Despite many claims to the contrary, Québec and Canada demonstrate the continued importance of state institutional authority, even under Neoliberalism
Neoliberal globalization is understood to have a corrosive effect on the state. Reductions in economic regulatory capacities combined with an ideological attack on the public necessity of social spending has left many with the impression that the state is a weakened institution, at best. This book argues that despite popular claims to the contrary, global capitalism requires state institutional authority, but the legitimation of this authority is increasingly tied to cultural rather than economic means. Canada and Québec are presented in historical comparative context as examples of how neoliberal states achieve global political economic integration while relying on cultural legitimation to maintain social policies working to mitigate social changes resulting from increased global integration.
Excerpt
“There is so little to be said about globalization that is not cliché. Globalization, apparently, has the ability to either construct world peace, or rip the world apart. It is purported to create unimaginable wealth and equally devastating poverty. In many ways, I am taking the easy road by circumventing these metanarratives and examining an artifact of this seemingly ubiquitous and all-encompassing phenomena: The problem of so-called state decline due to globalization political ideology and systemic liberal market integration. Obviously, ‘the easy way out’ is a rough road as well.” From the Introduction