Capital Accumulation and Chemicals Production in Western Europe in the Postwar Period

In the years following 1945, especially those preceding the 1970s, the expansion of chemicals production became a central element in the more general growth of the capitalist world economy. Much of this growth took place in Western Europe, and was increasingly associated with the development of a small number of major maritime industrial complexes. Although the growth of the chemicals sector slowed down after 1973, the tendency of a locational concentration of new investment was maintained, indeed enhanced. The main explanatory thesis around which the paper is structured is that the changes in chemicals production (structural and technical, as well as locational) are most appropriately understood in relation to the dynamics of the process of capital accumulation. This in turn requires an analysis on two levels. The first of these is that of ‘capital in general’, involving an analysis of accumulation in terms of exchange value, of the imperatives that drive this process and the restructuring of capital that these of necessity bring about. The second involves examining the competitive strategies of ‘many capitals’ through which this restructuring is brought about and, related to these, the role of the state. The paper concludes by suggesting some possible future developments within chemicals production.