Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (And How We Win it Back)

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In addition, there is discussion of which sectors of the population might be won over, but there is no discussion of scale, or mention of concrete examples such as city-based platform municipalist initiatives which emerged in Europe post-2011. Rather, they argue that it is possible for large groups of people to find themselves in disagreement with hegemonic common sense, while simultaneously being forced to defer to it and comply with its norms, behaving to all intents and purposes as if they believed in it. However, there are also omissions in the book which have the potential to do their aim of complex analysis a disservice. Also, in many cases corporations that offer renewable energy are the same corporations that profit from fossil fuels (think for example of Shell and Vattenfall). As Gilbert and Williams argue, however, Gramsci’s ideas can be understood as more nuanced than being about pure domination and lend themselves well to a detailed analysis of power relations, especially at times of instability and crisis.

Grounded in rich theorizing and a strong commitment to historical specificity, they pull post-Marxism back from the brink by taking up the under-theorized concept of material interests.These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Whether through intentional design or unintentional evolution, these determine the conditions of human behaviour as well as any potential for resistance, transformation and change. In particular, they can help deconstruct shifts in the status quo and think through periods where existing power structures are unstable or falling apart. Through upgrading the concept of hegemony-understanding the importance of passive consent; the complexity of political interests; and the structural force of technology-Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams offer us an updated theory of power for the twenty-first century.

This is the final book I read in my reading on the theme of hegemony set out here https://marxadventure.

Gilbert and Williams offer a detailed and methodical analysis which helps think through complexity, but also miss some key points which could add to their analysis.