Still the Return of the State? Critical Issues and possible new Research Avenues
by Diego Giannone and Adriano Cozzolino
pp. 102-121 Issue 18 (9,2) – July-December 2022 ISSN (online): 2539/2239 ISSN (print): 2389-8232 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14718/SoftPower.2022.9.2.6
Abstract
In recent years, precisely between the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, the theme of the “return of the State” has resurfaced often and in different forms. Some authors, for instance, speak of the return of “neo-statism” on the ruins of neo-liberal ideology (Gerbaudo, 2022), some others of “post-neoliberalism” (Cooper, 2021; Davies and Gane, 2021), while international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund have recently recommended (i.e. in the pandemic period) a large-scale intervention of national authorities to deal with the effects of the pandemic. In this essay we critically discuss the issue of the return of the State by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of this literature. In particular, we focus on the need to – first – theoretically frame the State, and in particular the neoliberal State, and – second – foster an alternative view of policy-making that takes into account the relative autonomy of State powers in managing the social conflict while advancing class-based interests. In the conclusions, while reasserting the centrality of State analysis, we discuss some possible lines of research capable to grasp continuities and changes at State level.