Global Governance, Class, Hegemony: A historical materialist perspective
Author(s)
Overbeek, Henk
Abstract
Global governance is an oft-used concept the meaning of which is seldom clear. This paper start from a critique of the normative bias in much of the contemporary literature on global governance, which, it argues, obscures the class character of governance practices in a capitalist economy. After presenting a brief outline, in five foundational propositions, of an historical materialist approach to the phenomenon of global governance, the paper continues to historicize the phenomenon by analyzing both the historical continuities as well as the discontinuities that characterize global governance in the global economy. Next, the contemporary, i.e. early 21st century, variety of global governance is identified as neo-liberal global governance, that is to say as a form of governing the global political economy that is particularly suitable to furthering the underlying dynamic of the global economy in this era. This dynamic is identified as deepening commodification and the pervasive penetration of the private profit motive in all spheres of human existence. The evolving mode of regulating international business taxation serves as an empirical illustration of the historical meandering of the boundary between public and private governance at the global level. Finally, the paper situates its findings in the context of a broader theorization of neo-liberal global governance.
