SWFsEUROPE
About SWFsEUROPE
The number and size of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) has grown substantially in the last decade, leading to an unsettled debate regarding their legitimacy in the global political economy, particularly as many originate from the Global South and from illiberal political economies (e.g. China).
Some suggest they represent the (re)emergence of state-led capitalism subject to geopolitical motivations that threaten free markets. For others, SWFs represent a source of long-term patient capital capable of mitigating market short-termism. Either way, SWFs challenge the norm, particularly in the Global North, that financial markets are spaces of exchange for non-state actors. By analyzing the behavior of SWFs, their interaction with different stakeholders at home and abroad, and how they are legitimized as financial actors in the global political economy, SWFsEUROPE will provide new critical insights into the contemporary relationship between the state and the market.
Recent news
What does the state do in China’s state-led infrastructure financialisation?
Imogen T. Liu and Adam have published an article on China's financialisation of infrastructure in the Journal of Economic Geography. The article offers an alternative narrative to prevailing accounts of neoliberal financialisation in the advanced capitalist core,...
Is the China Effect Real?
Milan Babić and Adam Dixon have just published a new article in the Chinese Journal of International Politics entitled, "Is the China Effect Real? Ideational Change and the Political Contestation of Chinese State-Led Investment in Europe."
“Expropriation of Capitalist by State Capitalist”
Ilias Alami and Adam Dixon have just published a new paper in the journal Economic Geography entitled,“Expropriation of Capitalist by State Capitalist:” Organizational Change and the Centralization of Capital as State Property.
What is the new state capitalism?
Researchers from the SWFsEUROPE project, Ilias Alami, Milan Babic, Adam Dixon, and Imogen Liu, have published the introductory paper to a special issue on state capitalism they have edited in the journal Contemporary Politics. Instead of traditional introductory...
Interview for #ScholarSpotlight @Global Policy
Milan Babic has been interviewed for the #ScholarSpotlight series at Global Policy. You can find the interview and podcast here.
State capital and geoeconomics
Milan Babic just published a new paper in the Review of International Political Economy titled ' State capital in a geoeconomic world: mapping state-led foreign investment in the global political economy'. See the publications tab for more information.
Legitimating state capital
Imogen T. Liu and Adam Dixon have published a new article titled 'Legitimating state capital: the global financial professions and the transnationalisation of Chinese sovereign wealth' in the journal Development and Change. The article theorises the role of the global...
Geopolitics and the ‘New’ State Capitalism
Ilias Alami, Adam Dixon, Milan Babic, and colleagues have published an Article Forum entitled “Geopolitics and the ‘New’ State Capitalism” in Geopolitics. The Forum reflects upon what it means, theoretically, methodologically, and politically, to articulate a...
Webinar on the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment
Imogen T. Liu was invited to speak about the role of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as part of the panel, 'Unpacking the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment'. The online event was held on the 23rd June and hosted by the Centre for Research on...
New podcast on Uneven and Combined (State) Capitalism
Ilias Alami and Adam Dixon spoke with Nick Jepson about their recent talk at the Global Development Institute. The talk contributes to the development of state capitalism as a reflexively critical project focusing on the morphology of present-day capitalism, and...
Funders and partners
SWFsEUROPE is a five-year research project titled Legitimacy, Financialization, and Varieties of Capitalism: Understanding Sovereign Wealth Funds in Europe. The project is hosted at Maastricht University and a recipient of funding from the European Research Council.