Although capitalism can hardly be called an ‘integral state’ at any stage, its very existence on the ruins of the traditional hierarchical order means the transition from social community (Gemeinschaft) to civil society (Gesellschaft); from a community bound by ethos (expressed as the ‘primary ties’) to a collection of individuals bound contractually. Mouffe and Laclau seem to recognise this difference when they next use the term ‘civil society’ rather than referring again to the ‘integral state’. It is because the state under capitalism is not ‘integral’ that revolt must be directed at many levels. The Communist revolutions in China and Russia occurred before those states had transitioned to bourgeois capitalism.