The rise of the capital-state and neo-nationalism : a new Polanyian moment

"What explains neo-nationalism - the surge of populist nationalism in the contemporary phase of globalized development? Drawing on Karl Polanyi's study of the "great transformation," Oleksandr Svitych argues that neo-nationalism is a societal protective reaction against the pro-market structural changes in the political economies of nation-states - conceptualized as the capital-state transformation. He shows that there is an inextricable link between free market reforms, declining state legitimacy, and identity-based mobilization. To test the book's argument, Svitych adopts a mixed methods approach of quantitative statistical analysis and qualitative case studies. First, he examines the relationship between the capital-state and neo-nationalism by using a time-series cross-sectional analysis of thirty-five member-states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Estimates suggest that the capital-state - measured through the composite capital-state index - is a significant and powerful predictor of the neo-nationalist vote. Second, through four case studies (Australia, France, Hungary, and South Korea) the mechanisms that link macro-economic transformations to neo-nationalist vote or lack thereof are explored. Svitych finds that discontented voters gravitate toward these political forces and embrace identity-based solutions - often in exclusivist and scapegoating forms - to harness their anxieties and insecurities triggered by the capital-state restructuring. Both methods demonstrate that populist nationalism of both the Left and the Right has emerged to compensate for the real and perceived inability of the state to shield citizens from the corrosive effects of market fundamentalism. The book contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of the inter-related nature of state, capital, and identity politicization through a broader social theoretical perspective"--