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3 - Collective Hegemony after Decolonization

Persistence despite Delegitimation

from Part I - The Imperial Past and Present in International Politics and IR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2023

By
Thomas Müller
Edited by
Klaus Schlichte  and
Stephan Stetter
Klaus Schlichte
Affiliation:
Universität Bremen
Stephan Stetter
Affiliation:
Universität der Bundeswehr München
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Summary

This chapter explores the effects of decolonization on the collective hegemony of the great powers in international society. The chapter contributes to research on the interplay of hierarchies by analysing the two modes of historicity that shaped this interplay: complex temporalities and the structuring effects of history. The first form of collective hegemony, the Concert of Europe, was established when parts of the world were already colonized, others in the process of decolonization and still others yet to be colonized. As the decolonized states were the chief opponents of collective hegemony, the successive decolonization of international society led to an increasing level of contestation. Collective hegemony, though, has persisted. The powerful states were able to perpetuate this practice both by benefiting from path-dependencies in formal governance institutions (UN Security Council) and by side-stepping the consent of smaller states through informal forms of collective hegemony (G7 and G20).

Keywords

collective hegemonygreat powersdecolonizationhierarchieslegitimacy
Type
Chapter
Information
The Historicity of International Politics
Imperialism and the Presence of the Past
 , pp. 66 - 83
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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