Conclusion

Abstract

The aim of the present thesis has been to direct discourse analysis to the study of the articulation of state, economy and civil society within modern capitalist societies. In the pursuit of this aim the first step was to deconstruct the Marxist account of the question of societal reproduction. This was done in order to clear the ground for a non-essentialist analysis of the intrasocieal relationships between the state, the economy and civil society. The result was an emphasis on the political inscription of institutional forms of state, economy and civil society within particular historical blocs. The second step was to elaborate a general theory of capitalist regulation by means of integrating the recently developed theories of capitalist regulation and strategic-relation state analysis within the broader framework of discourse analysis. This allowed societal reproduction to be analysed in terms of complex processes of regulation, which to the extent that they take place in a context of social antagonisms should be conceived of as hegemonic practices.