Finding a Positive Vision for State Capitalism

Using Russia's state capitalist economy as a case study, this paper discusses the beneficial role that state capitalism could play in moving market economies toward greater equality and social justice. It argues that the state's authoritative position as chief owner of society's productive property and principal controller of social surplus offers the state both capacity and opportunity, especially if pressed from below, to use its considerable power over socio-economic decisions to begin a progressive democratic transformation. The paper focuses on what is arguably the first and the most important step in democratic restructuring of a state capitalist economy: state property reform, which, given Russia's economic history, means reforming the highly concentrated state ownership of industrial assets. A tripartite power structure inside large-scale state ownership is proposed as a model for a comprehensive restructuring of large state companies without also decreeing large-scale private property rights.