1st Edition

Capitalism, Institutions and Social Orders The Case of Contemporary Spain

By Pedro M. Rey-Araújo Copyright 2021
250 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

250 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

250 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Capitalism, Institutions and Social Orders develops a novel political economy approach by establishing a dialogue between the Social Structures of Accumulation (SSA) theory and Ernesto Laclau’s post-Marxism theory. Using this synthesis, it provides an in-depth analysis of Spain’s recent socio-economic evolution since the early 1990s. The book develops a theoretical framework capable of... Read more

Part I. Capitalism, Institutions and Social Orders

1. Dancing over the ‘middle ground’

2. Setting the terrain. Radical Political Economy and post-Marxism

3. Ernesto Laclau’s post-Marxism. Some internal problems

4. Social Structures of Accumulation Theory. A re-assessment

5. Social orders and capitalism. Towards an expanded SSA approach

6. Grounding Populism upon Political Economy

Part II. The Case of Contemporary Spain

7. The Spanish ‘Mediterranean’ Liberal SSA. A Characterization

8. The ‘Mediterranean’ Liberal SSA’s expansion phase: 1995-2008 

9. From systemic to organic crisis. 2008-2019

Concluding Comments

Biography

Pedro M. Rey-Araújo is a Researcher at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

"Capitalism, Institutions and Social Orders is an ambitious book...[It] shows that there is another avenue towards the development of
a post-Marxist political economy [which is] to reacquaint post-Marxism with Marxism, from which it can borrow a readily available set of concepts and reasonings that have proven their value in facilitating a progressive critique of political economy beyond reproach...[It's] focus on compromise rather than difference show that political theory is about more than demonstrating ontological and epistemological fit. Theoretical advances are often driven by open-mindedness and by generous interpretations, and [this book] is a case in point." - Thomas Jacobs, Science & Society

"[T]he book is a key contribution on both the SSA and PDT scholarships as well as on the political economy of contemporary Spain. Rey-Araujo has written an excellent book which will influence future research in these fields." - Joan Miró, Capital & Class

"[This book] rigorously vindicates a radical political economy of/for (re)conciliation between Marxism and post-structuralist discourse theory, in order to comprehend the frictional mechanisms of socioeconomic reproduction and sociopolitical interactions. This is a sensible theoretical framework for capturing the complexity of capitalist societies as actually existing formations which are institutionalized and embodied, just as the author shows through the case study of Spain’s contemporary socio-economic evolution. Furthermore, it is also a proposal of great value to many other fields of study beyond the strictly economic, as well as to those political economy approaches that remain skeptical to the ‘cultural turn’ in critical social sciences." - Laura Martínez-Jiménez, Journal of Cultural Economy

"[T]he author succeeds in providing a rich explanation of the recent evolution of the Spanish political economy...[and] does so brilliantly, with an original and a very well-designed theoretical framework. Additionally, he provides an easy-to-read but very well-substantiated account of the recent political and economic history of Spain, which is very welcome." - Luis Buendía, Review of Radical Political Economics