Decarbonisation and the Structural Challenges of the Neoliberal State: The Case of the Coal Region in Slovakia

The transformation of the regional economy after the closure of the coal mines can be analysed from Joseph Schumpeter's perspective as a creative destruction and industrial mutation from the "old" to the "new". Policy narratives of decarbonisation operate with the goals of revolutionising the economic structure into a new climate-resilient system that will resurrect regional development and provide new employment opportunities. However, such a process faces multiple challenges as it confronts neoliberal state policies, globalisation, market competition and multiple structural barriers at different levels. In this study, we analyse the Horná Nitra coal region in Slovakia, where the government, with the support of the European Union, has decided to close the coal mines in 2023. The transformation of the regional economy from post-World War II industrialisation has been driven by political pressure and purposeful government spending supporting the development of more decentralised economic structures, based primarily on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Building on quantitative and qualitative research, the article focuses on mapping and analysing the structural obstacles and possible factors supporting the transition. In doing so, this article illustrates the possibilities but also the limitations of targeted interventions in the context of neoliberalism and describes the limits to balancing the social and economic risks that transformation entails.