From Hegemony to Governmentality

ABSTRACT

Postcolonial studies in India have a rich tradition. Since the late 1980s, many theoretical innovations have been deployed in these analyses. The objective of this article is to uncover some of the limitations of the theoretical fields deployed to analyse postcolonial societies within the discourse of postcolonialism in India. I will narrate the transition from the discursive field constituted by hegemony and its related concepts to the field constituted by a version of governmentality and critique these deployments. This critique, like all critiques, is based on a particular query. I am primarily interested in the question: how far does this deployment allow or shut out the subversive potential of actors within the postcolonial structure?

KEYWORDS:

• Postcolonialism
• hegemony
• governmentality
• Gramsci
• Lacan

Notes on contributor

Pranab Kanti Basu has taught at Asutosh College, Kolkata, India. He is currently Professor at the Department of Economics and Politics, Visva-Bharati, India. His latest book includes Globalisation: An Anti-text (Aakar Books, 2008). His recent publication includes “World of the Third” (Economic & Political Weekly, August 1, 2015). “‘Inclusive Growth’—A Lacanian Reading” is scheduled for publication in Rethinking Marxism 28 (2) in 2016. His areas of interest include Marxism, community, and critical thought. He teaches International Economics and Marxian Political Economy.

Notes

¹ This insertion does not follow the chronology of the literature. Chaudhury's proposition had preceded much of the “complex hegemony” literature.

² See http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/wheeling/hnike.html.

³ The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005) is an Act of Parliament for enhancing the livelihood security of rural households by guaranteeing 100 days of work (paid by the government) in a financial year for a household whose adult members offer to do manual labour. This work is mainly for rural infrastructure building.

⁴ Used in the sense of Laclau and Mouffe (1985) quoted later.

⁵ For details consult various issues of Gurgaon Workers News, http://gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com.

⁶ I am using the terms in the sense in which Laclau and Mouffe (1985, 93) used them.