ABSTRACT
The neo-Gramscian application of hegemony and historic blocs allows for a systematic understanding of the processes of interaction at both the global and local level. The transformation that has occurred at the global level may have its ideological roots in the twin processes of neoliberalism and globalisation, but the way this hegemonic project has been built has marked a struggle that can be seen at both a national and international (or global) level. This chapter demonstrates how the phenomenon of globalisation has aided and appears as an ideological companion to neoliberalism, and how certain political, economic and socio-cultural developments have added to its consolidation. The chapter shows how, despite its sophisticated totality, neoliberalism is being contested ideologically from various positions. Although the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is a forum in which states negotiate, it takes on a full-time role as a primary non-state organisation that serves to strengthen the hegemonic projects of globalisation and neoliberalism.
