Neoliberalism or Developmentalism? The Emergence and Tensions of a Compensatory State in Zambia

Over the last decade, debates on regulatory change in the Global South in IPE and Development Studies have focused on a mooted demise of neoliberalism and the emergence of a new generation of Developmental States. Spurring renewed interest in Developmental State Theory (DST), the shift from neoliberalism to developmentalism has been framed in terms of a turn from market-led (neoliberal) to state-led (developmental) regulatory orders. The purpose of this thesis is to critique this emphasis on the state-market distinction in assessments of regulatory difference and change. Adopting a Marxist perspective, I argue that different regulatory orders are less distinguished by the relative privileging of ‘the state’ or ‘the market’, and more distinguished by the social purpose to which state power is exercised, and its relative privileging of particular social forces over others. More specifically, rather than a twofold distinction between market-led neoliberal and state-led developmental regulatory orders, I advance a threefold typology of development regimes that distinguishes on the basis of the state’s promotion of different kinds of capitalist accumulation: between financialised-neoliberal, industrial-developmental, and neo-extractivist-compensatory regimes of development. The utility of such an approach is illustrated through an empirical study of regulatory change in Zambia. Trends here indicate neither the enduring dominance of market-led neoliberalism nor the emergence of a developmental state, but rather the management of conflicting financialised, productivist, and redistributive social pressures that have seen the emergence and tensions of a Compensatory State. In doing so, this thesis makes two key contributions: (1) a novel theoretical framework for analysing regulatory difference and change, one that renders explicit the social fissures underlying contemporary global development which are often lost in discussions about the market versus the state; and (2) an original empirical account and interpretation of regulatory change in Zambia.