Fifteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

The provision of public goods is closely tied to the concept of hegemony. A hegemon provides public goods. This hegemonic power domestically in the ideal-typical case is the sovereign state. Internationally the regional or global hegemon provides public goods. International hegemony is benign if it is perceived as associating with the affirmation of national self-determination to contribute to a supranational liberal political and economic community, e.g., the European Union. The EU’s supernational institutions constitute its political representation, with the EU not being perceived by the modal EU citizenry as a cloak for German neo-colonialism. International hegemony is benign if the public goods it is functionally viewed as providing allow for social creativity strategies among the nation state member components, i.e., the national components are different in their features and contributions, but equal in status. Exploitation of these social creativity opportunities permit individual social mobility into the supranational European identity of liberal and economic values. Public health is a public good and the Covid-19 pandemic illuminates the necessity of global institutional infrastructure to provide it, which requires appealing to a global public. The existing institutional infrastructure around which confronting the pandemic coalesces provide utilitarian economic and participation opportunities to utilize state obligations and capacities to engage in social creativity. State authorities promote congruent utilitarian opportunity structures emerging around the coordination of national and global policies to confront Anthropocene climate change. The instability of international hegemony from reliance on scapegoating a common foe radically problematizes the construction of a supranational community identity.

Presenters

Benedict Edward DeDominicis
Professor of Political Science, School of International Studies, Catholic University of Korea, Gyeonggido [Kyonggi-do], South Korea