importance of the debate between the scholars who argued the end of Fordism and those who refute this conclusion, it remains outside the objective of this article. In terms of the following  To be sure, processes of mediation and coordination of socio- discussion, it is maintained that the socio-economic conditions con- economic activities carried out by the State have always been contested stituting Fordism have been signi"cantly altered. However, this does as various social groups acted to advance their interests. However, not imply that all the aspects constituting Fordism have been alto- because of its powers, the State was able to generate capital accumula- gether eliminated. tion and social legitimation. 314 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 with corporations has been greatly diminished (Bonanno democratic processes. However, this does not mean that and Constance, 1996; Harvey, 1990; Lash and Urry, the State has been generally weakened. It indicates that 1994). As indicated above, in order to enhance economic Global Post-Fordism has substantially reduced the local, viability, corporations have transnationalized their op- regional, and nation-state's control over its economic erations by spreading production processes across na- and non-economic environments (Antonio and Bon- tional borders (Antonio and Bonanno, 1996; Spybey, anno, 1996; Bonanno and Constance, 1996; Harvey, 1996; Reich, 1991). This move achieved the primary ob- 1990; Ross and Trachte, 1990). Global Post-Fordist "rms jective of bypassing State regulations and requirements. seek settings with good `business environmentsa. While Today, if unfavorable legislation and climates emerge in this can mean a skilled labor force and highly developed one country, corporations can bypass them by moving and well-maintained infrastructures, it also very fre- operations to other locations. This hyper-mobility of capi- quently means low wages, docile and unorganized labor, tal is one of the major characteristics of Global Post- and lax regulation of the workplace and environment. Fordism (Bonanno and Constance, 1996; Harvey, 1990). `Economic developmenta often means encouraging com- By decentralizing and restructuring production pro- petitive rollbacks in all these areas (Lambert, 1991, p. 9; cesses, transnational corporations also created a situ- Mingione, 1991). Moreover, States use tax abatements ation in which corporate products and overall identity and various other subsidies to attract or simply hold cannot be associated unambiguously with a particular businesses. Consequently, socio-political controls that country (Reich, 1991). The automotive industry exemp- contribute to the relative autonomy of community and li"es this change. Until a few decades ago, almost all national institutions and that provide them limited safety automobiles were built from domestic components and from unrestricted economic rationalization undergo seri- assembled in plants located in the same country. Today, ous erosion. components have diverse national origins and relatively The fracture of the spatio-temporal unity between the few might be made in the nation where "nal assemblage polity and the economy a!ects the assumption of unity. takes place. Similar consideration can be made for the Because the State is increasingly unable to control eco- agro-food sector. For example, while Cargill, the largest nomic and non-economic environments, the directions agro-food corporation in the world, is headquartered in that it receives from its community of citizens cannot be Minnesota, it has a subsidiary called Tradax which oper- fully implemented as assumed by Liberal theory. The ates from Geneva, Switzerland. Tradax also coordinates fracture of the spatio-temporal unity between polity and Cargill's global agro-food enterprises which include op- the economy, therefore, signi"es a crisis of political rep- erations in about 50 countries around the world. Simul- resentation. The State is increasingly unable to represent taneously, Sun Valley Thailand is a joint venture between the will of its people. The tendency is a move away from Cargill, Inc., and Nippon Meat Packers, the largest meat a situation in which community members maintain the company in Japan. Sun Valley Thailand sources modern possibility of expressing their wills at the political level as production facilities and the formal production contract mandated by Liberalism. This situation is replaced by system from Cargill, Inc., rapidly expanding consumer one in which powerful economic actors disproportionally markets in Japan from Nippon Meat Packers, and high- increase their political power at the expenses of other quality low-cost feed, low-paid, docile workforce, and groups whose interests are at stake. It is an expansion of lenient government regulations from Thailand (e.g., Bon- the class dimension of society and a departure from the anno et al., 1994). In essence, the lack of national identity realization of the notion of substantive participation increases #exibility by reducing loyalty and responsibility called for by Mill. More importantly, this is not due to to national entities and their economic, social, and politi- contingent inadequacies of the functioning of the State, cal requirements. but it is the outcome of global processes which transcend The point is the State's capacity to mediate between the sphere of action of the State. This crisis of democracy market and society has been weakened. The State is limits the participatory capacity of citizens and their increasingly unable to control the #ow of economic actual possibilities to in#uence socio-economic out- resources according to the rules established through comes. As Ulrich Beck puts it: `We are already in the initial stages of a global social culture and economy with pseudo-independent regional governments. The demo- cratic electoral structure, organized on the basis on a na-  However, companies still utilize national identity as a marketing tion-state, does not re#ect global dependanciesa (1995, strategy (e.g., Chrysler's #agwaving `America's backa advertisements). p. 45). The hypocrisy of the `buy Americana is epitomized by Wal-Mart's use To be sure, in the liberal tradition political representa- ` a of made in the US lables on goods made outside the country. tion was understood as a contested terrain and it was not  The ability of transnational corporations to by-pass nation-state has been widely documented in the literature. See, for example, Bon- taken for granted. As indicated by Mill, political repres- anno and Constance, 1996; Friedland, 1994; Gouveia, 1994; He!ernan entation needed to be actively pursued and defended and Constance, 1994; Sanderson, 1986; Skladany and Harris, 1995. from various perils, including that of the tyranny of the A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 315 majority. However, Mill and other liberals assumed ethics over the market signi"ed that the pursuit of happi- that political participation should be a substantial di- ness could include strategies which involved State mension of democracy and never supposed that there intervention. These strategies, however, should have could have been a dissolution to the basic ability of represented the best possible solutions to the problems citizens to participate. The danger to this liberal assump- at hand. Classical liberals viewed the market pragmati- tion today is that access to the realm of substantive cally and it was considered only a means to achieve participation is jeopardized by the vanishing unity be- the betterment of human and social conditions. In tween community and government stemming out of the Friedman's view the free market is always superior to transformations generated by the emergence of Global other arrangements and, therefore, it is always Post-Fordism. superior to State regulation of the economy and society. More importantly, State intervention is considered the 3.3. Neo-liberalism primary source of crises in capitalism (Friedman, 1982, pp. 38}39). For Friedman, for example, the American The emergence of Global Post-Fordism points to Great Depression was generated by the US government the exhaustion of the type of post-war Revisionist mismanagement of monetary policies (1982, p. 38). Liberalism that dominated culturally and politically He and other like-minded theorists rede"ne public the post World War Two socio-economic expansion. policy interventions to cope with inequality as the real In this context, Neo-liberal theories claimed to be the social problem, singing praises about the virtues of liberal responses to the new social, economic and self-help, eliminating social programs, and shrinking cultural conditions. Milton Friedman'swork(e.g., ine$ciencies by reliance on market mechanisms. For Friedman, 1982,1977; Friedman and Friedman, 1980) example, Mill's contention that the State should arguably constitutes the most relevant representation of regulate professions through licensing is refuted by these formulations. His best known book, Capitalism Friedman who argues that: `a citizen of the United States and Freedom, was originally published in 1962. But, as who under the laws of various states is not free to follow Friedman indicates in the preface of the 1982 edition, the occupation of his own choosing unless he can get his work went mostly unnoticed until the 1970s when a license for it, is deprived of an essential part of his the crises of Fordism and of Revisionist Liberalism freedoma (1982, p. 9). created a favorable intellectual climate for the In populist sounding pronouncements about competi- di!usion of his ideas. Friedman's Neo-liberalism tive individualism, Friedman treats poverty and mar- stands in sharp opposition to the Classical Liberal ginalization as unalterable natural conditions, arising view of the relationship between ethics and the market. from aggregated inherited di!erences in individual In the Classical Liberal tradition, ethics governs cognitive skills and/or inevitable variance in individual the conditions within which market relations develop character and morality. Moreover, he holds that elimina- and the quest for human happiness takes primacy tion of special protections and programs for racial over economic freedom. Markets presume the existence and ethnic minorities, gays, and women makes for a of `societya and without its cultural bases the function- more just society (Friedman, 1982, pp. 108}118). Most ing of economic institutions is highly problematic. importantly and strongly departing from Classical Conversely, for Friedman, market relations take Liberalism's call for compassion and care for the disen- primacy over other spheres of human activity (1982, p. franchised, Friedman and other Neo-liberals write o! 8). In this context, political freedom is subordinate to e!orts to reduce class disparities and the growing num- economic freedom as it is `anendinitselfa and the most bers of people who lack resources for the nurturance of basic condition for the development of a free, demo- selves capable of competing for middle class roles in the cratic society (1982, pp. 8}9; 1977, pp. 10}11). `The kind private economy and exercising their citizenship rights. of economic organization that provides economic free- They argue that the increased #exibility and tax savings dom directly, namely, competitive capitalism, also pro- from the dismantling of these aspects of High Fordism motes political freedoma (1982, p. 9) Friedman will stop the erosion of the `middle classa. They call contends. for a `Two-thirds societya, which revives opportunity According to Friedman, the primacy of economic free- for the middle classes and increases control over mar- dom translates into the superiority of laissez-faire ar- ginalized people. rangements over solutions which contemplate State Neo-liberal individualism embraces liberties without intervention. This position refutes Revisionist Liberalism a sense of the importance of equality for maintaining the call for a regulating and intervening State, but also de- overall interdependence on which the specialized division parts from Classical Liberalism's notion that the State of labor depends. This Global Post-Fordist ideology is can intervene in spheres which have been appropriately more individualistic than classical economic and social identi"ed by the community. For Adam Smith, John theories, which stressed the idea of a division of labor Stuart Mill and other classical liberals, the primacy of and, at least, an idea of economic cooperation and inter- 316 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 dependence. By contrast, Neo-liberalism transforms importantly, they eliminated pro-labor legislation the "rm into a projection of the supposedly entrepreneur- and other measures to enhance the local business ial ego of the CEO, and employees, when they are con- climate. The result was that, despite stagnant wage levels, sidered at all, are viewed as individual psyches to be agricultural production, employment and pro"ts grew approached in terms of human relations strategies. Con- considerably (Gomez and Goldfrank, 1991). sistent with the Global Post-Fordist vision of repressive Neo-liberals emphasize the need to diminish the rigidities, Neo-liberals see wider languages stressing the sphere of public goods and politics, subordinating them value of social interdependency and public institutions as to the private economy. The growing hegemony of the coercive and even totalitarian concepts. One's location market and erosion of its social mediation again raises with regard to occupation and wealth is viewed as an issues brought up in Durkheim's critique of Spencer, i.e., outcome of individual attributes, skills, and motivation the argument that the market itself arises from and de- (i.e., biological inheritance, individual psychology, and pends upon social institutions and solidarities and that `lucka). Additionally, class is, by nature, a more abstract the market or that the market alone cannot provide the and less visible `sociala phenomenon, easily con#ated social and normative bonds necessary to maintain a so- with race, ethnicity, or characteristics of concrete groups. ciety (Durkheim, 1984, pp. 149}65). In modern societies, The individualistic purview of Neo-liberal theories denies as Durkheim argued, these bonds require a sense of social the reality of class. They seek claims that class is a collec- justice or fairness to maintain a primarily `voluntarya or tive phenomenon that provides potential for group at least not directly coercive (i.e., formally free) system of formation as a "ction and re#ection of the resentment of socio-economic relations. Without justice, we must heed unsuccessful individuals and those progressive liberal or Durkheim's warning about a `sociological monstrositya left forces that seek to manipulate it for their political * unmediated atomistic individualism and a surplus of interest. Consequently, Neo-liberalism equates justice external inequality call forth the total State to "ll the with liberty, explaining away the contradiction between breech left by the absence of voluntary social interdepen- formal and substantive freedom. In this framework, so- dence (Durkheim, 1984, liv). cial equality is seen as a leveling ideology inherently Despite its signi"cant di!erences from Classical and opposed to genuine individuality and contradictory to Revisionist forms of Liberalism, Neo-liberalism main- liberty and democracy. tains the assumption of unity. Friedman's critique of State Today, especially in the United States, Neo-liberals interventionism is based on the contention that more hold that public institutions, particularly those devoted than minimal State action hampers the will of the com- to health, education, and welfare and to regulation of munity as it prevents some of its members to pursue capital, are wasteful drags on the economy. In the case of wanted objectives through desired strategies. In this re- agriculture and other rural-related issues, commodity spect, for Friedman a State which represents the com- programs, quality of food legislation, farm income sup- munity is a State which protects it from external enemies port programs, program for the protection of the envi- and guarantees the conditions for internal harmony and ronment and agro-food trade controls are considered peace. Simultaneously, community members must obey primary sources of the sector's problems. Indeed, it is the collectively established laws which the State is called maintained that issues such as agricultural overproduc- upon to uphold (1982, pp. 34}35). The correspondence tion, low farm income levels, farm bankruptcies would between State and the community of citizens is, in Fried- have not existed if market institutions were allowed to man's view, to be criticized only in contingent terms. But, function without external interferences. At the interna- it remains an assumed theoretical condition of his Neo- tional level, the case of Chile is often cited to illustrate the liberal formulation. Friedman's objection is that Revi- e!ectiveness of Neo-liberal policies in agriculture. Ad- sionist Liberal policies and other forms of collectivism vised by Friedman, Chilean authorities eliminated state have undermined the unity of community and State by intervention and opened up labor and agricultural allowing the latter to oppress the former. A return to commodity markets to foreign competition. More unrestricted laisser-faire would reestablish the appropri- ate balance of power so that communities can prosper and the State can assume a much more e$cient and much less wasteful posture.  The works of Adam Smith (1976) Mill (1989) but also those of Marx (1977) Weber (1949) and Durkheim (1984), albeit in signi"cantly di!erent ways, point out the importance of maintaining cooperation and solidarity in society. These classical social theorists recognized that 4. The proposal of Re6exive Modernization completely unrestricted markets would destroy their own socio-cultural foundations. Even those among them who advocate laissez-faire, from The crises of Revisionist Liberal theories and Fordist Adam Smith to Jeremy Bentham, contended that market societies depend on `interdependencea and altruism, which insure that the arrangements have not exclusively been grounds for con- atomistic and individualistic aspects of capitalism have positive social servative responses. In the progressive camp, a number of outcomes. theories have proposed analyses of and solutions to the A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 317 problems of contemporary Global Post-Fordism. Reyex- simple modernization (1994, p. 42). Simple modernization ive Modernization is perhaps the most eloquent of these reached its highest point during Fordism. During this theories and certainly a formulation which has received period, society produced enough goods that its primary considerable attention in academic and intellectual feature was its ability to distribute them * albeit un- circles. Though it is not a uni"ed theoretical construct, equally * to all the segments of society. Beck (1992), p. it refers to the works of theorists who reject the idea of 13) argues that today we do not have a society which the end of modernity and insist on the availability of distributes goods, but rather a society which distributes newly generated opportunities for critically informed ac- risks. By risks Beck and the other authors signify the tion. This reyexivity emerges out of the crisis of Fordist development of global dangers such as environmental arrangements and becomes the most signi"cant eman- degradation, nuclear disasters and economic and social cipatory tool in Global Post-Fordism. Though Re#exive decay. These risks, they continue, are global in nature Modernization theorists often discuss the work of Marx (i.e., they concern everyone in the world) and cannot be and share some of the tenets of the Marxian critique of controlled by traditionally established institutions such capitalism, they stand outside the Marxian tradition to as the nation-state. In other words, the scope of current embrace a vision of democracy and society which is much risks transcends the spatial and temporal limits within more consistent with the Liberal philosophical tradi- which available countervailing strategies can be applied. tion. Their acceptance of capitalist arrangements and Responding to the claims that the `end of historya their distancing from a class-based discourse locate them (Fukuyama, 1992) has forever dissolved threats to away from the Marxian left and into the liberal radical democracy, it is argued that this situation creates the tradition. Key examples of Re#exive Modernization are conditions for a deeper crisis of democracy and freedom the works of Beck (1995,1992) Giddens (1994,1991,1990) which re-proposes the struggle for democracy more and Lash and Urry (1994) (see also works by Beck, forcefully than ever (Beck, 1995, p. 151). Giddens, Lash and Urry in 1994) which will be brie#y The risk society is, then, characterized by a discrep- discussed below. ancy between risks and instruments to address them. The common starting point of these authors is that Currently, we have a society in which institutions can contemporary society is experiencing a crisis of modern- only partially address these risks. More importantly, in ity. Rather than embracing the often discussed concept of many cases, they have no instruments to seriously ad- post-modernity, they argue that we are in a period of high dress these problems. This crisis, however, contains ele- modernity. Modernity in their views is characterized by ments for possible solutions. Today, these authors the process of individualization. Individualization man- contend, the process of individualization is accelerated. dates a social organization which breaks sharply with The crisis of institutions leaves individuals with ex- that of pre-capitalist societies based on collective and panded opportunities to make decisions about their lives. seignorial dominated social relations. In previous phases Giddens calls these enhanced opportunities the condi- of modernity, however, the process of individualization tions for the expansion of life politics, a term which was hampered by the existence of powerful institutions indicates individuals enhanced ability to select life styles such as the welfare state, the family, trade unions, politi- once adjudicated by nature or tradition (Giddens, 1994). cal parties and above all institutions producing formal The crisis of institutions gives individuals possibilities to science. These institutions limited the ability of indi- decide about issues which previously were de"ned within viduals to make decisions about their lives and to devel- institutional frameworks. Accordingly, individuals are op individualized selves. Accordingly, decisions much freer to make decisions about political, cultural concerning areas such as work, family, politics, sexual and economic issues. In other words, cultural, technolo- preferences, and ideological postures were largely left to gical and structural changes enabled people to be more institutional realms. Giddens refers to this period as directly responsible for their lives and to assertively act in the web of everyday life. This possibility to act is de"ned as re#exivity and the current historical period as Reyex- ive Modernization.  It could be argued that a number of other theories could better Re#exive Modernization refers to the `possibility of address current social concerns. In e!ect, my selection of Re#exive individuals to re#ect critically on these changes and their Modernization is not based on a claim of scienti"c superiority of this theory over others. Rather, it is a selection based on the fact that social conditions of existence and hence potentially to Re#exive Modernization is a theory based on liberal assumptions and change thema. (Lash and Urry, 1994, p. 32) Giddens, one which maintains the assumption of unity. For these reasons it can Beck and Lash and Urry, are forever warning of the be employed to illustrate innovative proposals from a liberal perspect- repressive consequences that the end of simple modernity ive and to point out the limits of this perspective in Global post- and the globalization of economy and society have Fordism.  This is an evaluation which does not apply equally to the various brought about. Moreover, they are aware of criticisms authors considered here. Lash and Urry (1994), for instance, ground directed against premature generalizations of new social their Economies of Signs and Space on Marx's theory of circulation. movements accomplishments in advanced societies to the 318 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 rest of the globe. In other words, they are aware of the Britain and elsewhere, middle income groups are becom- fact that repression against emancipatory processes is ing scarcer as income distribution increasingly assume strong and that the possibility of establishing them is a bimodal patterna. It is their thesis that the bottom unevenly distributed around the world. Yet they see the segments of society become increasingly excluded from current period as one in which a positive reconstruction economic and social rewards which are funneled toward of society is possible. Beck compares the current situ- the upper social strata. Arguing against those who inter- ation with that of the end of pre-modernity and argues: preted these changes in terms of `end of the working `just as modernization dissolved the structure of feudal classa they maintain that the lower classes represent society in the nineteenth century and produced the indus- a `sort of structural downward mobility for substantial trial society, modernization today is dissolving industrial sections of the organized-capitalist working class, as well society and another modernity in coming into beinga. as a set of structural social places into which large num- (1994, p. 10). ber of immigrants #owa. (Lash and Urry, 1994, p. 145) In their accounts, the dissolution of modern institu- The end of organized capitalism creates also the condi- tions derives from their incapacity to address current tions for progressive outcomes. Above all, emancipatory issues. The concept of globalization is employed to sum- conditions are fostered by the existence of re#exive mod- marize today's problems. The risk society is a global ernization. However, the crisis of the Keynesian welfare society in which phenomena a!ect the entire globe and, state also generates emancipatory possibilities. Despite more importantly, cannot be addressed exclusively at the its progressive nature, there has always been a repressive local level. Though local action is paramount, it is the dimension of the welfare state. Its expansion mandated global nature of these issues which quali"es the di!erence the existence of `rigiditiesa which prescribed constricted between this period and previous historical periods. In behaviors and hampered the practice of alternative strat- various ways, these authors stress the importance of the egies. Accordingly, its crisis frees individuals and commu- relationship between local and global and the manner in nities to explore patterns of actions unavailable before. which it quali"es the crisis of institutions. This condition, these authors contend, forms the basis on As indicated above, the transformation of the State is which `newa progressive movements and practices can based on global processes. These authors contend that develop. the #ows of commodities, capital and information cannot In this context, the evolution of the State is viewed as be controlled at the national level. These #ows are too potentially progressive. The crisis of the nation-state fa- complex and di!erentiated to be monitored by pre- vors the reproduction of local `statesa which can respond viously established institutions and their strategies. In more rapidly to the demands emerging from the com- particular, Lash and Urry (1994), p. 292}295) speak of the munity. Simultaneously, local `statesa can be more open end of organized capitalism and the development of disor- to direct participation, to the inclusion of diverse groups ganized capitalism. They equate organized capital with the and consequently they can foster substantive democracy. Fordist period. Under organized capitalism, social and The concept of subpolitics (Beck, 1992, p. 190}194) indi- economic problems were understood to be solvable at the cates the move away from democratic actions through national level. Accordingly, the State intervened in the traditional political channels. It is in the generation of economy and in society to address `risksa generated by movements from below and in the displacement of politi- the evolution of capitalism. Keynesian strategies were cal action away for sclerotized political spheres that these paramount in this process. Under disorganized capitalism, authors locate the existence of elements for the genera- global actors and #ows make these strategies ine!ective. tion of concrete democracy. Risks now transcend national boundaries. The progressive and regressive character of the high The inability of the nation-state to address these prob- modern disorganized State is paralleled by a similar lems is interpreted both in negative and emancipatory vision of the economy. These authors in general, and terms. The end of organized capitalism and the failure of Lash and Urry in particular, argue that processes of the welfare state have created social and economic degra- restructuring of corporations have not only increased dation which the State cannot correct with traditional their power but have also created new forms of democra- forms of intervention. Unemployment, urban decay, un- tization in the production process. Lash and Urry insist certainties are some of the negative characteristics of the on the notion of reyexive accumulation. This concept is current situation. Additionally, these authors indicate considered superior to previously employed concepts that in the last two decades economic growth (i.e., in- such as those of #exible specialization and Post-Fordism. creases in GNPs, increases in production and productiv- In underscoring the characteristics of re#exive accumula- ity) translated into decreased levels of employment and tion, they point out that contemporary economies are sharp polarization between the wealthy and the lower based on services and that knowledge and information classes. As Lash and Urry (1994), p. 160) put it `the new are central aspects of capital accumulation. Additionally, lower classes su!er2from increasing poverty. At the contemporary economies should be analyzed not only in same time the wealthy have got richer. In the USA, terms of production but also consumption. Furthermore, A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 319 specialized production and consumption require a subjects to US laws. Simultaneously, claiming their production of signs, indicating symbolic processes and American nationality they were able to import their the aestheticization of production and consumption are `foreigna products without paying import tari!s. The US central in contemporary capitalism. In other words, com- state, in this case, was unable to defend the spirit of the modities acquired value not only because they are pro- law nor was it capable of retaliating against corporations duced for exchange but also because speci"c `aesthetica (Bonanno and Constance, 1996). Similarly, pro-labor and meanings are attached to them. For example in the case pro-environmental legislations created increased produc- of the agro-food sector, the di!usion of organic foods is tion costs to poultry corporations operating in some based on the recognition of the existence of important American Midwestern and Southern states. These norms socially valued meanings attached to them. The aes- were bypassed by moving operations to adjacent states theticization of production and consumption increases and/or to Central American countries were pro-labor the possibilities for individuals to select consumption and pro-environment legislations where either more re- patterns in more meaningful manners than in the past. In laxed or simply absent (He!ernan and Constance, 1994). turn, this situation allows individuals to have broader From a historical viewpoint, Classical Liberalism's spaces for the construction of their identities. Further- sharing of the unity of State and community is under- more, this situation allows consumers to establish free standable as this theory emerged in a period in which the spaces despite the actions of agro-food transnational cor- identity of community and government was a historical porations. In essence, the conscious freedom to choose condition of modern Western societies. The Liberal un- becomes a political weapon against corporate control. derstanding of the relationship between the State and community re#ected the process of European nation- state building which was one of the fundamental aspects 5. Liberalism, Re6exive Modernization and the unity of the expansion of capitalism. European capitalism was between community and the State: implications for based on the creation of markets contained within politi- the democratization of rural regions cally independent States. The existence of the State guaranteed the conditions for the reproduction of emerg- Classical and Revisionist Liberal, as well as Neo-lib- ing economic relations (Anderson, 1974; Braudel, eral theories maintain the assumption of unity. In the 1982,1984; Wallerstein, 1979). In this context, Classical light of the emergence of global capitalism, these formu- Liberals not only maintained the assumption of unity, lations are problematic vis-a-vis the objective of estab- but considered it the central element for the development lishing free spaces in the rural as they o!er no solutions of democracy. The power that the community of citizens to the impasse generated by the nation-state's inability to delegated to the State was one of the most fundamental control global actors and actions. Traditionally estab- conditions for the free operating of the market and for lished actions in defense of the environment, food con- protecting citizens from external and internal constraints. sumers, the quality of agricultural production, labor and Revisionist Liberalism emerged in a historical situ- other aspects of rural life mandate that the State retain ation in which the economy had clearly transcended its the possibility of exercising ultimate power within its original national dimension. Multinational and imperial- political jurisdiction. Once this situation is altered, legit- ist capitalism, however, represented the expansion of imate avenues for the satisfaction of social, economical nationally based corporations into colonized territories and political needs are decreasingly available to indi- (Brewer, 1980; Spybey, 1996). As the classical accounts of viduals and groups. More importantly, communities "nd Hilfeding (1970), Bukharin (1972) and Luxemburg (1972) their ability to defend political gains and to establish indicate, early 20th century imperialism referred to the desirable conduct of action severely limited. constitution of economic and political blocs which met- Instances of the inability of the State to control global ropolitan countries employed to extend domination over actors and actions and to maintain democratically estab- lesser developed countries. World development was char- lished free spaces abound in rural study's literature (e.g., acterized by the confrontation between imperialistic Bonanno and Constance, 1996; He!ernan and Con- blocs and national capitals that they represented. It fol- stance, 1991; Gouveia, 1994; Sanderson, 1986; Skladany lows that the Revisionist Liberal account of the identity and Harris, 1995). For instance, in the case of agro-food between community and the State was largely justi"able. sector, in the United States environmental groups were While Revisionist Liberal theories of modernization successful in introducing legislation which regulated the grossly misunderstood the conditions and opportunities killing of endangered marine species by commercial "sh- of developing societies, in advanced Western societies the ing vessels. Agro-food corporations viewed this demo- State could still exercise control over social and eco- cratically established law as damaging to their economic nomic processes. As Beck (1992) pointed out, the State's interests and decided to by-pass it by re#agging their ability to distribute wealth to all strata of society gave the boats. By #ying the #ag of a di!erent country, corpora- impression that the State could forever control the risks tions maintained that their "shing vessels were not emerging from the evolution of modern society. This was 320 A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 particularly the case in rural related sectors such as According to Lash and Urry, for instance, `the demise of agriculture and food where commodity programs, pro- the nation-state might favor the proliferation of local and grams for the enhancement of food quality and food regional states which could more e!ectively respond to availability, and other inclusionary measures were imple- the wishes of its citizens, a much more localist and plural- mented through State intervention. ist democracya (1994, p. 325). In this case, it is the cre- Contemporary Neo-liberal theorists insist on the im- ation of democratic spaces outside the spheres occupied portance of a minimalist State. Yet their criticisms of the by the State and/or left vacant by its crisis which moti- role of State in society do not acknowledge the State's vates optimism in these circles. Indeed, through concepts emerging limits. For Neo-liberal theorists the State still such as dialogic democracy (the refusal of power estab- fully represents the community of citizens that expresses lished solutions in favor of dialogue-based alternatives) it. However, Neo-liberal theorists' call for a minimalist and life politics (the struggle for the selection of wanted State makes the issue of the inability of the State to life styles) (Giddens, 1994), Re#exive Modernization the- control social, economic, and non economic environ- orists indicate the possibility of emancipatory politics ments much less problematic than in other forms of outside traditional arenas and procedures. liberalism. For them, the hypermobility of capital (Har- The implications that the proposal of Re#exive Mod- vey, 1990) represents one of the major positive aspects of ernization has for the democratization of rural related Global Post-Fordism. Heeding to the idea that the State activities and sectors are manifold. Their reading of the exercises too much control over society (Friedman, 1982; crisis of the nation-state indicates that actions of direct Hayek, 1973), they consider the fact that State rules are democracy which empower individuals and communities bypassed by transnational actors as a positive event in are historically possible. Emerging community-based ini- itself. From this viewpoint, the crisis of the nation-state is tiatives in favor of alternative forms of agricultural pro- an element which strongly contributes to the enhance- duction, food consumption, and environmental ment of democracy and freedom. Despite these claims, protection are examples of Re#exive Modernization the- the issue of democratic political representation forcefully orists' ideas about the possibility of establishing an remains. Following the Liberal tradition, Neo-liberals emancipatory new modernity. Similarly, the insistence on maintain that democratic political representation should the availability of organic food, the monitoring of agro- be a substantial component of democracy. However, in food production and the enhancement of the quality of their support of globalization they are silent about the the environment are instances of the emergence of the limits that Global Post-Fordism creates for representa- aestheticization of social relations and of the related tion. For them, these limits simply do not exist. capacity of individuals to exercise new forms of power. The view of the relationship between the State and Indeed, even in a context in which agro-food transna- communities expressed by Re#exive Modernization the- tional corporations disproportionally expanded their orists is much more complex than that presented by powers, their vulnerability vis-a-vis the actions of in- Neo-liberal thinkers. Re#exive Modernization theorists formed consumers is evident. Recent food boycotts, de- are aware of the dislocation between community and mands for better food quality, alternative products and State generated by the evolution of Global Post-For- respect of the environment indicate that transnational dism. For them the State is `squeezed between global and corporations' control of markets is a contested matter. local processesa. (Lash and Urry, 1994, p. 301). This More importantly, they show that corporations' domi- situation transforms the State in two ways. First, it leaves nance of the agricultural sector still depends on their political structures with less power to monitor agency ability to `realize their productiona, that is to transform than in the past. Second, it allows for the emergence of commodities into money. Here re#exive individuals and new forms of the State. One form is the supranational communities, in their roles of consumers, environ- State (e.g., the European Union, the United Nations), mentalists, workers, etc., can exercise control of corpo- while the other is the creation of autonomous regional rate actions. In essence, This type of democratization of sub-states which are physically smaller than nation- rural activities implies empowerment of communities as states yet are endowed with independent powers and it shifts powers away from the State apparatus. therefore can allow the establishment of free spaces. Despite Re#exive Modernization's theorists insistence on the fact that the crisis of the nation-state can be turned into a proposal for direct democracy, they are also  Despite these considerations, they do not accept the often articu- aware that the question of the monitoring of agency lated position of the `end of the Statea. On the contrary, they maintain remains open. More speci"cally, they are aware that that despite its crisis, the `spacea of the State will continue to exist. To emerging re#exive strategies are, by themselves, not su$- be sure, their emphasis is not on the persistence or disappearance of the cient to control unwanted consequences of capitalism. State, but rather on the characteristics of its ongoing transformation. Indeed, they underscore that the current crisis is a crisis of the nation- Re#exive Modernization's theorists are conscious of the state form of the State, rather than the crisis of the State considered as fact that the hypermobility of global economic actors a socio-political institution. transcends the political space occupied by subnational A. Bonanno / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 305}323 321 and/or supranational states (e.g., Harvey, 1990; but also argue that the end of the cold war has left liberalism as Lash and Urry, 1994: p. 312; but also Antonio and the only viable form of democracy, the present historical Bonanno, 1996; Danley, 1994; Friedland, 1994). Indeed, conditions constitute arguments for rethinking the extent they acknowledge that while the ability of new forms of and meanings of the concept. The contribution of Re#ex- the state to control economic and non-economic envi- ive Modernization is a welcome addition. However, at- ronment * albeit expanded * remains at a regional tempts which philosophically transcend traditional level, the mobility of capital is global. For rural regions liberal understandings of democracy should be rein- this fact signi"es an increased inability of the State to troduced to strengthen the debate. More importantly, implement emancipatory rural programs and to control discourses which underscore the limits of the liberal rep- the actions of transnational corporations. This situation resentation should gain space. The fracture of the spatial reproposes the crisis of representation as the scope of unity between community and the State leaves little action of global actors remains broader than the political room for democratic utilizations of this notion. Prag- instruments available to citizens to control them. To matically, too often socially oriented initiatives, such as paraphrase Beck, the process of representation has exhaus- community development actions, pro-environmental ini- ted its capacity to represent. tiatives, programs for the enhancement of the quality of Furthermore, the ability of communities to exercise life of rural residents, and programs for the improvement re#exive actions is not independent of their socio-eco- of the quality of agricultural activities, take for granted nomic conditions. In e!ect, the hypermoblity of capital is the State's ability to e!ectively represent its citizens and possible because of communities' desire to attract corpo- control unwanted socio-economic events. Though these rate investments (Harvey, 1990; Lash and Urry, 1994). In initiatives need to continue, it is obvious that their as- this context, more economically and politically advanced sumptions and directions require scrutiny. The commun- communities and regions are able to control their eco- ity of social scientists is called into question here, as we nomic and non-economic environments in a much play major roles in the task of carrying out e!orts of this greater extent than their less developed counterparts. nature. It is to our disciplinary societies and to our Because of their relative deprivation, the latter become practitioners that the call for critical reevaluation of much more exposed to the negative consequences of the assumptions and practice is directed. As pointed out by crisis of the nation-state and of their diminished ability to John Stuart Mill, the broadening of the debate and the exercise community based re#exive actions. It also ap- critical evaluation of alternative proposals constitute the pears clear that conditions for the emergence of new most fundamental premises for the establishment of sub- forms of solidarity * which could bring together di!er- stantive democracy. ent and distant communities * are problematic at best. It is, perhaps, through the establishment of these global solidarities that the possibility to generalize re#exive Acknowledgements action across socio-economically unequal contexts could become a historical reality. I am grateful to Bob Antonio, Cindy Anderson, Mike While the observations of Re#exive Modernization Bell, Anita Bestler, Larry Busch and Doug Constance for theorists can generate optimism among some, it is obvi- their comments and suggestions. I would also like thank ous that the crisis of the nation-state implies a crisis of Valerie Mitchell for her extensive comments on an early democracy which is particularly problematic in less-de- draft of this manuscript. veloped communities and regions. Though partly ac- knowledged at the theoretical level, this situation is often overlooked pragmatically as talks about democracy con- References tinue to revolve around Liberal assumptions. Programs of economic development, protection of the environment, Aglietta, M., 1979. A Theory of Capitalist Regulation. New Left Books, enhancement of the conditions of disenfranchised groups, London. protection of food consumers and other similar initiat- Akard, P.J., 1992. Corporate mobilization and political power: the ives in rural regions call for forms of State intervention transformation of U.S. economic policy in the 1970s. American and monitoring based on public support obtained Sociological Review 57, 597}615. Anderson, P., 1974. 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