SOAS Research Online

A Free Database of the Latest Research by SOAS Academics and PhD Students

[skip to content]

Eagleton-Pierce, Matthew (2023) 'Uncovering the City of London Corporation: Territory and Temporalities in the New State Capitalism.' Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 55 (1). pp. 184-200.

[img]
Preview
Text - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY 4.0).

Download (591kB) | Preview

Abstract

The heterogenous literature on the ‘new state capitalism’ has provoked considerable academic and popular interest in recent years, but also critique regarding how to analytically bolster the concept and enhance empirical understanding. This paper responds to Alami and Dixon’s (2020a, 2020b) call for a fresh interrogation of the new state capitalism through an examination of the governance of the City of London. As the largest exporter of financial services in the world, the City plays a crucial role in the reproduction of financial capitalism. However, one major deficiency in debates on the political governance of the City surrounds the role of sub-state institutions. Remarkably, with limited exceptions, we know comparatively little about the main municipal authority: the City of London Corporation. As a local governing body, it conducts all the ordinary work of a public authority. But the Corporation also has many peculiar features which distinguish it from other public institutions, including vigorous support of financial services through planning law, lobbying and other promotion. This paper argues that thinking on the new state capitalism offers a vehicle for dissecting how the Corporation operates in the service of transnational financial interests. By unpacking how the Corporation is tied into a web of relations with private finance and other historically developed networks of power, the discussion problematises two macro themes on the new state capitalism: the spatial complexity of multi-scalar state governance and the temporal fluidity of legacies of the past interpenetrating with the present definition of ‘now’.

Item Type: Journal Article
Keywords: Capitalism, finance, City of London, territory, City of London Corporation
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > Department of Politics & International Studies
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
J Political Science > JZ International relations
ISSN: 0308518X
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X221083986
Date Deposited: 15 Mar 2022 10:45
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/36809

Altmetric Data

Statistics

Download activity - last 12 monthsShow export options
Downloads since deposit
6 month trend
49Downloads
6 month trend
109Hits
Accesses by country - last 12 monthsShow export options
Accesses by referrer - last 12 monthsShow export options

Repository staff only

Edit Item Edit Item