ARTICLES political clique is taken as a political manifestation of the global co- herence of money capital,and neo-liberalism appears to be as well integrated as the global circuits of social capital from which it was dragged out by transnational elites.A monetarist manna falling from the skies above the Mont Pelerin society. This dynamic is reminiscent,somewhat strangely given open Marx- ism's desire to distance itself from philosophical Marxism,of Althusser's discussion of overdetermination.For Althusser,overdetermination is a political process whereby objective material circumstances become polit- ically activated,fused together to become part of a new whole within which political imperatives are situated (Althusser,1965).For open Marxism,neo-liberalism represents a specific instance of overdetermina- tion as revolutionary as that considered by Althusser.Indeed,neo- liberalism is an historical moment where transnational political struc- tures have installed the exigencies of global accumulation as a political prerequisite,and thus ruptured the integrity of national social forma- tions as sites of reproduction. The articulation between accumulation and politics in the world economy Open Marxism has made an enormous contribution to the analysis of the politics of restructuring.It has risen above the particularities of a mo- ment of crisis,and discovered important signs of an emerging transna- tional neo-liberal coherence.This is a remarkable achievement. However,the unearthing of transnational neo-liberalism has come at the cost of adopting a rather instrumental outlook on structural dynamics in the world economy.For open Marxism,structures-be they those of money,national or interstate politics,international trade -have little autonomy from the politics of transnational elites.They are not sites of struggles unto themselves,with constraints and possibilities of their own,but simple venues where one hears variations on a common(neo- liberal)theme. But the bond between global circuits of social capital and global politics is more fragmented than the writings of open Marxism suggest, and the relationship between national social formations and the world economy less linear.The analysis of both requires a more careful histor- ical exploration of the specificity of different sites of neo-liberalism if active strategies of resistance are to be developed.This is a picture that cannot be painted with the broad brush used by open Marxism.It is a meticulous work that needs to be alive to distinct historical structures. The initial work can begin here with a brief exploration of three conspic- uous examples of neo-liberalism in action:monetarism,western Euro- pean integration,and restructuring in eastern Europe. 114 This content downloaded from 202.120.14.129 on Mon,01 Feb 2016 23:51:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsARTICLES political clique is taken as a political manifestation of the global co￾herence of money capital, and neo-liberalism appears to be as well integrated as the global circuits of social capital from which it was dragged out by transnational elites. A monetarist manna falling from the skies above the Mont Pelerin society. This dynamic is reminiscent, somewhat strangely given open Marx￾ism's desire to distance itself from philosophical Marxism, of Althusser's discussion of overdetermination. For Althusser, overdetermination is a political process whereby objective material circumstances become polit￾ically activated, fused together to become part of a new whole within which political imperatives are situated (Althusser, 1965). For open Marxism, neo-liberalism represents a specific instance of overdetermina￾tion as revolutionary as that considered by Althusser. Indeed, neo￾liberalism is an historical moment where transnational political struc￾tures have installed the exigencies of global accumulation as a political prerequisite, and thus ruptured the integrity of national social forma￾tions as sites of reproduction. The articulation between accumulation and politics in the world economy Open Marxism has made an enormous contribution to the analysis of the politics of restructuring. It has risen above the particularities of a mo￾ment of crisis, and discovered important signs of an emerging transna￾tional neo-liberal coherence. This is a remarkable achievement. However, the unearthing of transnational neo-liberalism has come at the cost of adopting a rather instrumental outlook on structural dynamics in the world economy. For open Marxism, structures - be they those of money, national or interstate politics, international trade - have little autonomy from the politics of transnational elites. They are not sites of struggles unto themselves, with constraints and possibilities of their own, but simple venues where one hears variations on a common (neo￾liberal) theme. But the bond between global circuits of social capital and global politics is more fragmented than the writings of open Marxism suggest, and the relationship between national social formations and the world economy less linear. The analysis of both requires a more careful histor￾ical exploration of the specificity of different sites of neo-liberalism if active strategies of resistance are to be developed. This is a picture that cannot be painted with the broad brush used by open Marxism. It is a meticulous work that needs to be alive to distinct historical structures. The initial work can begin here with a brief exploration of three conspic￾uous examples of neo-liberalism in action: monetarism, western Euro￾pean integration, and restructuring in eastern Europe. 114 This content downloaded from 202.120.14.129 on Mon, 01 Feb 2016 23:51:55 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions