Zur Aktualität der Staatsform

Since the middle of the 19th century, historical and materialistic social theory has made significant contributions to the role of the state. Since the 1970s especially, one movement, which is part of ‘Western Marxism’, has asked why political rule in bourgeois capitalist societies takes the form of a state and how the state transforms itself in relation to changes in society. Joachim Hirsch is a prominent representative of this theoretical approach, who has focused on addressing the question of what form a state adopts. He has coined terms such as ‘security state’, ‘competitive state’ and ‘internationalising the state’, and has linked the materialistic theory of the state with Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony and regulation theory to great effect. Important political appraisals and perspectives can be condensed into Hirsch’s concepts of ‘radical reformism’ and ‘social infrastructure’, among others.