Hegemony has long been a key concept within the study of International Relations, as well as across the social sciences more generally, and a term used by analysts to make sense of contemporary events. Drawing on a rich historical framework, this book traces the different definitions and interpretations of hegemony in world politics and shows that the term continues to be a contested one. It examines and develops traditional ideas about hegemony - from the idea of the strong leading state to the dominance of particular ideologies - through a wide range of approaches including hegemonic stability theory and the work of Antonio Gramsci. Exploring issues such as the role of the state, the changing influence of regionalism and the emergence of counter-hegemonic movements, this book argues that a more nuanced understanding of hegemony is necessary in order to understand the construction of the contemporary world order. Considering a wide range of case studies throughout - from the reputation of the United States as an international leader, to the European Union's regional hegemony and the economic prowess of the so-called BRICS group - this text provides the ideal guide to a multi-faceted term and significant force of both history and the modern age.

In November 1999 the first protests associated with the 'anti-globalisation movement' took place in Seattle, and came to be seen as the starting point for globalised resistance to neoliberal capitalism. Despite initial optimism, the following years have seen little progress in formulating a coherent alternative to neoliberalism, a failure that has become particularly poignant in the aftermath of the recent credit crisis. Now, the neoliberal mandate that appeared to be in 'crisis' in just 2008 has reinvented itself through the guise of a new 'era of austerity'. In this timely book, Worth assesses the growing diversity of resistance to neoliberalism - progressive, nationalist and religious - and argues that, troublingly, the more reactionary alternatives to globalisation currently provide just as coherent a base for building opposition as those associated with the traditional 'left-wing' anti-globalisation movements. From the shortcomings of the Occupy movement to the rise of Radical Islam, the re-emergence of the far-right in Western Europe to the startling impact of the Tea Party in the US - Worth shows that while a progressive alternative is possible, it cannot be taken for granted.

In November 1999 the first protests associated with the 'anti-globalisation movement' took place in Seattle, and came to be seen as the starting point for globalised resistance to neoliberal capitalism. Despite initial optimism, the following years have seen little progress in formulating a coherent alternative to neoliberalism, a failure that has become particularly poignant in the aftermath of the recent credit crisis. Now, the neoliberal mandate that appeared to be in 'crisis' in just 2008 has reinvented itself through the guise of a new 'era of austerity'. In this timely book, Worth assesses the growing diversity of resistance to neoliberalism - progressive, nationalist and religious - and argues that, troublingly, the more reactionary alternatives to globalisation currently provide just as coherent a base for building opposition as those associated with the traditional 'left-wing' anti-globalisation movements. From the shortcomings of the Occupy movement to the rise of Radical Islam, the re-emergence of the far-right in Western Europe to the startling impact of the Tea Party in the US - Worth shows that while a progressive alternative is possible, it cannot be taken for granted.

Hegemony has long been a key concept within the study of International Relations, as well as across the social sciences more generally, and a term used by analysts to make sense of contemporary events. Drawing on a rich historical framework, this book traces the different definitions and interpretations of hegemony in world politics and shows that the term continues to be a contested one. It examines and develops traditional ideas about hegemony - from the idea of the strong leading state to the dominance of particular ideologies - through a wide range of approaches including hegemonic stability theory and the work of Antonio Gramsci. Exploring issues such as the role of the state, the changing influence of regionalism and the emergence of counter-hegemonic movements, this book argues that a more nuanced understanding of hegemony is necessary in order to understand the construction of the contemporary world order. Considering a wide range of case studies throughout - from the reputation of the United States as an international leader, to the European Union's regional hegemony and the economic prowess of the so-called BRICS group - this text provides the ideal guide to a multi-faceted term and significant force of both history and the modern age.

Written against a background of global economic and political turmoil, including crisis and uncertainty surrounding the European Union, European Regionalism and the Left offers new critical insights into a range of fundamental problems facing the project of European integration. Issues covered include: the limits and possibilities of European Monetary Union; the impact of European regionalism on the political organisations of the European left; European regionalism and the crisis of social democracy; Russia and the limits to EU regionalism; and the contradictions of Eurocentric politics in an age of globalisation. The book brings together contributions from international scholars drawing on a rich diversity of critical approaches to international political economy, European integration studies, European politics and social theory. Unlike many earlier critical studies of this subject, European Regionalism and the Left consciously eschews any specific radical theoretical narrative or research programme in favour of an open-ended critical engagement with the political economy of contemporary Europe. As such it attempts to open up left analyses of Europe to broader traditions of critical inquiry. -- .

This illuminating book explores the neo-Gramscian school of international political economy and their conceptualization of global hegemony, and furthers these by looking at how the often fragmented society of post-Communist Russia can provide insight into the nature and workings of neo-liberal global hegemony. The volume illustrates how historically Russia has been a unique case in rejecting Western-inspired hegemonic projects. It outlines how successive governments since the fall of the Soviet Union have attempted, often unsuccessfully, to integrate Russia into the global economy, and identifies the multitude of ideological contestation within Russia. It will prove a useful addition to the literature on both post-Communist Russian studies and international political economy.