Recent commentary has heralded the death of neo-liberalism and the possible reinvigoration of the nation state, national democracy, and welfare. Another strand of commentary sees the possible death of neo-liberalism as the emergence of an authoritarian capitalism. These approaches largely misinterpret the genealogy of neo-liberalism and the racialised nature of the global economy. A consideration of a return to the nation state and forms of welfare, through ‘buying American’ or ‘levelling up’, must also examine how racialised authoritarianism underpinned the neo-liberal state and defined the imperial relationship between the Global North and Global South. Thinking beyond neo-liberalism thus requires more than a simple idea of the return to the state. This paper firstly argues that the so-called return of the state in the Global North cannot be separated from racialised authoritarian capitalism at home and the expansion of debt diplomacy in the Global South. The second half of the paper highlights the challenges the so-called end of neo-liberalism poses for contemporary anti-racism and popular ideas of abolitionist politics. This centres on using a history of anti-imperialist political economy to supplement abolitionist politics and scale up a demand to ‘defund’ racial capitalism. 

John Narayan is a Senior Lecturer in European and International Studies at King’s College London. His most recent research has focused on the understudied transnationalism of Black Power and political theory created by groups such as The Black Panther Party.  John also sits on the Council of The Institute of Race Relations and is part of the Editorial Working Committee for Race & Class.

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