Taking Back Control? – New MPIfG Book by Wolfgang Streeck

In his new book, Taking Back Control? States and State Systems after Globalism, MPIfG Director Emeritus Wolfgang Streeck analyzes hyperglobalization, an era characterized by boundless capitalist expansion and dominated by neoliberal politics. These developments gave rise to a centralization of global power, be it in the form of supranational structures such as the EU or the “New World Order” proclaimed by the USA. Such approaches were hampered, however, by political instability, a lack of social legitimacy, and growing global tensions. The book examines how economic and institutional crises have revealed the limitations of hyperglobalization and strengthened countermovements that demand a return to the authority of the nation state. Taking Back Control? is a timely and provocative work that invites readers to reflect on the consequences of globalization and the future of political orders. Published by Verso on November 19, it is the extended and updated translation of Zwischen Globalismus und Demokratie: Politische Ökonomie im ausgehenden Neoliberalismus (Suhrkamp, 2021).