Towards a new social structure of accumulation?

Abstract

Der Ansatz 'Social Structure of Accumulation' (SSA) entwickelte sich seit Ende der 70er Jahre als Schule in Anlehnung an eine Revision des Marxismus. Die Theorie versteht sich als ein neuer Ansatz zur Analyse der langfristigen Entwicklungsstrukturen der kapitalistischen Ökonomien und Gesellschaften. Der Ausdruck SSA bezieht sich auf den komplexen Satz von Institutionen, die den Prozess der kapitalistischen Akkumulation ermöglichen und begleiten. Grundgedanke des Ansatzes ist es, dass langfristige Expansionen der kapitalistischen Gesellschaftsformation eine effektive SSA erfordern. Die SSA schließt dabei sowohl politische, wie kulturelle als auch ökonomische Institutionen ein. Dieses Institutionenarrangement stabilisiert sich sowohl in nationalen wie globalen Zusammenhängen. Der vorliegende Beitrag diskutiert die These des Ansatzes, dass die nationalen Ökonomien - sie sind zugleich Teile eines globalen Akkumulationsregimes - bestimmten zyklischen Schwankungen zwischen Boom und Krise unterworfen sind. Diese 'langen Wellen' werden jedoch durch die jeweils nationenspezifischen Institutionenarrangements modifiziert. In diesen Kontexten entstehen neue Formen des Akkumulationsregimes. (ICA)

'The Social Structure of Accumulation (SSA) approach provides a new way of analysing the structure and development of capitalist economies and societies. The term SSA refers to the complex of institutions which support the process of capital accumulation. The central idea of the SSA approach is that a long period of relatively rapid and stable economic expansion requires an effective SSA. The SSA includes political and cultural institutions as well as economic ones. The institutions comprising an SSA include both domestic and international arrangements. Domestic institutions may include the state of labour-management relations, the organisation of the work process, the character of industrial organisation, the role of money and banking and their relation to industry, the role of the state in the economy, the line-up of political parties, the state of race and gender relations and the state of the educational system. International institutions may concern the trade, investment, monetary-financial and political environments. The development of the SSA approach was motivated by at least three analytical concerns: historical, comparative, and programmatic. An historical concern suggests that individual economic systems, and the world system of which each is a part, go through periodic booms and periodic times of trouble. These alternating periods have been called long waves'. These long waves appear to be associated with the bunching of institutional changes, which take place in a discontinuous manner. Such patterns require an explanation. The SSA approach is not directed only at the problem of uneven economic expansion and discontinuous institutional change over time. It is also concerned with differences between the economic systems of various nations. The comparative concern suggests that, contrary to the view of traditional neoclassical economics, institutions and social structure make a difference to the functioning of economic systems. While Japan, Germany, the United States, Sweden and South Africa are all market-oriented economies, their structures and performances also differ considerably from one another. To explain these different outcomes, we need a theory that incorporates the institutional differences between countries. A programmatic policy concern asks how new institutions develop and are consolidated. Why do some attempts to reform and transform the economy and social structure meet considerable success, while others have only a limited impact, and yet others fail completely? We need a theory that can help answer these questions.' (author's abstract)