ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to demonstrate how the Gramscian School has critiqued positivist theories of hegemony and hegemonic stability, to create a more sophisticated perception of hegemony, and to address some of the problems and critiques that the Gramscian School itself has faced and often fails to address. The recent involvement of a Gramscian interpretation within the fields of International Relations (IR) and International Political Economy (IPE) has brought fresh enquiries into the analysis of events and the structural environment within global politics. The chapter concentrates on a critical deepening of the understanding of hegemony, although there may also be risks in a relative neglect of other aspects of Gramsci's conceptions. It concludes by illustrating how a more complex neo-Gramscian model is required to address the overall question of the nature of hegemonic orders and their susceptibility to contestation.
