Internal dynamics and US hegemony:Oath Keepers anti-liberal narratives and symptoms of liberal international order crisis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26792/rbed.v12i1.75455Palabras clave:
US, Liberal International Order, Hegemony, Extreme-Right Militias, Oath KeepersResumen
The election of Donald Trump in 2016 rekindled the debates about US hegemony and the future of the liberal international order (LIO). However, numerous analyses on the topic overlook the connection between US internal dynamics and global hegemony. When internal dynamics are considered, theoretical considerations tend to focus on positive aspects of the American political system and pay less attention to internal contradictions, loss of consensus, and anti-liberal narratives. Although Trump›s first presidency intensified such domestic contradictions and inequalities, extreme-right militia narratives, such as the Oath Keepers (OK), already existed. To exemplify these internal contradictions, we analyze the first year of the OK›s blog and show how its members› narrative challenges central pillars of LIO. Founded by former armed and security forces officers, and maintaining a paramilitary organization, the OK case shows the existence of a long-term mobilization of extreme-right actors oriented to the use of violence. The article is divided into three sections: first, we present the debate on hegemony and how it is centered mostly on international components; then we focus on the neo-gramscian concept of hegemony and how it contributes to bringing the domestic realm and its social forces to the fore; and lastly, we analyze the OK›s narrative.
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