The irony of state strength: comparative responses to the oil shocks in the 1970s

Abstract

Like two gigantic waves, the oil shocks crested over the advanced industrial world during the 1970s. The relatively stable postwar petroleum regime, managed by the large oil firms and protected by American diplomatic and military strength, collapsed. In seven years crude oil prices, adjusted for inflation, increased more than 500 percent. A multitude of national security, economic, and political challenges confronted the advanced industrial states. But unlike war, where the threat is observable and lines of conflict quickly become apparent, the oil shocks cast up problems that were more insidious—problems of energy security, economic adjustment, and industrial competitiveness. These international dilemmas could be defined in various ways, and a host of policy responses could be brought to bear upon them.

Integrating techno-economic, socio-technical and political perspectives on national energy transitions: A meta-theoretical framework

“…structures and rules that enable and constrain state and other political actors [117]. In one of the earlier political studies of energy transitions, Ikenberry [118] explained the responses of industrialized democracies to oil crises by their institutional capacities, defined as patterns of interaction between the state and industries and resembling the later concept of varieties of capitalism [119]. The concept of capacity signals that a state is not able to pursue any energy policy it desires.…”

Energy, Capital as Power and World Order

“…The approach of neoliberal institutionalism is generally concerned with how agents other than the state can help promote transnational cooperation and overcome international anarchy-largely by rules, institutions and market mechanisms (Colgan et al 2012;Goldthau and Witte 2013;Ikenberry 1986;Keohane 1978;Keohane and Victor 2013). In general, most neoliberal institutionalists take capitalism for granted and demonstrate very little awareness of how the magnitude of capital accumulation and its greater universalization is historically tethered to the exploitation of non-renewable fossil fuels.…”

Implicación Estatal y Desarrollo de Capacidades para una Nueva Estrategia de Desarrollo Regional

“…Garantizada la autonomía, las estructuras estatales (en este caso las regionales) requieren de una nueva dimensión de la capacidad, también históricamente elaborada, que denominamos capacidad infraestructural. La misma consiste en la aptitud para penetrar en la sociedad y desarrollar un alto poder operativo a partir de nutrirse de las energías, conocimientos y recursos sociales (Man, 1991); (Ikenberry, 1986).…”

“…A través de un proceso de enraizamiento de las agencias estatales regionales en el escenario donde se desempeñan los actores económicos y sociales, las capacidades infraestructurales pasan a actuar complementariamente a las capacidades internas, evitando el aislamiento de las burocracias y los decision makings que actúan con ellas, y enriqueciendo los instrumentos, los conocimientos y la maniobrabilidad del Estado ante el crecientemente complejo campo de actores de la sociedad civil (Hall;Ikenberry, 1993); (Ikenberry, 1986); (Evans, 1992 ); (Schneider, 1998).…”