The state is constituted by power, not merely an instrument that wields it
Evidence
By the “power theory of the state” I do not mean principally the course it has). In that interpretation the power is conceived as separate from — established or existing independent of — the state. Rather, I want to insist that the state acquires its specificity as a state by virtue of being constituted in and through powers (a range of powers) which the state at once embodies. Power is to the state and the state to power as blood is to the human body. — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 9
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines a ‘power theory of the state’ where power is constitutive of the state rather than external to it.
- XREF: connects to: The concept is a formative power, not an empty receptacle — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 208
Related
- A racially conceived state can only express itself in racial terms (similarity 0.80)
- The state’s defining capacity to exclude is what enables racial formation (similarity 0.79)
- The concept is a formative power, not an empty receptacle (similarity 0.79)