Social Structures of Accumulation Theory: The State of the Art

Abstract

This article summarizes developments within the SSA perspective since the publication of Social Structures of Accumulation: The Political Economy of Growth and Crisis in 1994. The article first overviews the literature produced since 1994, defining the main lines of research, starting with David Gordon's last contributions to the SSA framework before his death in 1996. In addition, a number of contributions from the academic discipline of sociology are highlighted. The geographic reach of the SSA framework has been extended to new areas, most prominently to developing countries. Several authors have applied the SSA framework to the history and analysis of specific institutions, including institutions of criminal justice and social control, as well as corporate structure. The theoretical contributions made by these works in the last ten years or so are assessed. The article concludes with a discussion of whether there is presently a new SSA in the making. JEL classification: B0, B5, E3, N0, N1, N4