Working Papers by Steven Klein
The 2008 financial crisis and ensuing Eurozone crisis were more than just economic shocks. They r... more The 2008 financial crisis and ensuing Eurozone crisis were more than just economic shocks. They revealed tensions in the fundamental structure of postwar democratic capitalism. In this talk, Steven Klein argues that recent economic crises are propelled by the long-term erosion of institutions built after the Second World War, which were only ever partially democratic. Inspired by the work of Hungarian economic sociologist Karl Polanyi (1886–1964), who traced the breakdown of European society to the tension between democracy and capitalism, Klein analyzes capitalism as a form of economic authoritarianism nestled in formally democratic institutions. He then grapples with the implications of three key transformations that have emerged since Polanyi was writing: decolonization and the changing dynamics of global political economy, the rise of debt and credit as central pillars of the economy, and the technological shifts towards more service-oriented capitalism.
Books by Steven Klein
Cambridge University Press, 2020
The Work of Politics advances a new understanding of how democratic social movements work with we... more The Work of Politics advances a new understanding of how democratic social movements work with welfare institutions to challenge structures of domination. Klein develops a novel theory that depicts welfare institutions as “worldly mediators,” or sites of democratic world-making fostering political empowerment and participation within the context of capitalist economic forces. Drawing on the writings of Weber, Arendt, and Habermas, and historical episodes that range from the workers' movement in Bismarck's Germany to post-war Swedish feminism, this book challenges us to rethink the distribution of power in society, as well as the fundamental concerns of democratic theory. Ranging across political theory and intellectual history, The Work of Politics provides a vital contribution to contemporary thinking about the future of the welfare state.
Articles by Steven Klein
Journal of Political Philosophy, online first
What is the value and function of democratic institutions? One prominent and powerful answer coul... more What is the value and function of democratic institutions? One prominent and powerful answer could be broadly called “liberal proceduralist”: democratic institutions, by embodying fair procedures for resolving disagreements, constitute or contribute to a politically valuable ideal of relational equality. As attractive as it is, this view falters because it rests on a flawed view of democratic institutions. In place of the liberal proceduralist view, I develop a democratic power approach. The democratic power approach advances a dynamic account of democratic institutions, one that focuses on how procedures and outcomes, taken together as having effects on the organization of power in society, sustain valuable relationships of social equality.
Global Perspectives, 2020
Karl Polanyi’s critique of the ideal of the self-adjusting market is increasingly invoked to chal... more Karl Polanyi’s critique of the ideal of the self-adjusting market is increasingly invoked to challenge the negative effects of European integration on national social welfare systems. However, these debates have been caught in an unhelpful opposition between European market openness and national social closure. Challenging common interpretations of Polanyi, this article shows that he develops a theory of the relationship between democratic reciprocity and what the article calls “nonmarket modes of economic coordination.” The problem is not reconciling openness with closure but navigating the dilemmas of democratic capitalism. The article then uses this framework to critique the one-sided nature of European law as well as recent calls for a “social Europe.” The article criticizes these efforts, arguing that the fate of social Europe is bound to the economic and political dynamics unleashed by the project of monetary integration.
Constellations, 2020
The democratic question of capitalism—of whether capitalist economic structures and their charact... more The democratic question of capitalism—of whether capitalist economic structures and their characteristic forms of power are compatible with democratic principles—is unsettled. This article draws together the social and political theory of Jürgen Habermas and Karl Polanyi to develop a general framework for critically analyzing the relationship between capitalism and democracy. Critiquing Habermas’s thought for narrowing capitalism to money-mediated exchange, it uses a novel reconstruction of Polanyi’s social theory to expand Habermas’s system/lifeworld framework. It then shows how Polanyi’s social theory provides theoretical resources for understanding the central role of the politics of money, credit, and debt in capitalist societies. As capitalist societies have moved from an era of welfare state capitalism to debt-fueled growth, political conflicts over debt are increasingly important sites for the potential democratization of the economy.
Sociological Theory, 2019
This article develops a conceptual framework to theorize the processes of mutual penetration betw... more This article develops a conceptual framework to theorize the processes of mutual penetration between civil society, the state, and the economy, where incumbents and challengers continuously formulate new strategies against each other. We criticize the prevailing Weberian and Tocquevillian concepts of civil society, and then, drawing on research in social movements and comparative political economy, propose a new framework: the politics of forward and backward infiltration. Under each form of infiltration, we delineate three sub-modes: the politics of influence, the politics of substitution, and the politics of occupation, which correspond to strategies for discursive influence, functional replacement, and institutional takeover , respectively. We challenge the exclusive focus on 'the politics of influence' as inadequate for analyzing these processes, while highlighting the other two modes as necessary additions. Finally, we elucidate the implications of our theory of forward and backward infiltration for the study of civil society and participatory democracy more generally.
American Journal of Political Science, 2017
Prominent republican theorists invoke anonymous orders such as the market as mechanisms that secu... more Prominent republican theorists invoke anonymous orders such as the market as mechanisms that secure freedom as non-domination. Drawing on Karl Polanyi's account of fictitious commodities and demonstration of the impossibility of a just and rational market society, this article critically scrutinizes neo-republican assumptions regarding the market, develops an alternate social theory within which to situate the ideal of non-domination, and illustrates the importance of this reconfiguration for the kind of collective agents and political strategies that can be expected to advance republican freedom in the economy.
Journal of Politics, 2017
Prominent strands of contemporary democratic theory, by figuring genuine democratic agency as fun... more Prominent strands of contemporary democratic theory, by figuring genuine democratic agency as fundamentally disruptive, present conventional social and political institutions merely as sites of calculation and normalization. This article challenges such a view by tracing its origins in Max Weber's theory of domination. Even as many democratic theorists repudiate the political consequences of Weber's thought, they fail to fully confront the socio-theoretic categories underpinning his vision, such that these categories continue to structure conceptions of democratic agency and horizons of practical possibility in democratic theory. Here, I argue that Weber's democratic-skepticism arises not, as is commonly thought, from a philosophical repudiation of the concept of legitimacy, but rather from his analysis of the origins of value-systems in extraordinary ruptures with everyday experience. To move beyond Weber, democratic theorists must challenge both his distinction between the ordinary and the extraordinary and his reduction of institutional politics to domination and technical control.
American Political Science Review, 2014
What is the significance of the welfare state and struggles over social and economic needs for de... more What is the significance of the welfare state and struggles over social and economic needs for democratic politics? This article turns to Hannah Arendt’s thought to articulate new possibilities for relating democratic agency and the welfare state, possibilities neglected by currently dominant deliberative and radical democratic approaches. Against critics who claim that Arendt seeks to purify politics of economic and social problems, I argue that she presents a sophisticated account of the vital importance of economic matters for public life. For Arendt, the danger is not the invasion of politics by economics, but rather the loss of the worldly, mediating institutions that allow economic matters to appear as objects of public concern. Reconstructing her account of these mediating institutions, I show that Arendt’s analysis opens up novel insights into the relationship between democratic action and welfare institutions, drawing attention to how such institutions transform material necessity into shared objects of attachment, judgment, and action.
Reviews, Essays, Etc by Steven Klein
Los Angeles Review of Books, 2019
Review of Karl Polanyi Economy and Society: Selected Writings in the LA Review of Books
Aeon, 2018
Essay about Habermas and the public sphere in Aeon
Perspectives on Politics, 2018
Short essay in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas responding to Jeremy Adelman, "Polanyi, the Failed P... more Short essay in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas responding to Jeremy Adelman, "Polanyi, the Failed Prophet of Moral Economics," Boston Review (May 30, 2017)
Courses by Steven Klein
This seminar explores recent debates in political theory. Questions we will pursue include: what ... more This seminar explores recent debates in political theory. Questions we will pursue include: what is the nature and basis of social critique? How should political theorists analyze normative concepts like equality and how do such analyses relate to the real world? What is the role of identity and subjectivity in politics? In the last portion of the course, we will examine the tools provided by political theory for addressing recent political problems: the return of unregulated capitalism, the increasing importance of global interconnections and migration flows, and looming environmental risks.
This seminar will introduce you to the field of political theory and encourage you to reflect on ... more This seminar will introduce you to the field of political theory and encourage you to reflect on the relationship between theoretical and normative concepts and the scientific study of politics. We will examine the main debates within political theory as well as debates about the relationship between theory and political science and between theory and political practice. Theories and topics we will consider include pragmatism, liberalism, realism, critical social theory, post-structuralism, theories of race, gender, and colonialism, and different approaches to the history of political thought. Beyond familiarizing you with the major debates in political theory, this course will teach you how to reflect on the concepts and commitments that inform your work.
This seminar explores the concept of democracy from a variety of historical, normative, and insti... more This seminar explores the concept of democracy from a variety of historical, normative, and institutional perspectives. We will investigate the value of democracy as an ideal, examine the diverse historical meanings that have congealed around the term, and inquire into the different institutional mechanisms and practices that could realize the value of democracy. Questions we will pursue include: how does “modern” democracy relate to “ancient” democracy? How has thinking about democracy evolved over the 20th century (elitist, pluralist, deliberative, etc. democracy)? What is the meaning of political equality and democratic citizenship? How does the normative evaluation of democracy relate to the empirical study of democratic regimes? What are the relative merits of the different institutional mechanisms of democracy (elections, referenda, sortation, non-electoral representation)? How do democratic practices intersect with broader structures of inequality and domination in society?
Social policy and the future of the welfare state continue to be objects of heated political conf... more Social policy and the future of the welfare state continue to be objects of heated political conflict. In this course, we will attempt to situate these contemporary debates in a broad historical and intellectual context, focusing on foundational attempts to understand the historical transformations grouped together by the term "welfare state." We start with influential liberal and social democratic defenses of the post-war welfare state, before turning to the "discontents": conservative, radical democratic, and feminist critiques of the welfare state. Questions we will consider include: What does it mean for a state to promote welfare? How does the pursuit of welfare relate to other political ideals, like freedom and democracy? How should the analysis of the welfare state be related to critical accounts of gender, race, and capitalism? Finally, we will examine the breakdown of the post-war political settlement and the challenges to the welfare state posed by the recent economic crisis.
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Working Papers by Steven Klein
Books by Steven Klein
Articles by Steven Klein
Reviews, Essays, Etc by Steven Klein
Courses by Steven Klein