Varieties of Capitalism in Crisis?

Abstract

In this introduction to the special issue, we provide a brief overview of the two distinct but connected meanings of the phrase ‘varieties of capitalism in crisis’: (1) the crisis of empirical political economies under conditions of capitalist diversity; and (2) the crisis of the institutionalist approaches dominant within the literatures on capitalist diversity, which have displayed a near-total lack of reflection on the implications of the post-2007 period for the frameworks being employed and the assumptions they are based upon. From this starting point, via a discussion of the papers in the special issue, we consider key aspects of what could constitute an alternative conceptual apparatus: uneven development, variegation, and labour. We conclude by calling for greater dialogue and reflexivity across all of the literatures which study capitalist diversity, for we still have much to learn from each other.