Nicos Poulantzas

Nicos Poulantzas (; 21 September 1936 – 3 October 1979) was a Greek-French Marxist political sociologist and philosopher. 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 forms of the state, such as in ''Fascism and Dictatorship'' (1970), and addressed contemporary class structures in ''Classes in Contemporary Capitalism'' (1974).

Poulantzas was a prominent figure in the "Eurocommunist" wing of European communism, and his theoretical work was closely tied to political strategy. He was an active member of the Communist Party of Greece (Interior) and engaged in debates on the "democratic road to socialism". In his final book, ''State, Power, Socialism'' (1978), he moved toward a relational theory of the state, defining it as the "material condensation of a relationship of forces between classes". This later work showed an engagement with the ideas of Michel Foucault, conceptualising the state as a strategic terrain rather than a monolithic entity. He died by suicide in Paris in 1979. Provided by Wikipedia