The state-corporate symbiosis and the nexus of capital.

 The state-corporate symbiosis is a concept developed from an analysis of the capitalist state and its evolution. 

Tombs (2012) posits that criminology sees the state-corporate relationship as a competitive one among two independent institutions. He notes that this view is wrong as it ignores their long history of working together.

A history that created the conditions for markets to emerge: legal and illegal. Indeed, it is not just a story of government and business, but one that also reflects the demands of the people, also known as civil society (qtd in ibid. Tombs 2102:173).

We should also view the state’s oversight of business in this light. It facilitates and limits corporations’ ability to make money in the face of public protest.

Whyte (2014:240) calls this the “infrastructural power” of the state. Which the latter uses to control/manipulate/shape civil society.

The implication of this, Tombs (2012: 173) notes, is that the presumed division between the state and civil society does not exist. This link shows some examples, such as the revolving door between government, corporations and vice versa.

References:

Tombs, S. (2012). State-corporate symbiosis in the production of crime and harm. State Crime Journal. 1 (2). pp. 170–195.

Whyte, D. (2014). Regimes of permission and state-corporate crime. State Crime Journal. 3 (2). pp. 237.