Owen Worth

The World Social Forum: postmodern prince or court jester?

Abstract Since its inauguration in 2001 the World Social Forum (wsf) has been heralded as an ‘open space’ for civil society in which the disparate groups that make up the anti-globalisation movement can gather and ‘articulate’ possible alternative worlds. This article regards as unconvincing the strategic aspirations of the wsf to contest neoliberal hegemony and propel a multilayered counter-hegemonic project of the form (to quote Machiavelli and Gramsci) of a ‘postmodern prince’. It is argued that the wsf is more exclusive than inclusive in its nature. Rather than being the expression of the anti-globalisation movement, the Forum has become a funfair for the expression of ideas from academics and ngo/government workers, which has led to a form of elitism that the wsf attempted to avoid at its inception. Thus, rather than creating any form of inclusive participatory ‘open space’, the article will conclude that the wsf serves to entertain rather than to counter any form of transformation within global civil society.

Counter-hegemony, anti-globalisation and culture in International Political Economy

This article argues that studies of counter-hegemony and resistance in International Political Economy (IPE) have often ignored the cultural dimensions of anti-globalisation. We argue that a greater understanding of the elements needed for the articulation of counter-hegemony within IPE can be achieved through an engagement with the traditions inherent in the Birmingham School, and with the elements of Situationism contained within the anti-consumerist movement.

Critical theory in Global Political Economy: Critique? Knowledge? Emancipation?

This article reviews the number of different ways in which critical theory is applied within International Political Economy (IPE) and argues that, while a great deal of material claims to be ‘critical’, much of it fails to fully scrutinize the traditions of reflexivity and critique that are grounded in the critical tradition. While Cox, the neo-Gramscian ‘turn’ and Frankfurt-inspired accounts have made certain advances for the application of critical thought in IPE, these need to be articulated more explicitly, through a set of principles that allow critical thought to aspire towards a more feasible set of results.

Recasting Gramsci in international politics

Gramscian theory has had a profound influence on critical and Marxist thought within International Relations (IR), particularly in bringing an alternative understanding to the realist concept of hegemony. Despite these developments much Gramscian theory remains developed within the often narrow sub-discipline of International Political Economy (IPE), with Gramscian scholars such as Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams and Ernesto Laclau from diverse disciplines outside of IR largely ignored. This article argues that Gramscian theory needs to be re-thought so that it moves away from the Coxian dominated ontology that it is currently situated within, towards one which both provides a more open theory of global hegemony and engages more with civil societal areas that have often been ignored by those within IPE.

Reviving Hayek’s Dream

Abstract This short piece suggests that the roots of the successful Brexit vote can be found in the free market purity that was implicit within the ideals behind Thatcherism. Whilst the rhetoric of populist and British (or in many parts English) nationalism were utilised in order to win support, the ideological driving force implicit within many Brexit figureheads rested in the belief that the EU watered down their visions of a harder neoliberal reality. Yet, by stimulating right-wing reactionary forces, they may have created more than they bargained for. I concur with Karl Polanyi that free market liberalism tends to generate the forces of its own demise.

Land of false hope? The contradictions of British opposition to globalization 1

Abstract Within the study of global politics and global political economy there has been an increase in literature within the last few years on the growth of resistance movements geared toward challenging the hegemony of US-inspired neoliberalism. This article questions much of the normative literature that is emerging, particularly from international political economy, on the nature of resistance and the anti-globalization movement. Using the case of Britain as an example, it argues that it is necessary to assess the various parts of the movement before any claim to counter-hegemony or counter-movement can be made. By looking at the various fragmented anti-globalization strategies and struggles that have been articulated within Britain, we also warn that any potential progressive or emancipatory ‘counter’ project is likely to suffer both from potential reactionary forces and from the lack of a clear transformative agenda.

Left-wing convergence: An introduction

In this article, we argue that despite there being little evidence of an ideological convergence between Marxism and anarchism, such a convergence is not only sorely needed, but also eminently possible. We propose an open discussion on the appropriate terms of such a convergence, the context in which it should take place, and the reasons why it should. We close by showing how our contributors to this special issue open this debate for us in promising ways.

Polanyi's Magnum Opus? Assessing the Application of the Counter-Movement in International Political Economy

The concept of the ‘counter-movement’ has had a significant impact within studies in International Political Economy (IPE). In the light of the credit crisis and the growth of growing resentment to the notion of the free market, the idea of the counter-movement has been utilised to understand social reaction to neoliberalism. This article argues that whilst the counter-movement has been used in unique and innovated ways, Karl Polanyi himself used the term largely to refer to a specific period in nineteenth-century British history. This article argues that whilst the counter-movement remains interesting, its application remains open to scrutiny. It questions whether the concept was indeed central to Polanyian economic thought and how much can be given to it in todays contemporary era of neoliberalism. It also suggests that by focusing merely on the counter-movement, Polanyian accounts within IPE are in danger of ignoring much of his wider critique of market economics.

On the contemporary relevance of ‘left nationalism’

This article re-examines the relevance of ‘left nationalism’ as a form of progressive response to globalization, and argues that despite the considerable work that has been done to revise the concept of nationalism in the light of orthodox Marxist criticisms, such moves ultimately fall into the same divisionary trap that dogged the nationalist struggles inherent in post-colonialism.

Building Consent: Hegemony, ‘Conceptions of the World’ and the Role of Evangelicals in Global Politics

Since Robert Coxs early interventions in the 1980s, the work of Gramsci has been openly applied to the arena of international politics, often superimposed on to the wider concepts of ‘world order’ and ‘transnational class’ formation. While this has produced a great deal of commendable scholarly work, it has equally produced a growing number of critics who have voiced concerns over the viability and feasibility of applying Gramscis key concepts to the realm of the international. Rather than revisiting these charges, we argue that one of the main problems associated with the ‘neo-Gramscian’ interpretations of international relations (IR) is that they have tended to develop an ontology of their own and have not pursued a re-reading of Gramscis actual work to explore a fresh opening towards applying Gramsci to the international. We argue that by re-exploring Gramscis understanding of ‘conceptions of the world’ and by re-examining Gramscis concept of hegemony, a greater scope can be achieved for understanding power relations within global politics. We demonstrate the potential for this by tentatively looking at the role of increasingly popular global evangelical religious groups in the fashioning of hegemonic consent across diverse parts of civil society, arguing that it is such bottom-up studies of societal consent that are required in order for Gramscian theory and research to move beyond their current ontological applications.