Constructing and Conceptualizing“Interdependent Hegemony”in an Era of the Rise of the BRICS and Beyond

The paper aims to provide a framework for understanding the global impactof the rise of the “Second World” (emerging powers, such as BRICS) brought aboutby globalization and the transformation of international relations and internationalpolitical economy. The paper takes the point of departure from one of Gramsci’s keyconceptual categories and analytical apparatus, e.g. “hegemony,” to explore the extentthat the upsurge of the emerging powers has reshaped the terrain and parameters ofsocial, economic and political relations both at the national and global levels, and hasexerted pressure on the existing international order in terms of both opportunities andconstraints. The paper intends to examine the dialectical nexus between the role of theemerging powers as a counter-hegemonic, socio-economic and socio-political forcefor a new world order. The paper’s analytical approach is to combine neo-Gramscianhegemony theories with critical post-hegemony theories. The conclusion of thepaper is to suggest that in an era of globalization and transformational capitalism it isimpossible for the emerging powers to establish an alternative independent hegemony;rather, the world will witness a new era of “interdependent hegemony,” in whichboth the “First World” and the “Second World” are intertwined in a constant processof shaping and reshaping the world order in the nexus of national interest, regionalorientation, common economic and political agendas, security alliance and potentialconfl icts.