Relative autonomy : an empirical critique

Abstract

This work analyses the relative autonomy framework within Marxist state theory. Relative autonomy stresses the independence of the state from the economic interests of the capitalist mode of production (CMP) and emphasises the role of the state in ensuring the overall reproduction of the capitalist mode. However, the validity of relative autonomy theory has been called into question in the 1980s by the withdrawal of Western capitalist states from most direct interventions in the CMP. Three disparate theorists (Ralph Miliband, Claus Offe and Nicos Poulantzas) were examined in the light of state intervention in the New Zealand CMP. The test was whether or not relative autonomy hypotheses could be constructed from Miliband, Offe or Poulantzas' accounts that explained the transformation in the form of the state evident during the 1980s. This study found that none of the theories explained the forms of the state in terms of relative autonomy. Furthermore, it was concluded that relative autonomy is a descriptive and not an analytic category. Accordingly, it is recommended that relative autonomy be reintegrated within Marxist analysis as an observation tool. In this new framework relative autonomy would mediate the relationship between mechanisms (such as the CMP) and observable empirical forms (such as the state). It is also noted that relative autonomy has been an obstacle to progressive social change. The empiricism inherent in relative autonomy has distorted the political focus of socialists by reifying the state. Reification implies the analysis of the state in empirical terms, that is, in isolation from the Marxist understanding of an integrated social formation. Consequently, relative autonomy has established an agenda for progressive social change within a state-centric focus. It is argued this has been a factor in the maintenance of the reformist political strategy. The study ends by suggesting that the empirical character of relative autonomy should be elaborated in further research. The aim of this future work should be the development of an accepted operational understanding of relative autonomy amongst Marxist theorists. If this can be achieved it is considered that there is hope that Marxist analysis might again assume a leading position within progressive political criticism.