The ascendancy of neoliberal policies and the progressive inclusion of almost the entire world within the logic of capitalist economy characterized the last three decades. The marketization of sectors of society once outside the regulation of demand and supply has been characterized by the rising importance of multinational corporations. In this dynamic, transnational capital finds its legitimization and reinforcement in respect to the nation-states. The research draws on the changing relevance of nation states in regards to the rising importance of those private actors that this work labels as transnational capital. Illustrating the case of China in the evolution of this neoliberal hegemony originated in the seventies under US tutelage, the paper argues for a process of cooptation that the country is undergoing in respect to transnational capital. The relation between nation-states, transnational capital and the role of China is explored through the application of Gramscian/Neo-Gramscian analysis. The theoretical framework is based on the application of this analysis to International Political Economy with the explanation of the relevance for key concepts such as historic bloc, hegemony and cooptation. The aim of this research can be presented in two points. First, showing how the current situation of crisis is due to a lack of a well-established and legitimated world leadership that China will not be able to embody. Secondly, demonstrating that a shift in power structure from nation states to a new transnational elite is caused by the continuing expansion of markets where the actor that benefits the most is transnational capital. The paper concludes that the role of the state has to be reconsidered in light of discordance between the territorial and capitalistic logic of power. While the nation states are still very necessary in terms of legitimization, transnational capital has been able to detach itself from any sort of territorial logic of power.

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Hout, Wil
hdl.handle.net/2105/7187
International Political Economy and Development (IPED)
International Institute of Social Studies

Cimmino, Michele. (2008, January). A study of transnational capital as leading actor in the creation of a new historic bloc. International Political Economy and Development (IPED). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/7187