The capitalist state in the digital age: How Canada's government on-line initiative signifies a change in state discourse from Keynesian style intervention to Schumpeterian style policie

Capitalism is changing. The Fordist capital accumulation regime based on mass production and mass consumption is being replaced by post-Fordism, which is structured around flexible labour and production, and constant innovation to stay competitive. This change is being accelerated by new information and communication technologies (ICTs), which allow for new forms of time-space distantiation and compression with regards to capital relations. The ecological domination of the capitalist economy ensures that its operational principles extend their influence to other systems and the lifeworld. As capitalism is changing so is the state. Keynesian style economic intervention is being replaced by a new state discourse based on a so-called Schumpeterian understanding of competitiveness. Jessop (2002) calls the new state regime the Schumpeterian Workfare Postnational Regime (SWPR). This regime is characterized by economic regulation designed to facilitate innovation and competitiveness, a focus on economic policies over social policies, coordination with international bodies, and the rescaling of governance. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).