The Return of Industrial Policy
Industrial policy is back in vogue in recent years — but without the working-class power to discipline capital, it’s just public money flowing to private profit.
Advanced capitalist countries have recently rediscovered the role of industrial policy to build out key economic sectors like semiconductors and AI. But the “return of the state” won’t necessarily help workers. (Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)
Advanced capitalist countries have recently rediscovered the role of industrial policy to build out key economic sectors like semiconductors and AI. But what happens if business is the one calling all the shots?
In this episode of the Jacobin Radio podcast Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber discusses how developing countries used industrial policy in the past, why the United States and Europe are now turning to greater state intervention, and how one could build a new social democratic alliance between the state and labor. This lecture was delivered on August 12 as the opening keynote address at the 2026 IFAR Consortium Conference, hosted by the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII).
Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy and published by Jacobin. You can listen to the full episode here.
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