German capitalism and the long search for a 'spatial fix'

Abstract

From the standpoint of capitalism in Germany, the European Union and the Eurozone are but the two most recent stations on the long pilgrimage to find a spatial fix, attempts to alleviate the perennial problem of a nationally-based centre of capital accumulation, bursting the bounds of its home market, but without easy access to overseas empire. But these ‘spatial fixes’ – from Bismarckian imperialism on – have occurred undemocratically, have fostered chauvinism and racism, and have remained trapped in the fetishised forms which are the curse of private-property. All of these superstructural impediments have become prisons, holding back social development in Germany and throughout Europe. This paper will develop these themes through a survey of three distinct ‘moments’ in the search for a spatial fix to the contradictions inherent in German and European capitalism.