Marxism and the Relative Autonomy of the Capitalist State

Abstract

Marxist theories of the state adopt either a functionalist view of the state as absolutely or relatively autonomous from the ruling class and capitalist economy, or a dialectical view of the state as a form of capital that leaves no scope for autonomy. This paper argues both views are one-sided. The paper is in two parts. Part One, presented here, argues that the contemporary capitalist state takes on an increasingly relatively autonomous relationship with the ruling capitalist class and the capitalist economy in the context of a declining value relation that can best be explained in terms of the negation of abstract labour. The example of social democracy is discussed to illuminate this argument. Part Two will argue that the development and decline of abstract labour best illuminates Marx's and Engel's view of the state as, on the one hand, the mechanism for the suppression of the proletariat and, on the other hand, an entity that the proletariat simply cannot ignore with respect to the dictatorship of the proletariat in the context of a transition to socialism.