State and space? Opening the black box of the state

40 years ago Theda Skocpol (1985) famously argued for ‘bringing the state back in’ as a pivotal research object in the social sciences. In urban studies, we have, in the last 20-30 years, witnessed a profound interest in relations between state and space (Brenner 2003; 2009; Peck 2004), changing geographies of state and the role of the state in processes of spatial restructuring of cities/areas and the state itself (Brenner et al 2004; Jessop 2004; 2008; 2012;2016). Whereas Skocpol's warned that we should not ‘…become embroiled in a series of abstruse and abstract conceptual debates’ and was wary of ‘grand theories of the state’ (Skocpol 1985:28), contemporary theories of state-space relations has progressively sought to theorize at an even greater (planetary) scale at the cost of developing empirical studies of state-space relations. In the light of Skocpol's plea, this paper discusses the state of the field of urban theory and on this backdrop outlines a neo-bourdiusian model of the state as series of nested fields. This model is designed and geared for empirical and comparative analysis of the relations between the spaces of the state and state spaces. The model helps to demonstrate how struggles within and over the state contribute to the production of physical, social and symbolic space.