Introduction to Poulantzas

In this issue, we are publishing an essay by Nicos Poulantzas,footnote¹ a young Greek philosopher working in Paris, on the analysis of English history and society pursued by Tom Nairn and Perry Anderson in New Left Review, and contested by Edward Thompson in The Socialist Register, in the past three years. The debate which followed Thompson’s attack focused on the empirical problems of interpreting and periodizing English social structure from the 17th century to this day.