Varieties of capitalism or varieties of relationships of forces? Outlines of a historical materialist policy analysis

Abstract

Our article focuses on a question that is at the core of comparative capitalisms (CC) scholarship and historical materialist state theory: What is an appropriate theory of institutions in capitalism? How can we conceptualise institutions in relation to the fundamental contradictions and power relations of capitalism? Starting from the social foundations of institutions, the aim of this article is to show how institutional complementarity and institutional change can be explained through analysing shifting relationships of social forces. With our newly developed method of a ‘historical materialist policy analysis’, in which we have integrated insights of CC approaches, we seek to show how an empirical investigation of relationships of forces can be operationalised. This is briefly illustrated in an analysis of the constellation of forces in the current Euro crisis.