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A Realist Theory of Hegemony
Author(s) -
Joseph Jonathan
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal for the theory of social behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.615
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5914
pISSN - 0021-8308
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5914.00125
Subject(s) - hegemony , critical realism (philosophy of perception) , epistemology , sociology , transformational leadership , reproduction , realism , context (archaeology) , politics , political science , philosophy , law , ecology , paleontology , public relations , biology
A new approach to understanding hegemony is developed based on the method of critical realism. Breaking from the traditional interpretations that emphasise inter‐subjective, superstructural and cultural aspects of hegemony, this article looks at hegemony's structural context and the conditions for its possibility. A realist conception of hegemony relates hegemonic projects to structural reproduction and transformation via Bhaskar’s transformational model of social activity. In doing so this model is itself modified to incorporate hegemony as the political moment of social reproduction. A distinction is made between hegemony in its structural aspect, and specific hegemonic projects as emergent possibilities.