Bob Jessop presents an up-to-date account of his distinctive approach to the dialectics of structure and strategy in the exercise of state power. While his earlier work critically surveys other state theories, this book focuses on the development of his own strategic-relational approach. It introduces its main sources, outlines its development, applies this approach to four case studies, and sketches a strategic-relational research agenda. Thus the book presents a comprehensive theoretical statement of the approach and guidelines for its application.

Key features of the book include: an account of the authors theoretical development; a review of recent developments in state theory and the cultural turn in political economy; critical strategic-relational re-readings of major state theorists Marx on political representation, Gramsci on the spatiality of state power, Poulantzas on the state as a social relation, and the later Foucault on statecraft; applications of the strategic-relational approach to important issues concerning the contemporary state: its gendered selectivity, the future of the national state, the states temporal sovereignty, and the relevance of multi-scalar meta-governance in Europe for the more general future of the state. The book concludes with recommendations for future strategic-relational research in political economy and state theory.

About the Author
Bob Jessop is Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University.

Reviews
"A work of cutting edge state theory by the leading figure in the field."
Political Studies Review

"Jessop is excellent on the paradox of the state. His overall substantive project is about as exciting as it gets."
British Journal of Sociology

"Jessop's book draws upon extensive reading to provide some useful methodological pointers for analysing states and challenges crude approaches to state power, including simplistic oppositions of state and civil society, politics and economics, global and national."
International Socialism

"Definitive, in the fullest sense of the word, State Power represents the culmination of three decades of path-breaking work from the world?s most restlessly creative state theorist. This is Jessop's tour de force."
Jamie Peck, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Bob Jessop has long been one of the most outstanding and influential contemporary exponents of state theory. In his new book he returns to reconsider some of the theoretical sources of his own distinctive strategic-relational approach ? Marx, Gramsci, Foucault, and, above all, Nicos Poulantzas ? before, suitably refreshed, addressing more substantive issues. The resulting reflections will be of great value to anyone struggling to make sense of the state in the era of neo-liberal globalization."
Alex Callinicos, King's College London

"Not for the first time, Bob Jessop's theoretically sophisticated and empirically astute dissection of social and political trends serves to breathe fresh life into the theory of the capitalist state. Yet what sets this work apart, above all, is the way in which it draws together three decades of profound insight into a tightly integrated framework for social, political and economic analysis. This, the most complete statement of the strategic-relational approach, should be required reading for all analysts, students and, ideally, all agents and subjects of state power."
Colin Hay, University of Sheffield

Book Information
ISBN 9780745633213
Author Bob Jessop
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 490g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 153mm * 24mm