Radical(ly) political economy: Luhmann, postmarxism and globalization

This paper is concerned with a reactivation of the dimension of the political in political economy. The question of politicization is explored in connection with recent theoretical reflection on postmarxism and the systems theory of Luhmann. A main contention is that, in contrast to naturalistic perspectives, there is no pre-given object of political economy. Rather the objectivation of the economy has to be considered in strictly hegemonic terms; terms that, I argue, are the condition of possibility for a politicization of political economy. On these grounds, the paper advances an alternative approach to political economy that may be considered radical insofar as it does not attempt to conceal the fundamental dimension of the political. This approach will be developed further in the context of contemporary themes and debates surrounding the question of globalization and the potential openings for hegemonic intervention by the left. Here again the status of the political is taken to be paramount