The Concealment of the State

Increasingly, politicians and policymakers insist that the market is an immovable force that constrains their ability to act. At the same time, states strive to retain their sovereignty while claiming to be part of a global system. This dichotomy reveals a dominant contemporary ideology: the concealment of the state.

This accessible book draws upon the anarchist criticism of the state to show the ideological and functional logic behind such concealment. It explains how states hide their ability to act by separating politics into a deep and shallow state, where political actors in the shallow state are free from policy formulation and implementation, which rests with the deep state. For example, American politicians deny global warming as the Pentagon plans to open new Arctic sea routes. Such transfer of policy to a less visible state is demonstrated through concrete international policy examples, including environmental regulations, budget recommendations, workplace safety, scientific investment, transportation planning, and education. The anarchist tradition shows how this concealment can be exposed so that popular political activity can challenge it more effectively.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Concealing the state frees us from admitting the unpleasant truth-in today's world we are utterly dependent upon the state's increasingly frantic efforts to control risk. To this end, states have created systems of coercion and surveillance that are difficult to reconcile with our theories of political legitimacy. The dominant ideology of contemporary politics has become the concealment of the state's overwhelming power and role in daily life. We prefer the comfortable illusion that we are autonomous individuals pursuing our plans in a free market. If we hold fast to that idea, then our distance from policy makers and dwindling political influence seems less important. Nonetheless, this book draws upon the anarchist tradition and a wide range of accessible policy examples (ranging from military organization and environmental regulations to scientific investment and education) to reveal the active role of contemporary states behind this ideological screen. Lindsey argues that we need a new politics that focuses on exposing and challenging the contemporary state's hidden agency. Otherwise, how can we democratically control the state when it denies, from the outset, having the ability to meet our demands?

Jason Royce Lindsey is Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, St. Cloud State University, USA. His main area of research is contemporary political theory though he also researches the politics of Eastern Europe and travels there extensively.

Chapter 1: The Concealment of the State
Chapter 2: Deep and Shallow State
Chapter 3: Theories of the State
Chapter 4: Engines of Oppression
Chapter 5: A Postindustrial Peasantry?
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Bibliography
Index