The “pervasive” state: entrepreneurial identities, frustration, and gratitude

Peternel, Lana and Doolan, Karin (2023) The “pervasive” state: entrepreneurial identities, frustration, and gratitude. Dialectical anthropology, 47. pp. 215-229. ISSN 0304-4092 (Print), 1573-0786 (Online)

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Abstract

IN ENGLISH: The state has taken center stage during the COVID-19 pandemic in unanticipated ways. Rescuing private companies with public money exemplifies this, highlighting substantial state interventionism amidst a fairly dominant discourse of our times: that of the “neoliberal state.” In this article, we focus on how owners of micro-businesses in Croatia constructed state practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and how interactions with the state prior to the pandemic contributed to these constructions. We reflect on the state as a historically embedded social relation that is understood, experienced, and felt. Drawing on interviews, we develop three themes that illustrate the layered and wrought relationship between business owners and the state, as they understand it to “exist”—state-mediated constructions of business owners: tycoons and heroes; frustrating state practices; contradictory images—the benevolent state. The pervasiveness of the state is reflected in how the post-socialist state has shaped professional identities in the business sector, in the overwhelmingly negative emotional landscape state practices seem to propel, but also in hints of state benevolence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The identified nexus of emotions in relation to state practices—exasperation, disappointment, indignation, gratitude—and their historical embeddedness are a strong indication of how present-day constructions of the state are an expression of “accumulated history.” Based on their experiences with state practices, our interlocutors construct the state as corrupt, incompetent, inefficient, uncaring, coercive, only on occasion benevolent, and in a highly affective register as “unnecessary,” while also expressing a desire for a state that “cares,” particularly in disaster settings. --------------- IN CROATIAN: Država je zauzela središnje mjesto tijekom pandemije COVID-19 na neočekivane načine. Spašavanje privatnih tvrtki javnim novcem primjer je državnog intervencionizma usred prilično dominantnog diskursa našeg vremena: diskursa o "neoliberalnoj državi". U ovom članku analiziramo kako su vlasnici mikropoduzeća u Hrvatskoj percipirali državne prakse tijekom pandemije COVID-19 i kako su interakcije s državom prije pandemije pridonijele njihovim konstrukcijama. Promišljamo o državi kao povijesno ukorijenjenom društvenom odnosu koji se razumije, doživljava i osjeća. Oslanjajući se na intervjue, razvijamo tri teme koje ilustriraju slojevit i problematičan odnos između vlasnika poduzeća i države iz njihove perspektive "postojanja" države: slike vlasnika poduzeća posredovane od strane države: tajkuni i heroji; frustrirajuće državne prakse; kontradiktorne slike — dobronamjerna država. Prožimanje države ogleda se u načinu na koji je postsocijalistička država oblikovala profesionalne identitete u poslovnom sektoru, u izrazito negativnom emocionalnom krajoliku koji državne prakse, čini se, potiču, ali i u naznakama blagonaklonosti države tijekom pandemije COVID-19. Identificirani neksus emocija vezan uz državne prakse - ogorčenost, razočaranje, iznerviranost, zahvalnost - i njihova povijesna ukorijenjenost snažan su pokazatelj kako su današnje konstrukcije države izraz "nagomilane povijesti". Naši sugovornici temeljem svojih iskustava s državnim praksama konstruiraju državu kao korumpiranu, nesposobnu, neučinkovitu, nebrižljivu, prisilnu, tek povremeno dobronamjernu, i u izrazito afektivnom registru kao “nepotrebnu”, istovremeno izražavajući i želju za državom koja “ brine”, osobito u uvjetima katastrofe.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Language: English. - Title in Croatian: "Sveprožimajuća" država: identiteti poduzetnika, frustracije i zahvalnost.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	State practices, micro-business owners, COVID-19 pandemic, affect, legacy of post-socialist transition (državne prakse, vlasnici mikro poduzeća, pandemija COVID-19, utjecaj, naslijeđe postsocijalističke tranzicije)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Depositing User:	Karolina
Date Deposited:	02 Feb 2023 12:53
Last Modified:	14 Mar 2024 10:31
URI:	http://idiprints.knjiznica.idi.hr/id/eprint/1071

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