The European Union’s approach to market competition, historically based on promoting a level playing field, without state aid or market concentration, is undergoing significant changes. Competition is now being “securitized” in the EU, reshaped by geopolitical concerns rather than purely economic ones. The change is surprising, as the EU was initially established as a peace project, not a traditional state with national interests. How will the intertwining of market and security logics shape the EU going forward?

In his new book Taking Back Control?, Wolfgang Streeck analyses the ongoing tug-of-war between the forces of globalism and democracy. Exploring the possibility for states and the societies they govern to take back control over their collective fate, the book is an attempt at a renewed theory of the state in political economy. Inspired by the work of Karl Polanyi and John Maynard Keynes, it discusses the potential outlines of a state system allowing for democratic governance within and peaceful cooperation between sovereign nation-states.

For decades we have known about the dangers of global warming. Nevertheless, greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase. How can we explain our failure to take the necessary measures to stop climate change? In this important new book, Jens Beckert provides an answer to this question. Our apparent inability to implement basic measures to combat climate change is due to the nature of power and incentive structures affecting companies, politicians, voters, and consumers.