German Capitalism and the Long Search for a ‘spatial Fix

From the standpoint of capitalism in Germany, the European Union and the Eurozone are but the two most recent stations on the long pilgrimage to find a spatial fix, attempts to alleviate the perennial problem of a nationally‐based centre of capital accumulation, bursting the bounds of its home market, but without easy access to overseas empire. But these “spatial fixes” – from Bismarckian imperialism on – have occurred undemocratically, have fostered chauvinism and racism, and have remained trapped in the fetishized forms which are the curse of private‐property. All of these superstructural impediments have become prisons, holding back social development in Germany and throughout Europe. This article will develop these themes through a survey of three distinct “moments” in the search for a spatial fix to the contradictions inherent in German and European capitalism.