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23 Global Governance 205 (2017)
The G-20 since the Global Financial Crisis: Neither Hegemony nor Collectivism

handle is hein.journals/glogo23 and id is 209 raw text is: 

Global Governance 23 (2017), 205-223


  The G-20 Since the Global Financial Crisis:
       Neither Hegemony nor Collectivism



                            Tom   Chodor


    This article analyzes the sources of gridlock in the Group of 20 since the
    global financial crisis. It engages with this question through Mark Beeson
    and Stephen Bell's framework, which identifies two processes of socializa-
    tion operating concurrently within the G-20: hegemonic incorporation
    and collectivist cooperation. While hegemonic incorporation seeks to so-
    cialize the rising Southern powers into the US-led world order, their inclu-
    sion over time drives the G-20 toward more collective and cooperative
    forms of global governance. The article argues that the GFC has altered
    this equation in two ways: by accelerating the shift of economic power
    from the North to the South, and by undermining the hegemony of ne-
    oliberalism in the South. These two developments have made the United
    States less willing to offer the concessions necessary for hegemonic incor-
    poration while, at the same time, bolstering the confidence of the South-
    ern powers. Consequently, the article proposes that both hegemonic
    incorporation and collectivist cooperation are undermined, leading in-
    stead to gridlock and fragmentation. The article illustrates this argument
    through a case study of the gridlock surrounding the issue of global im-
    balances. Keywords. G-20, Global South, hegemony.


WHEN   IT WAS  RELAUNCHED   DURING  THE GLOBAL  FINANCIAL  CRISIS (GFC),
the Group of 20 (G-20) embodied  hopes for a more effective and represen-
tative global governance system. However,   the institution has since lost
momentum,   facing growing  criticism regarding its relevance and efficacy,
with a recent summit described by one observer as a deep disappointment
for all who had hoped and needed the G-20 leaders to confront and control
today's central global challenges. Rather than becoming the world's pre-
mier  forum  for international economic cooperation, the G-20  has  suc-
cumbed  to gridlock, struggling to tackle key issues on the global agenda.
This reflects a larger breakdown  of global cooperation  identified by
Thomas   Hale et al., resulting in a growing gap between  our need  for
global solutions and the flagging ability of multilateral institutions to meet
that need. One of the key causes of this gridlock is the rise of new pow-
ers representing a more diverse array of interests, which makes intergov-
ernmental agreement  more difficult.2 While polarization within the G-20 is
not confined to North-South lines-there are divisions on a number of lev-
els, including between  the United States and  Europe-this   is the most
important divide for the institution, given its primary purpose of socializing


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