Hegelian Steel: The (Trans-)national Co-Constitution of Political Economy and the Evolution of the European Steel Industry

Even in our globalized world the notion of national economies remain incredibly strong, just as a considerable part of the literature on transnational governance and globalization continue to rely on a zero-sum perspective concerning the relationship between the national and the transnational. Developing a Hegelian inspired historical-sociological approach this paper however argues that national and transnational societies emerged simultaneously and in a co-evolutionary and mutually supportive fashion. In most European settings national societies did not become the central horizon of individuals before in the 20th century and when they did these societies to a high extent were constituted through transnational processes. That is also the case for the regulatory frameworks constituting national political economies. This will be illustrated on the basis of a case study in relation to the evolution of the European steel industry.