Graduation Date
2005
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Sociology
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Lee H. Bowker
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Sing Chew
Third Committee Member Name
Dr. Mary Virnoche
Fourth Committee Member Name
Dr. Donna Shafer
Keywords
Sociology
Abstract
This thesis represents a critical comparative and historical study of the challenges posed to the autonomy and sovereignty of the nation-state by the emerging transnational class structure in the current era of global accumulation. I examine key elements of modern state theory, contrasting them with class-based state theory. National models may be extended to help illustrate transnational relationships. Transnational institutions, components of the transnational state apparatus, serve as examples of the means by which this transnational capitalist class formulates and implements policy. But this transnational structure is not stable; it suffers from the very contradictions immanent to capitalism itself. I argue that, even in its infancy, the regime of global accumulation already faces challenges and crises that will prove to be fatal. Ultimately, if we are to understand the transnational structures of power, social scientists must escape from the nation-state centrism from which many currently suffer.
Recommended Citation
Gunn, Jeffery Robert, "The Nation-State and the Transnational Capitalist Class in the Era of Global Accumulation" (2005). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2424.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2424