The Hegemony Crisis,the Neoliberal Model,and the United States Power Structure

Abstract

The U.S. hegemony crisis is partly economic and social, derived from the failure of neoliberalism as an alternative to the accumulation crisis and its social consequences; but it is, above all, the result of changes brought about in power structures. This hegemony crisis could be understood as the loss or depletion of the economic structure, the political organization, and the ideological orientation instruments created after World War II, which are necessary to maintain a stable world order. Marco Gandásegui, founding leader of the CLACSO “United States Studies” Working Group (WG), assumed this crisis as a result of a “global” phenomenon. However, in his internal determinations related to the American power structure, he stressed its changes in the context of “neoliberal globalization.” He interrogated the ability, or lack thereof, of the American capitalist class or internal bourgeoisie to tackle the crisis, in a context of disarticulation and weakening of the working class.