The states–markets–decarbonization nexus: reviewing an emerging political economy agenda

The problem of climate change further confounds the already complex relationship between states and markets in modern capitalism. In this state of the art article, we argue that current political economy scholarship is making sense of this occasion by incorporating decarbonization into the “return of the state” and “financialization” literatures and thus creating a “states–markets–decarbonization nexus.” We categorize this nexus into three core topic areas: international financial subordination, industrial policy, and comparative capitalisms. In each, we review key insights and provide an overview of the main scholarly contributions on how states and markets intersect with decarbonization. From there, we discuss how current scholarship can be more policy relevant, appreciate the coming realities of climate adaptation, and benefit from integrating the three core topics to capture a rapidly evolving global order.

Daniel Driscoll, Mathias Larsen, The states–markets–decarbonization nexus: reviewing an emerging political economy agenda, Socio-Economic Review, 2026;, mwag026, https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwag026