Hegemony theory

The theory of hegemony (also “Theory of Hegemonic Stability”) is an approach mostly represented in neorealism in international relations . He contradicts the realistic axiom that the international system is in a permanent state of anarchy and instead emphasizes the importance of hegemony in the overall fabric of world society. The interests of the hegemon and their expected implementation result in stable preferences in the international system, which make the consequences of one's own actions foreseeable. The hegemon thus creates - if it remains undisputed - an international order. According to the hegemony cycle theory, however, hegemonic powers, which assume the dominant role in the world, rise and fall at regular intervals. For neorealist authors, these powers are characterized by leadership positions in the military and business. For other authors, hegemonic resources are broader. For example, representatives of neoliberal institutionalism emphasize the importance of soft power ; Constructivist authors, for example, ask about the role of the mass media; Neogramscians point to the struggles of social forces.

“Hegemony theory” also describes neo-Marxist and post-Marxist approaches to a discourse theory of power within societies, such as those associated with the names Antonio Gramsci and, more recently, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe , whose book Hegemony and Radical Democracy , which became famous in the Anglo-Saxon region, was published in 1985. Attempts to make the hegemony theory of Laclaus and Mouffe usable for empirical discourse-analytical investigations are summarized under the name hegemony analysis .

Web links

• Annotated literature list on the theory of hegemony by Antonio Gramsci

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Robert Gilpin. The Political Economy of International Relations. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.
2. ↑ George Modelski. Long Cycles in World Politics. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1987.
3. ^ Joseph S. Nye: Soft power. The means to success in world politics. New York 2004, ISBN 1-58648-306-4 .
4. ↑ Alexander Brand / Stefan Robel: Hegemonic governance? Global media, US hegemony and the transatlantic divide, in: Elžbieta Oleksy / Wiesław Oleksy (eds.): Transatlantic Encounters. American Studies in the 21st Century, Frankfurt / M .: Lang 2011, pp. 73–98.
5. ^ Robert W. Cox: Social forces, states and world orders. Beyond a theory of international relations, in: Benjamin Opratko / Oliver Prausmüller (eds.): Gramsci global. Neogramscian Perspectives in International Political Economy, Hamburg: Argument 2011 [1981], pp. 39–83.
6. ^ Ernesto Laclau / Chantal Mouffe: Hegemony and radical democracy. On the deconstruction of Marxism (1985), Vienna: Passagen Verlag 2000 (2nd edition), ISBN 3-85165-453-6
7. ^ Martin Nonhoff: Entry "Hegemony Analysis", in: Daniel Wrana et al. (Ed.): DiskursNetz . Dictionary of interdisciplinary discourse research. Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2014, pp. 177–178. Nonhoff, Martin: Political Discourse and Hegemony. The project “Social Market Economy”, Bielefeld: transcript 2006. Herschinger, Eva: Constructing Global Enemies, Hegemony and identity in international discourses on terrorism and drug prohibition, Abingdon / New York: Routledge 2011.