Political Hegemony and Social Complexity

Mechanisms of Power After Gramsci

Alex Williams (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

XI, 252 Seiten

2019 | 1st ed. 2020
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-030-19794-0 (ISBN)

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How can we understand power in a world of ever-growing complexity? This book proposes that we can do so by rethinking the theory and practice of political hegemony through the resources of complexity theory. Taking Gramsci's understanding of hegemony as its starting point, the book argues that the intricacies of contemporary power can be mapped by applying concepts drawn from complexity theory, such as emergence, self-organisation, metastability, and generative entrenchment. It develops an original account of social complexity, drawing upon critical realist sociology, analytic philosophy of science, Marxist and continental philosophies, and neoliberal and anarchist thought. It then draws out the elements of Gramscian hegemony that already align with complexity concepts, such as the balance of forces, common sense, and the historic bloc. On this basis, the book sets out the different dimensions of complex hegemonic power before using this theory to interpret the nature of the power of neoliberalism since 2008.

Alex Williams is a lecturer in the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies at the University of East Anglia, UK. His work focuses on power, technology, and strategy. He is the co-author of Inventing the Future (with N. Srnicek, 2015) and Hegemony Now (with J. Gilbert, forthcoming).

1 Introduction.- 2 Complexity from the Sciences to Social Systems.- 3 Emergence and the Reality of Social Structure.- 4 Complexity & Political Dynamics.- 5 Ideologies of Self-Organisation.- 6 Gramscian Hegemony.- 7 Post-Structuralist Hegemony.- 8 Theorising Complex Hegemony.- 9 The Politics of Complex Hegemony.- 10 The Complex Hegemony of Neoliberalism.- 11 Conclusion.- Index.

Erscheinungsdatum	15.06.2019
Reihe/Serie	International Political Theory
Zusatzinfo	XI, 252 p. 7 illus.
Verlagsort	Cham
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 210 mm
Gewicht	473 g
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
Schlagworte	Common sense • Complexity theory • Critical Realism • Cybernetics • Gramsci • hegemonic political theory • hylomorphism • Ideology • Neoliberalism • non-linearity • nonreductive individualism • philosophy of science • Political change • Political influence • post-structuralism • Radical Democracy • Self-Organisation • social emergence • Social Structure • State theory
ISBN-10	3-030-19794-8 / 3030197948
ISBN-13	978-3-030-19794-0 / 9783030197940
Zustand	Neuware