The Retreat of the State: State Diffusion of Power in the World Economy

Strange, Susan. The Retreat of the State: State Diffusion of Power in the World Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

In what might effectively be regarded as the third part of a trilogy, together with States and Markets (1988) and Rival States, Rival Firms (with John M. Stopford, 1991), Strange examines states' transition towards the sidelines of global political economic relations. Though in the past authority might have been state based, now she argues it is more often based on non-state abilities to bring about (or structure) outcomes. This has to some extent been obscured by the increasing intervention by states in the lives of their citizens, giving an impression of the retention of power. While some states have fared better than others, the US being the prime example of a state retaining significant power, in general Strange sees new sites of authority in the global system are rising to challenge even the strongest states. Relations between states and non-state authority are arrayed along a continuum from the Mafia, threatening and undermining remaining state authority, to the big-six accountancy firms and transnational legal partnerships which work with state based authority and by doing so support it. Lacking the means to autonomously change its interactions with the global political economy, the state has lost the most important and significant aspect of its potential.

Keywords: Foundational Work; States; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Authority vs Markets

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