A European Capitalism? Revisiting the Mandel–Poulantzas Debate

Abstract

The Mandel-Poulantzas debate of the seventies was one of the rare attempts in political economy to provide an explanation of the long-term European integration rationale. For Mandel, an amalgamation of national capitals at the European level was necessary, as capitals in Europe have no other choice than to gather forces in order to survive the competition of US capital. The emergence of European proto-state was a side effect of this process of capital amalgamation. Poulantzas doubted this hypothesis, pointing out the growing imbrications between US and European capitals and the resilience of long-term historical singularities reflected in the national state. Four decades later, this contribution goes back to this debate and examines empirically the organization of capital in Europe, looking at ownership (nationality and kind of investor), board interlock networks, and trade interdependency. It shows that Europeanization is only one of the facets of a broader process of capital internationalization.