Author's note: This paper was originally presented at the SSRC/ACLS Joint Committee for the Near and Middle East meeting on “Retreating States,” Aix-en-Provence, March 25–27, 1988. I acknowledge the sometimes acerbic comments of the participants in that conference as well as those, no less penetrating, of my colleagues Atul Kohli, Ben Schneider, Guilain Denoeux, and Henry Bienen. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments. All the normal disinculpations apply.

¹ By way of example, see Raymond, Vernon, ed., The Promise of Privatization (New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1988), p. 7;Google ScholarEdouard, Balladur, Je crois en l'homme plus qu'en l'Etat (Paris, 1987), pp. 48–52;Google ScholarBertil, Walstedt, State Manufacturing Enterprise in a Mixed Economy: the Turkish Case (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980), p. 187;Google ScholarAliyshina, I. F. et al. , The Developing Countries in the Modern World: Unity and Diversity (Moscow, 1983),Google Scholar as cited in Tāhā, ⊂Abd al-⊂Alīm Tāhā, Tatawwur al-Binya al-Ijtimā⊂iyya lil-Buldān al-Nāmiyya fī Daw⊂ al-Istishrāq al-Sūfyāti wa-al Māddiyya al- Tārīkhiyya (The Evolution of the Social Structure in Developing Countries in Light of Soviet Orientalism and Historical Materialism) (Cairo: National Centre for Sociological and Criminological Research, 1988), pp. 146–55.Google Scholar

² Charles, Bettelheim, La lutte des classes en U.R.S.S. (Paris: Seuil-Maspéro, 1974), p. 41.Google Scholar See also Lenin's endorsement of state capitalism in the Soviet Union as the path to socialism in Arthur, Mandel, Essential Works of Marxism (New York: Bantam Books, 1961), p. 98.Google Scholar

³ Friedrich, Pollock, “State Capitalism: Its Possibilities and Limitations,” in Andrew, Arato and Eike, Gebhardt, eds., The Essential Frankfurt School Reader (New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1982), p. 73. Pollock's essay was originally published in 1941.Google Scholar

⁴ Coming to definitional grips with this phenomenon are, among many others, William, Canak, “State Capitalist and Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America,” Latin American Research Review 19 (1984), 3–36;Google ScholarFitzgerald, E. V. K. et al. , eds., The State and Economic Development in Latin America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), pp. 70–86;Google ScholarGuillermo, O'Donnell, “Corporatism and the Question of the State,” in James, Malloy, ed., Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1977), pp. 47–87;Google ScholarRichard, Sklar, “The Nature of Class Domination in Africa,” Journal of Modern African Studies 17 (1979): 531–52;Google ScholarDavid, Becker, The New Bourgeoisie and the Limits of Dependency: Mining, Class and Power in Revolutionary Peru (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983).Google Scholar

⁵ On the structuralist/instrumentalist distinction, see Nora, Hamilton, The Limits of State Autonomy: Post-Revolutionary Mexico (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982), pp. 8–9.Google Scholar The institutional analysts are represented by William, Niskanen, “Bureaucrats and Politicians,” Journal of Law and Economics 18, 3 (1975): 617–43;Google Scholar and Deepak, Lal, “The Political Economy of Economic Liberalization,” World Bank Economic Review 1, 2(1987): 273–99.Google Scholar

⁶ Alex, Dupuy and Barry, Truchil, “Problems in the Theory of State Capitalism,” Theory and Society 8, 1(1979): 1–38.Google Scholar

⁷ Hanna, Batatu alone fills the empirical void in The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979).Google Scholar See also Leonard, Binder, In a Moment of Enthusiasm (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1978);Google ScholarSamiyya, Sa⊂īd, Man Yamlik Misr?!; (Who Owns Egypt?!) (Cairo: Dār al-Mustaqbal al-⊂Arabī, 1986);Google Scholar⊂Isām, al-Khafājī, al-Dawla wa-al-Tatawwur al-Ra⊂smālī fī al-⊂Irāq, 1968–1978 (The State and Capitalist Evolution in Iraq, 1968–1978); (Cairo: Dār al-Mustaqbal al-⊂Arabī, 1983);Google ScholarNazīh, al-Ayyūbī, al-Dawla al-Markaziyya fī Misr (The Centralized State in Egypt) (Beirut: Markaz Dirāsāt al-Wahda al-⊂Arabiyya, 1989).Google ScholarMarc, Raffinot and Pierre, Jacquemot, Le capitalisme d'etat algérien (Paris: Maspéro, 1977);Google ScholarLeslie, and Noralou, Roos, Managers of Modernization: Organizations and Elites in Turkey (1950–1969) (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971).Google Scholar Of related interest are Marnia, Lazreg, The Emergence of Classes in Algeria (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1976);Google ScholarMalak, Zaalouk, Power, Class and Foreign Capital in Egypt: The Rise of the New Bourgeoisie (London: Zed Books, 1989);Google ScholarKaren, Pfeifer, Agrarian Reform under State Capitalism in Algeria (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1985);Google Scholar⊂Amr, Muhyī al-Dīn and Sa⊂d, al-Dīn Ibrāhīm, “State Socialism and Economic Growth,” in Sa⊂d, al-Dīn Ibrāhim, ed., Misr fī Rub⊂ Qarn 1952–1977 (Egypt in the Quarter Century 1952–1977) (Beirut: Dār al-Inmā⊂ al-⊂Arabī, 1981), pp. 302–34. Other relevant citations appear in subsequent endnotes.Google Scholar

⁸ Hélène, Carrère d'Encausse, La Politique Soviétique au Moyen-Orient 1955–1975 (Paris: Presses de la FNSP, 1975), p. 163.Google Scholar On the general issue of Soviet understanding of the state bourgeoisie in developing countries, see Jerry, Hough, The Struggle for the Third World: Soviet Debates and American Options (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1985).Google ScholarElizabeth, Valkenier, The Soviet Union and the Third World (New York: Praeger, 1983);Google ScholarGeorgii, Mirsky, “Changes in Class Forces and Ideas on Socialism,” Mizan 6, 10(1964).Google Scholar

⁹ Manfred, Halpern, The Politics of Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 52.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Ibid., p. 60.

¹¹ Ellen, Kay Trimberger, Revolution from Above (New York: Transaction Books, 1978).Google Scholar

¹² Ibid., p. 174.

¹³ Hough, The Struggle for the Third World, throughout.

¹⁴ Tīhā, The Evolution of the Social Structure, throughout.

¹⁵ Georgii, Mirsky, “The Future of Capitalism in the Developing World: A Round Table Discussion,” Peoples of Asia and Africa 1(1985),Google Scholar as cited in Tāhā, , The Evolution of the Social Structure, pp. 85–99.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Trimberger, Revolution from Above, throughout.

¹⁷ Samuel, P. Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1968), pp. 334–43.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Hough, , Struggle for the Third World, p. 134.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Pollock, , “State Capitalism,” p. 91.Google Scholar

²⁰ John, Waterbury, The Egypt of Nasser and Sadat: The Political Economy of Two Regions (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983), pp. 233–62. Note also Lal, “The Political Economy of Economic Liberalization,” throughout.Google Scholar

²¹ Neo-Marxists have come close to this position as well. On Algeria, see Marc, Raffinot and Pierre, Jacquemot, Le capitalisme d'etat algérien, esp. p. 49.Google Scholar

²² Mahmoud, Hussein, La lutte de classes en Egypte: 1945–70 (Paris: Maspéro, 1971), pp. 338–40.Google Scholar

²³ Ibid., p. 109.

²⁴ Ibid., p. 281.

²⁵ Ibid., p. 188.

²⁶ Ibid., p. 191. In this respect Hussein stands the argument of Fu⊂ād Mursī Hādhā al-Infitāh al-Iqtisādī (This is the Economic Open-Door) (Cairo: Dār al-Thaqāfa al-Jadīda, 1976) on its head. Mursī contended that Egypt's economic liberalization in the early 1970s (infitāh) came as the result of the new strength of private interests that needed profitable avenues by which to invest their accumulated savings, and called upon the state bourgeoisie to provide them. In this view, the state bourgeoisie did the bidding of the private sector.Google Scholar

²⁷ Ibid., throughout.

²⁸ Romdhane, M. Ben, L'accurnulation du capital et les classes sociales en Tunisie depuis l'indépendance, Doctorate d'Etat de Science Economique, Université de Tunis, 1982, pp. 224.Google Scholar

²⁹ Both ⊂Isām al-Khafājī and Hanna Batatu, Old Social Classes, note the prominence in the private construction sector of clients of the ruling group which is drawn disproportionately from the area of Takrit.

³⁰ Al-Khafājī, , The State, pp. 42, 177.Google Scholar

³¹ Batatu, , Old Social Classes, p. 110.Google Scholar

³² Halpern, , Politics of Social Change, pp. 51–78.Google Scholar

³³ Jean, Hannoyer and Michel, Seurat, Etat et secteur public industriel en Syrie (Beirut: CERMOC, 1979), p. 127.Google Scholar

³⁴ Michal, Kalecki “Social and Economic Aspects of Intermediate Regimes,” Selected Essays on the Economic Growth of the Socialist and Mixed Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ”1972), pp. 162–69.Google Scholar

³⁵ Waterbury, , Egypt of Nasser and Sadat, pp. 232–61. I am in the process of writing up my more recent research.Google Scholar

³⁶ Alan, Richards and John, Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East: State, Class and Economic Development (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1990),Google Scholar chap. 7; Nazīh, al-Ayyūbī, “Centralized State,” pp. 194–96.Google Scholar

³⁷ Samir, Amin, La nation arabe (Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1976), p. 8.Google Scholar

³⁸ Tāhā, , Evolution of the Social Structure, p. 134.Google Scholar Note also Elisabeth, Longuenesse, “Bourgeoisie, Petite-Bourgeoisie et Couches Moyennes en Syrie,” Peuples Méditerranéens 4 (07–09, 1978): 21–43;Google Scholar “The Class Nature of the State in Syria,” MERIP Report 9, 4 (05 3–11, 1979): 3–10;Google ScholarJean, Leca, “Social Structure and Political Stability: Comparative Evidence from the Algerian, Syrian and Iraqi Cases,” in Adeed, Dawisha and Zartman, I. W., eds., Beyond Coercion: The Durability of the Arab State (London: Croom Helm, 1988), pp. 169–202;Google ScholarSami, Zubaida, Islam, the People and the State (London: Routledge, 1989), esp. pp. 70–79.Google Scholar

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⁴⁶ See Michael, Fischer, “Islam and the Revolt of the Petite Bourgeoisie,” Daedalus 3, 1(1982): 101–25. The difficulty of defining the petìte bourgeoisie and its relation to the state comes out clearly in Binder's recent work. On the one hand, he sees the legitimacy of what he calls the national state as hinging on its ability to create jobs for the petite bourgeoisie. He also sees the petite bourgeoisie drawn to Muslim movements partially because they are anti- (the national) state. How both propositions can be true is solved by Binder's assertion that the petite bourgeoisie may simultaneously want to limit and expand the state, or at least get more Out of it for themselves (“Islamic Liberalism,” p. 17).Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Ali, El Kenz reproduced large parts of an interview with a senior manager in the national steel company of Algeria: “Many of the first generation of the Société Nationale de Siderurgie are like that; a kind of industrial militancy, a boy-scout side that we have. We're bitten by the SNS” (Le Complèxe Sidèrurgique d'El-Hadjar [Paris: Edition CNRS, 1987], p. 321). Interviews conducted by this author with senior Egyptian managers produced the same kind of self-characterizations.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Janet, K. Escobar, “Comparing State Enterprises Across International Boundaries,” in Leroy, Jones, ed., Public Enterprise in Less Developed Countries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), p. 108;Google Scholar see also Ellen, Comisso and Paul, Marer, “The Economics and Politics of Reform in Hungary,” in Ellen, Commisso and Laura, Tyson, eds., Power, Purpose and Collective Choice: Economic Strategy in Socialist States (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986), pp. 245–78.Google Scholar

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⁵¹ The most common defense may be the sabotage of hostile policies and reforms, but it is virtually impossible to know when sabotage is sabotage, when it is willed, and when it is undertaken as a class action. Overt forms of resistance are rare; Mahfoud Bennoune claims that the managers of Algerian public enterprises openly confronted the comprador bourgeoisie ruling group of President Ben Jadid, although they failed to deter him from breaking up the large public conglomerates; Bennoune, , The Making of Contemporary Algeria, 1930–1987(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p.277.Google Scholar

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