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World War II and the Transformation of the U.S. State: The Wartime Foundations of U.S. Hegemony
Author(s) -
McLauchlan Gregory
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.1997.tb00426.x
Subject(s) - hegemony , geopolitics , contingency , state (computer science) , world war ii , politics , political economy , sociology , political science , period (music) , first world war , economic history , law , history , epistemology , ancient history , philosophy , physics , algorithm , computer science , acoustics
I present an analysis of the history of U.S. expansion and rise to hegemony in World War II, and argue that the concrete global perspectives and postwar ambitions of U.S. state managers were formed in the course of world war itself. They were not the result of preconceived economic or geopolitical policies or aims. I examine U.S. expansion and postwar goals in the military, economic, and political arenas, and show how social processes set in motion by world war in each of these dimensions were central in shaping the distinctive outcomes. I develop a theoretical perspective of world war as a social process, and argue that such an extraordinary period of violence, historical contingency, and state‐led expansion involves potentially unique features of macrohistorical development and change.