Abstract
Variegated Neoliberalism: EU Varieties of Capitalism and International Political Economy is the latest book that views EU integration through the prism of neo-Gramscian analysis. Taking Van Apeldoorn's highly regarded Transnational Capitalism and the Struggle over European Integration (which focuses on the ERT – the European Round Table of Industrialists) as its precedent, Huw Macartney highlights the emergence of strong financial-market actors who have shaped the processes of the European capitalist order in the twenty-first century and generated a contingent ‘Variegated Neoliberalism’, which is permeating integration processes. While this pertains to the EU as a whole, the focus is on Britain (Atlantic), France (Gallic) and Germany (Rhenish) to represent the dominant factions of capital driving these processes. The distinction highlights the contingent nature of changes and the spatial differentiation to be overcome when considering integrative initiatives.
The theoretical developments that underpin the analysis are primarily focused upon a critique and development of the ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ (VoC) literature, and ‘Transnational Neo-Gramscian Historical Materialism’. The author attempts to overcome the state-centrism of VoC analysis, highlighting the over-reliance on path dependency when faced with transnationalising forces. Instead, Macartney offers a nuanced understanding of EU integration through the concept of ‘Variegated Neoliberalism’, highlighting that while path dependency may exist to a degree, the neo-liberal turn in the EU must not, and should not, be considered a monolith. Neo-liberal integration is taking place in a variegated manner, sympathetic to national contingencies feeding into a contested transnational realm where a new common sense may prevail.
This is complemented by a neo-Gramscian approach which takes care to avoid overdetermination in all areas of analysis, especially those concerning the efficacy of ideas. Instead of using Cox's triangulated notion, Macartney presents an approach which is also three-pronged, though seemingly in a circulatory manner, which takes the form of: (1) historical impulsions under capitalism; (2) fractions of capital and their agency; and (3) the common sense that prevails. While this latter approach is a strong one, the brief criticism of Cox comes in the concluding sections of the book, and there is a feeling that without prior familiarity with neo-Gramscian approaches, the reader may get lost in some of its concepts which could receive greater treatment in the first section.
The above is a minor criticism, as the theoretical and empirical elements are innovative. The concept of ‘Variegated Neoliberalism’ should become integral when considering the processes of integration and the capitalist order in contemporary Europe.