Transnational Classes and International Relations

Transnational Classes and International Relations Transnational Classes and International Relations presents an original analysis of class formation in the global political economy. It deals with the growth of an integrated, transnational capitalist class and provides the student and academic reader with the first systematic overview of the theory and concepts developed in the Research Centre for International Political Economy at the University of Amsterdam. Among its many areas of focus are: • the processes of commodification and socialisation • class formation under the discipline of capital • international relations between the English-speaking heartland of capital and successive contender states • transnational integration of the capitalist class in historical perspective The author develops an understanding of class, by discussing such notions as the ‘imagined-community’ nature of class, Vergesellschaftung (socialisation), fractions of capital, comprehensive concepts of control, the Lockean heartland versus the Hobbesian contender states and the cadre stratum as a lever of socio- political transformation. With its broad scope and thorough examination of the agents actively involved in the process of globalisation, this study offers researchers and advanced students, in addition to its own findings, a treasure trove of research hypotheses. Kees van der Pijl is Reader in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam. RIPE series in global political economy Series editors: Otto Holman, Marianne Marchand and Henk Overbeek Research Centre for International Political Economy, University of Amsterdam The RIPE series in global political economy, published in association with the Review of International Political Economy, provides a forum for current debates in international political economy. The series aims to cover all the central topics in IPE and to present innovative analyses of emerging topics for students and specialists alike. The titles in the series seek to transcend a state-centred discourse and focus on three broad themes: • the nature of the forces driving globalisation forward; • resistance to globalisation; • the transformation of the world order. Forthcoming titles in the series: MONEY AND NATION-STATESThe past, present and future of national currenciesEdited by Emily Gilbert and Eric Helleiner IDEOLOGIES OF GLOBALISATIONMark Rupert Transnational Classes and International Relations Kees van der Pijl London and New York First published 1998 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1998 Kees van der Pijl All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form by or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Pijl, Kees van der. Transnational classes and international relations/Kees van der Pijl. p. cm. —(RIPE (Series): 1) Includes bibliographical references and index. (alk. paper) 1. International economic relations—Social aspects. 2. Social classes—History—20th century. 3. Capitalism—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series. HF1359.P54 1998 337–dc21 98–17032 CIP ISBN 0-203-98212-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-19200-5 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-19201-3 (pbk) To Joyce and Gabriel Kolko committed scholars, generous friends Contents Series editors’ preface viii List of tables and figures xi Acknowledgements xiii List of abbreviations xiv Introduction 1 1 Commodification, socialisation and capital 9 Commodification and community 10 Concepts of socialisation 15 The discipline of capital 25 2 Capital accumulation and class formation 31 The historical topography of class society 32 Capital as discipline and class sturggles 36 Fractions of capital and concepts of control 49 3 The Lockean heartland in the international political economy 65 The Lockean state/society complex 65 Contender states and the Hobbesian counterpoint 79 Structural aspects of world politics 84 4 Transnational class formation and historical hegemonies 98 Freemasonry as imagined community 99 Class planning in the era of high finance 106 Hegemonic integration of the state classes 117 5 Cadres and the classless society 136 The class of socialisation 138 vii Historical instances of cadre class formation 148 Deregulation and the dilemmas of global governance 159 Notes 167 References 172 Index 189 Series editors' preface The RIPE series in global political economy aims to make innovative contributions to key debates in the burgeoning field of international political economy. As series editors, we are especially keen to develop the series by addressing a wide audience made up of not only academic specialists but also students in a variety of related fields, policy makers, trade unionists and other activists in non-governmental organisations. The series aims to present books that move beyond the traditional concerns of state-centric analysis, to address emerging issues in the global political economy and to present original accounts that synthesise work being done in the different core areas of IPE. Transnational Classes and International Relations fulfils these aims. Central to our understanding of the process of global restructuring is the recognition of the dialectic of contradictory forces and processes at work. Global restructuring is driven by structural processes (such as the transnationalisation of production and the globalisation of financial markets) and by the agency of strategic actors such as transnational corporations, the competition state and globalising élites. At the same time, globalisation produces new forces, forms and sites of resistance worldwide. In spite of the universalising tendencies of globalisation, new forms of particularism are emphasised and old forms acquire a new significance. Also, the new roles of transnational NGOs and the impact of new information and communications technologies have led to an increasing literature on the emergence of a global civil society harbouring the seeds of counter-hegemonic forces. Transnational Classes and International Relations by Kees van der Pijl presents the first comprehensive and synthetic statement of the contribution of the Amsterdam group to international relations theory. The work of this group of IPE scholars departs from mainstream approaches to international relations on at least three central issues. First, in the debate between neo-realist and pluralist approaches on the relevance of non-state actors, the ontological primacy of the state is not in question. In that sense, both main currents of IR thinking can be said to be state- centric. The analysis of world politics presented in this book clearly moves ix beyond state-centrism by identifying state formation and interstate politics as moments of the transnational dynamics of global capital accumulation and class formation. Second, in the structure-agency debate the Amsterdam approach rejects the reductionism implied both in structuralist as well as in actor-oriented approaches. It advocates a historically grounded conception of the dialectic totality of structure and agency, as a neo-marxist would phrase it, or the duality of structures, as a structuration theorist would prefer. Third, it argues that the national/international dichotomy no longer contributes to an understanding of world politics (if it ever did). The Amsterdam group strives to salvage historical materialism from the rubbish heap of history by rigorously applying Marx’s theory of historical change and class formation to the global level. This rejuvenated historical materialism, which in a sense brings to life themes that were central to the debates on imperialism in the early years of the twentieth century but have since been forgotten, shares many concerns with what has come to be known as the neo-Gramscian approach as manifested in the work of Robert Cox, Stephen Gill and Craig Murphy amongst others. The analysis of the fraction-ation of capital and the related strategic divisions within the bourgeoisie, however, sets out the Amsterdam approach as distinct. The situation of ideology and the political articulation of (fractional) class interests in the context of the dynamics of capital accumulation in a non-reductionist manner through the elaboration of the analytical tool of ‘comprehensive concepts of control’ enable these authors to escape the trappings both of deterministic reductionism and of voluntarism. In this book, Van der Pijl presents a succinct and thought-provoking restatement of the essential ingredients of the Amsterdam project. But he does more. In his presentation, he also breaks new ground both in developing the method of historical materialism and in contributing, from that background, to the reinterpretation of inter-state relations. First, Van der Pijl gives a fresh and novel meaning to two concepts that were central in Marx’s analysis of the accumulation of capital and the emergence of bourgeois society, namely the concept of socialisation

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