The french regulation school : a critical revision

Abstract

The French regulation school sets out to carry out an analysis of Capitalism and its transformations, with the purpose of understanding the periods of stable growth and the moments of structural change. The object of this paper consists of carrying out a critical revision of the contributions of this school, concentrating on the conceptual framework that it has developed. For this, in the first place the influences that marked the regulation approach will be reviewed, with special attention on its recovery from the Marxist tradition. Secondly, the ontological and methodological differences between the regulation approach and the neoclassic economy theory will be highlighted. Thirdly, the fundamental concepts of the regulation school will be examined. In fourth place, it will be seen how, from these concepts, the crisis at the beginning of the 1970s was interpreted. In fifth place, how the regulation approach is thought as to the relation between economy and policy. In sixth place, the question of the international dimension will be examined. Finally, the main objections that have been presented to the regulation approach, will be shown and will be evaluated critically.