Euro-Capitalism and American Imperialism.

The virtue of the ‘variety of capitalism’ approach (Hall & Sockice, 2001) is that it challenges the notion that capitalist globalisation apparently entails the growing impotence of nation states and the increasing homogenisation of social formations. There are, however, a number of analytic problems with this approach, which this identifies. Apart from an inadequate and misleading conceptualisation of the relationship between state and market in the era of globalisation, the most severe problem is to treat all the advanced capitalist states as equal units of analysis. This occludes the overwhelming power and penetrative capacity of the American state and capital vis a vis even the other leading capitalist states in the world today. On the basis of this critique, the paper argues that European capitalism must be theorised within the framework of American neo-imperialism. In this light, the paper critically examines various recent attempts to theorise the nature of American empire and points the way to a more adequate theorisation. The paper presents historical and empirical evidence that challenges the presumption that the material base for the maintenance of American hegemony has eroded. But this does not mean that contradictions for the American imperium and neo-liberal globalisation do not exist. But strategic advance for the left in this context will have to entail far more than defending or extolling existing European models of capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]