Investigating hegemony struggles: transdisciplinary considerations on the role of a critical discourse analysis of practical argumentation

ABSTRACT

Against the background of enduring crisis dynamics, an increasingly popular (neo-)Gramscian line of interpretation has the merit of shedding light on the ambivalences of the present political scenario as a series of ongoing struggles for hegemony. Yet how to concretely conceive, structure and operationalize empirical investigations interested in these struggles without neglecting their complex interplay of discursive and extra-discursive dynamics? I suggest that cultural political economy (CPE), historical materialist policy analysis (HMPA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) of practical argumentation can be productively combined into a transdisciplinary research framework to investigate key strategic aspects at play in conflicts over the making and challenging of hegemony. Building on the potential for synergy between CPE and HMPA, I argue that a CDA of practical argumentation can improve their analytical strength in investigating strategies within the broader context of hegemony struggles. Both CPE and HMPA, in fact, imply a process of practical reasoning as a key element in their respective approaches to questions of strategy. This implicit concern, I suggest, should be made explicit and a CDA focusing on practical argumentation can be an ideal candidate to strengthen CPE and HMPA in this respect.

KEYWORDS:

• Gramscian hegemony theory
• critical discourse analysis
• practical argumentation
• strategy
• cultural political economy
• historical materialist policy analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Daniela Caterina has earned her PhD at the Institute for Political Science of the University of Hamburg, Germany in 2017. Her research interests include (neo-)Gramscian theory, materialist state theory, discourse analysis and Italy's political economy. For publications and other activities see: https://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/fachbereich-sowi/professuren/asbach/team/caterina-daniela.html.

Notes

1 I would like to thank Ngai-Ling Sum and one anonymous reviewer for constructive discussions on the necessity to deal with the following points more explicitly.