Counterhegemony

Counter-hegemony is an attempt to critique or dismantle hegemonic power.^[1] In other words, it is a confrontation or opposition to existing status quo and its legitimacy in politics, but can also be observed in various other spheres of life, such as history, media, music, etc. Neo-Gramscian theorist Nicola Pratt (2004) has described counter-hegemony as "a creation of an alternative hegemony on the terrain of civil society in preparation for political change".^[2]

According to Theodore H. Cohn, "a counterhegemony is an alternative ethical view of society that poses a challenge to the dominant bourgeois-led view".^[3]

If a counterhegemony grows large enough it is able to subsume and replace the historic bloc it was born in. Neo-Gramscians use the Machiavellian terms war of position and war of movement to explain how this is possible. In a war of position, a counterhegemonic movement attempts, through persuasion or propaganda, to increase the number of people who share its view on the hegemonic order; in a war of movement, the counterhegemonic tendencies which have grown large enough overthrow, violently or democratically, the current hegemony and establish themselves as a new historic bloc.

An example of counter-hegemony in politics is the "anti-globalization movement"; another one is counter-hegemonic nationalism, a form of nationalism that deliberately attempts to put forward an idea of nationality that challenges the dominant one on its own terrain.^[4] An example of counter-hegemony in media could be a documentary questioning the government’s involvement in a war.^[3]

^ Drezner, Daniel W. (27 May 2019). "Counter-Hegemonic Strategies in the Global Economy". Security Studies. 28 (3): 505–531. doi:10.1080/09636412.2019.1604985. S2CID 191892515.
^ Pratt, Nicola (2004). "Bringing Politics Back in: Examining the Link between Globalization and Democratization" (PDF). Review of International Political Economy. 11 (2): 311–336. doi:10.1080/0969229042000249831. JSTOR 4177500. S2CID 39354208.
^ ^a ^b Cohn, Theodore H. (2005). Global Political Economy: Theory and Practice. Pearson/Longman. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-321-20949-8.
^ Custodi J (2020). "Nationalism and populism on the left: The case of Podemos". Nations and Nationalism. 27 (3): 1–16. doi:10.1111/nana.12663. S2CID 225127425.

[1] Drezner, Daniel W. (27 May 2019). "Counter-Hegemonic Strategies in the Global Economy". Security Studies. 28 (3): 505–531. doi:10.1080/09636412.2019.1604985. S2CID 191892515.

[2] Pratt, Nicola (2004). "Bringing Politics Back in: Examining the Link between Globalization and Democratization" (PDF). Review of International Political Economy. 11 (2): 311–336. doi:10.1080/0969229042000249831. JSTOR 4177500. S2CID 39354208.

[Cohn_2005_p131-3] Cohn, Theodore H. (2005). Global Political Economy: Theory and Practice. Pearson/Longman. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-321-20949-8.

[4] Custodi J (2020). "Nationalism and populism on the left: The case of Podemos". Nations and Nationalism. 27 (3): 1–16. doi:10.1111/nana.12663. S2CID 225127425.

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