Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:41:38.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gramsci Reconsidered: Hegemony in Global Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2009

SONJA BUCKEL  and
ANDREAS FISCHER-LESCANO
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article focuses on Antonio Gramsci's hegemony theory. Hegemony, for Gramsci, is a particular way of living and thinking, a Weltanschauung (world-view), on which the preferences, taste, morality, ethics, and philosophical principles of the majority are based. Social struggles are transformed into legal ones in the course of processes in which juridical intellectuals are organizing hegemony under the special conditions of the legal system. We try to use this concept to contrast it with the prevailing readings of hegemony in international relations and in international law. ‘Hegemonic law’, we argue, is not the law of any superpower, but an asymmetric consensus which relies on a climate of world-society-wide recognition. The concrete form of hegemonic law under particular social conditions depends on the ‘historical bloc’, in which it is coupled with other social praxes. In the post-Westphalian system the historical bloc is fragmented into transnational and colliding legal regimes and law-generating processes in civil society.

Keywords

fragmentation of world lawglobal civil societyglobal social movementshegemonyideology
Type
ARTICLES
Information
Leiden Journal of International Law , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 437 - 454
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 ‘There is, then, an antinomy here, law against law, both equally marked by the law of commodity exchange. Between equal rights, force decides. Thus in the history of capitalist production the standardization of the working day takes the form of a struggle over the bounds of the working day – a fight between the universal capitalist, i.e. the capitalist class, and the universal worker, or the working class.’ K. Marx and F. Engels, Marx-Engels-Werke (1958), XXIII, 249; see also C. Miéville, Between Equal Rights: A Marxist Theory of International Law (2005).

2 On the state of legal-theoretical discussion of Gramsci see inter alia Cutler, A. C., ‘Gramsci, Law, and the Culture of Global Capitalism’, (2005) 8 Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 527Google Scholar; Litowitz, D., ‘Gramsci, Hegemony, and the Law’, (2000) 2 Brigham Young University Law Review 515Google Scholar; Staff, I., ‘Kleine Anmerkung zum “Großen Intellektuellen”’, (1989) 22 (2)Kritische Justiz 176Google Scholar; M. Cain, ‘Gramsci, the State and the Place of Law’, in D. Sugarman (ed.), Legality, Ideology and the State (1983), 95; Benney, M., ‘Gramsci on Law, Morality, and Power’, (1983) 11 International Journal of the Sociology of Law 191Google Scholar; Kennedy, D., ‘Antonio Gramsci and the Legal System’, (1982) 6 ALSA Forum 32Google Scholar; E. Greer, ‘Antonio Gramsci and “Legal Hegemony”’, in D. Kairys (ed.), The Politics of Law (1982), at 304–9; C. Sumner, Reading Ideologies: An Investigation into the Marxist Theory of Ideology and Law (1979), 257 ff.

3 E. Laclau and C. Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics (2001), 69.

4 Litowitz, supra note 2, at 536.

5 For a survey of feminist legal theory see Hunter, R., ‘Law's (Masculine) Violence: Reshaping Jurisprudence’, (2006) 17 Law and Critique 27CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 I. Kant, ‘Schrift zum ewigen Frieden’, in Kant, Werkausgabe, ed. W. Weischedel, Vol. 11 (1967), 191.

7 Derrida, J., ‘Force of Law: The “Mystical Foundation of Authority”’, (1990) 11 Cardozo Law Review 924Google Scholar.

8 G. Teubner, ‘Global Bukowina: Legal Pluralism in the World-Society’, in G. Teubner (ed.), Global Law without a State (1996), 3; D. C. Becker, Von Namen und Nummern: Kollisionen unverträglicher Rechtsmassen im Internet (2005); M. Koskenniemi, ‘Global Legal Pluralism: Multiple Regimes and Multiple Modes of Thought’, lecture given at Harvard University, March 2005, available at www.valt.helsinki.fi/blogs/eci/PluralismHarvard.pdf.

9 R. Wiethölter, ‘Begriffs- und Interessenjurisprudenz – falsche Fronten im IPR und Wirtschaftsverfassungsrecht. Bemerkungen zur selbstgerechten Kollisionsnorm’, in A. Lüderitz and J. Schröder (eds.), Internationales Privatrecht und Rechtsvergleichung im Ausgang des 20. Jahrhunderts. Bewahrung oder Wende? Festschrift für Gerhard Kegel (1977), at 235

10 J. Esser, Vorverständnis und Methodenwahl in der Rechtsfindung. Rationalitätsgrundlagen richterlicher Entscheidungspraxis (1970), 7–10.

11 R. Wiethölter, Rechtswissenschaf (1968), 292.

12 D. Kennedy, A Critique of Adjudication (1997), 1.

13 A. C. Hutchinson and P. J. Monahan, ‘Law, Politics, and the Critical Legal Scholars: The Unfolding Drama of American Legal Thought’, (1984) 206 Stanford Law Review 36.

14 I. Maus, ‘Zur Theorie der Institutionalisierung bei Kant’, in Maus, Zur Aufklärung der Demokratietheorie: rechts- und demokratietheoretische Überlegungen im Anschluss an Kant (1992), 294.

15 M. Luhmann, Law as a Social System (2004), 381.

16 A. Gramsci, Gefängnishefte. Kritische Gesamtausgabe (1991), Q4 §15: 475, K. Bochmann and W.F. Haug (eds.) [The Notebooks (Q = Quaderni del Carcere) 1–8 are published in English: J. A. Buttigieg (ed.), Prison Notebooks, Volume 1–3. (1991–2007)].

17 Ibid., §38, 502.

18 C. Buci-Glucksmann, Gramsci and the State (1980), 60.

19 T. Eagleton, Ideology: An Introduction (1991), 115.

20 Gramsci, supra note 16, §38, 502.

21 See on the use of the term ‘superstructure’ as a back-translation of the Italian world (‘superstruttura’) the editorial note by Wolfgang Fritz Haug (in Gramsci, supra note 16, vol. 3, A 213), which we here follow. The central idea is that more fruitful meanings can accrue around the word ‘superstructure’, helping in particular to avoid reductionist modes of thought that see the ‘superstructure’ as a mere ‘reflex’ of the ‘basis’.

22 Laclau and Mouffe, supra note 3, at 67.

23 N. Poulantzas, State, Power, Socialism (2001), 54.

24 Gramsci, supra note 16, §15, 475.

25 A. Demirovic, Der nonkonformistische Intellektuelle. Die Entwicklung der Kritischen Theorie zur Frankfurter Schule (1999), 21.

26 Poulantzas, supra note 23, at 80.

27 Eagleton, supra note 19, at 112.

28 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q4 §38, 495.

29 Ibid., at 496.

30 K. Priester, Studien zur Staatstheorie des italienischen Marxismus: Gramsci und Della Volpe (1981), 28; A. S. Sassoon, Gramsci's Politics (1987), 118.

31 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q13 §18, 1567.

32 Ibid., Q6 §10, 719.

33 Ibid., §13, 721.

34 M. Foucault, The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Vol. 1 (1990), 81.

35 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q15 §4, 714.

36 A. Kramer, ‘Gramscis Interpretation des Marxismus’, in H.-G. Backhaus (ed.), Gesellschaft. Beiträge zur Marxschen Theorie 4 (1975), 95; Gramsci, supra note 16, Q17 §51, 1890.

37 Kramer, supra note 36, at 90.

38 Buci-Glucksmann, supra note 18, at 56.

39 Eagleton, supra note 19, at 116.

40 Ibid., at 114.

41 See, e.g., Litowitz, supra note 2, at 523.

42 M. Foucault, Geschichte der Gouvernementalität I. Sicherheit, Territorium, Bevölkerung: Vorlesung am Collège de France 1977/1978 (2004), 241.

43 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q16 §4, 1713.

44 Ibid.

45 Ibid., Q17 §51, 1890.

46 On which see J. Wissel, ‘Kräfteverhältnisse’, in W. F. Haug (ed.), Historisch kritisches Wörterbuch des Marxismus (2009, forthcoming).

47 Laclau and Mouffe, supra note 3, at 68.

48 N. Fraser, ‘Soziale Gerechtigkeit im Zeitalter der Identitätspolitik’, in N. Fraser and A. Honneth, Umverteilung oder Anerkennung? (2003), 80.

49 B. Jessop, State Theory: Putting the Capitalist State in Its Place (1990), 309.

50 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q6 §87, 782.

51 Buci-Glucksmann, supra note 18, at 48.

52 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q6 §155, 824; §88, 783.

53 Ibid., Q12 §1, 1502.

54 Priester, supra note 30, at 60.

55 Sassoon, supra note 30, at 113.

56 L. Althusser, ‘Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses: Notes toward an Investigation’, in Althusser, Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (1971), 145.

57 P. Anderson, ‘The Antinomies of Gramsci ‘, (1976–7) 100 New Left Review 72; see also Priester, supra note 30, at 59.

58 Gramsci, supra note 16, §81, 773.

59 Eagleton, supra note 19, at 119.

60 Staff, supra note 2, at 179.

61 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q12 §1, 1500.

62 Ibid., at 1498.

63 Poulantzas, supra note 23, at 56.

64 Demirovic, supra note 25, at 23, 26.

65 Sassoon, supra note 30, at 138.

66 Ibid., at 135.

67 Eagleton, supra note 19, at 119.

68 S. Buckel, Subjektivierung & Kohäsion. Zur Rekonstruktion einer materialistischen Theorie des Rechts (2007); S. Marks (ed.), International Law on the Left: Re-examining Marxist Legacies (2008).

69 Luhmann, supra note 15, at 76.

70 See on the ‘commodity form of law’ Miéville, supra note 1.

71 J. Hirsch, ‘Politische Form, politische Institutionen und Staat’, in J. Esser, C. Görg, and J. Hirsch (eds.), Politik, Institutionen und Staat (1994), 161.

72 Luhmann, supra note 15, at 67.

73 A. Fischer-Lescano, ‘Global Constitutional Struggles: Human Rights between Colère Publique and Colère Politique’, in W. Kaleck, M. Ratner, T. Singelnstein, and P. Weiss (eds.), International Prosecution of Human Rights Crimes (2006), 13.

74 Hunter, supra note 5, at 40.

75 Demirovic, supra note 25, at 26.

76 Luhmann, supra note 15, at 423.

77 Kennedy, supra note 12, at 1f.

78 A. Fischer-Lescano, Globalverfassung. Die Geltungsbegründung der Menschenrechte (2005), 21 ff.

79 See G. Teubner, ‘Alienating Justice: On the Social Surplus Value of the Twelfth Camel’, in D. Nelken and J. Pribán (eds.), Law's New Boundaries: Consequences of Legal Autopoiesis (2001), 21.

80 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q6 §98, 791.

81 Ibid., Q13 §11, 1548.

82 Ibid., Q6 §84, 777.

83 Ibid., Q13 §7, 1544.

84 Ibid., Q6 §98, 792.

85 M. Foucault, ‘Truth and Judicial Forms’ (1974), in Foucault, Essential Works of Foucault 1954–1984, Vol. III (Power), trans. R. Hurley (2001), 1.

86 Kramer, supra note 36, at 94.

87 Litowitz, supra note 2, at 530.

88 Cutler, supra note 2, at 529.

89 In the free-law tradition: E. Ehrlich, Grundlegung der Soziologie des Rechts (1913), 390.

90 Luhmann, supra note 15, at 142.

91 B. Hess, ‘Aktuelle Brennpunkte des transatlantischen Justizkonflikts’, in Hess, Die Aktiengesellschaft (2005), 897; Krisch, N., ‘Amerikanische Hegemonie und liberale Revolution im Völkerrecht’, (2004) 43 Der Staat. Zeitschrift für Staatslehre und Verfassungsgeschichte, deutsches und europäisches öffentliches Recht 267Google Scholar; M. Byers and G. Nolte (eds.), United States Hegemony and the Foundations of International Law (2003); D. F. Vagts, ‘Hegemonic International Law’, (2001) 95 AJIL 843.

92 Demirovic, A., ‘Hegemoniale Projekte und die Rolle der Intellektuellen’, (2001) 61 (239)Das Argument, Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Sozialwissenschaften 59Google Scholar.

93 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q7§21, 877. In relation to the ideological system of law, Hans Kelsen puts it very similarly when he writes:

[I]n fact only those legal norms can be supposed valid whose concepts are effective . . . The contents of the two systems [law and nature (Kelsen) – law and power relations (Gramsci)] neither coincide entirely, nor diverge entirely. The tension must not exceed a maximum limit – for then the assumption of an intrinsically legal system of ‘law’ would lose all meaning – nor fall below a minimum one – for then any chance of using the system of law as a serviceable interpretive or evaluative schema for man's actual behaviour . . . would be taken away. (H. Kelsen, Allgemeine Staatslehre (1925), 18) That the law in the objective sense, i.e. the legal order, is the will of the State does not mean that the State ‘produces’ the law, but that the State is the bearer of this order, the content of which is ‘produced’ by a social process. (H. Kelsen, Hauptprobleme der Staatsrechtslehre (1932), 98)

94 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q9 §72, 1128 ff.

95 We use a broad concept of transnational law, which includes moments of supranational, international, and private jurisprudence, but transcends the classic jus inter gentes and its limited set of subjects, fora, and fonts; see F. Hanschmann, ‘Theorie transnationaler Rechtsprozesse’, in S. Buckel, R. Christensen, and A. Fischer-Lescano (eds.), Neue Theorien des Rechts (2009), 375.

96 www.pict-pcti.org.

97 Fischer-Lescano, supra note 78, at 175.

98 Cutler, supra note 2, at 535.

99 ‘It should further be borne in mind that international relations become interwoven with these internal relations of a nation State, thereby generating new original and historically specific combinations’ (Gramsci, supra note 16, Q13 §17, 1561).

100 Cutler, supra note 2, at 535.

101 N. Luhmann, Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft (1997), 631.

102 B. de Sousa Santos, Toward a New Legal Common Sense: Law, Globalization and Emancipation (2002), 285.

103 Ibid., at 281.

104 C. Schmitt, Der Begriff des Politischen (2002), at 202.

105 ‘The modern Prince, the myth of the Prince, cannot be a real person, an actual individual; he can only be an organism, a complex social element in which a collective will already begins to become concrete, which is recognized and has in part asserted itself in action’ (Gramsci, supra note 16, Q13 §1, 1537).

106 Foucault, supra note 42, at 103.

107 Gill, S., ‘Constitutionalizing Inequality and the Clash of Globalizations’, (2002) 51 (4)International Studies Review 47CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

108 E. Durkheim, Über soziale Arbeitsteilung. Studie über die Organisation höherer Gesellschaften (1999), 153. See further N. Luhmann, ‘Das Paradox der Menschenrechte und drei Formen seiner Entfaltung’, in Luhmann, Soziologische Aufklärung 6: Die Soziologie und der Mensch (1995), 229; Teubner, supra note 8.

109 B. Rajagopal, International Law from Below: Development, Social Movements and Third World Resistance (2003), 18.

110 Ibid.

111 On the relation between discussion and decision as structural coupling, see Brunkhorst, H., ‘Globalising Democracy without a State: Weak Public, Strong Public, Global Constitutionalism’, (2002) 31 Millennium 675, at 676, n. 6CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and in detail, H. Brunkhorst, Solidarity: From Civic Friendship to a Global Legal Community (2005).

112 Koskenniemi, M., ‘Constitutionalism as a Mindset: Reflections on Kantian Themes about International Law and Globalisation’, (2007) 35 (8)Theoretical Inquiries in Law 9Google Scholar.

113 On which see Alter, K. J., ‘Private Litigants and the New International Courts’, (2006) 39 Comparative Political Studies 22CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

114 J. Lobel, ‘Courts as Forums for Protest’ (2004) 52 UCLA Law Review 477.

115 Women's International War Crimes Tribunal for the Trial of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery, Case No. PT-2000–1-T, Judgment, 4 December 2001, para. 4.

116 S. Buckel, ‘Feministische Erfolge im transnationalen Recht: Die juridische Aufarbeitung des japanischen Systems sexueller Sklaverei’, (2008) 1 Leviathan 54.

117 J. Habermas, ‘Hat die Konstitutionalisierung des Völkerrechts noch eine Chance?’, in Habermas, Der gespaltene Westen. Kleine politische Schriften X (2004), 142.

118 Gramsci, supra note 16, Q13 §11, 1549.