Durand Cédric

In 2010, the Eurozone became the epicentre of the world crisis. The vulnerability of Europe appears to be linked to the specific institutional arrangement which organises monetary, financial and budgetary policies within the Eurozone. This article tries to understand the evolution of theeuduring a short but decisive historical sequence in a theoretical framework that puts elements of Gramsci’s reflections on the theme of crisis, and especially his notion of ‘Caesarism’, at its centre. It addresses the current debate concerning the relationships between democratic politics and neoliberalism, while focusing on how the radicalisation of the crisis put at stake the co-construction of capitalism and representative democracy in the Western world sincewwii.

The Mandel-Poulantzas debate of the seventies was one of the rare attempts in political economy to provide an explanation of the long-term European integration rationale. For Mandel, an amalgamation of national capitals at the European level was necessary, as capitals in Europe have no other choice than to gather forces in order to survive the competition of US capital. The emergence of European proto-state was a side effect of this process of capital amalgamation. Poulantzas doubted this hypothesis, pointing out the growing imbrications between US and European capitals and the resilience of long-term historical singularities reflected in the national state. Four decades later, this contribution goes back to this debate and examines empirically the organization of capital in Europe, looking at ownership, board interlock networks, and trade interdependency. It shows that Europeanization is only one of the facets of a broader process of capital internationalization.