Socialist States in the Capitalist World-Economy

Recent developments in the Marxist theory of the state and the emerging world-system perspective cast new light on the nature of the contemporary “socialist” states and their role in the larger capitalist world-economy. This essay reviews these theoretical developments, discusses the nature of socialism as a socioeconomic system, and suggests a reinterpretation of the history of the countries in which socialist movements have taken state power. I consider the socialist states to represent the intentional logic of socialism, much as labor unions and workers' parties do. But I argue that they have not been able to successfully create a fully institutionalized socialist socioeconomic system because the forces of the capitalist world-economy have shaped the socialist states so that they now play a functional role in the reproduction of capitalism. I discuss the implications of this development for the transition to socialism on a world scale.