Nicos Poulantzas

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Nicos Poulantzas (Greek: Νίκος Πουλαντζάς; 21 September 1936 – 3 October 1979) was a Greek-French Marxist political philosopher and sociologist. In the 1970s, he became a leading figure in the structuralist Marxist school of thought. He is best known for his theoretical work on the state, social class, fascism, and authoritarianism. His work was influential in critiquing traditional communist views and developing a sophisticated Marxist theory of the capitalist state. Born in Greece, Poulantzas moved to France in 1960, where he spent the remainder of his life. Initially influenced by the existentialist Marxism of Jean-Paul Sartre, he later became associated with the structuralist school of Louis Althusser. His first major work, Political Power and Social Classes (1968), presented a structuralist theory of the state as relatively autonomous from the direct control of the capitalist class, serving instead as a "factor of cohesion" for the social formation. His subsequent work analysed exceptional...

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