Quo vadis neoliberalism in an age of resurgent state capitalism?

Contrary to prevailing assumptions, the emergence of new state capitalism does not inherently oppose neoliberalism; rather, the two coexist and intertwine. Analysing the evolving relationship between both, this article makes three interrelated arguments. First, notwithstanding long historical lineages, some of the main contemporary dimensions of the new state capitalism are a product of neoliberalism and its contradictions, instabilities, crises and conflicts. The new state capitalism is, thus, both deeply shaped by neoliberal path-dependencies and institutional legacies, and the deepening of neoliberalisation, albeit through new modalities. Second, the new state capitalism constitutes a form of evolving and mutating neoliberalism, rather than an alternative to it (at least for now). That said, neoliberal mutations, like greater accommodation of state ownership and enhanced statist interventionism within the neoliberal mainframe, are themselves the source of major fault lines within neoliberalism, exacerbating geoeconomic antagonisms and the geopoliticisation of economic relations. Third, the new state capitalism accelerates the development of neoliberal forms of economic nationalism. Scalar contradictions are thus exacerbated through the tensions produced by the nationalist promotion of competitive corporate champions amid (an evolving) global neoliberal architecture.