The unfolding of the financial crisis and our attempts to keep it in check have spawned a new theme of debate: are we witnessing - to the joy of some and the horror of others - the return of the State? Bruno Bernardi wonders whether this is, in fact, an illusion preventing us from identifying the real issues emerging from these current shifts. Is this a further step towards society’s absorption by the market, or a global reconfiguration of our historical and political horizons?
