Center-Periphery Relations: What Kind of Rule, and Does It Matter?

Abstract

In proposing ‘a structural theory of imperialism’ nearly half a century ago, Johan Galtung made center-periphery relations central to peace research theory and more generally to the way scholars from the periphery see international relations. Galtung took an imperialist system to be a special case of a ‘dominance system’; any such system enforces an unequal distribution of privilege and material well-being through mechanisms of direct, structural and cultural violence. I propose to re-write Galtung’s structural theory by taking rules and rule to perform the function that he assigned to violence. I conclude that today’s global imperialist system is ruled through a functionally segmented hegemony, supported by hierarchical coercion against a heteronomous backdrop.

Keywords

• Galtung,center,periphery,dominance,rules

Merkez -Çevre İlişkileri: Nasıl bir Düstur, Neden Önemli?

Abstract

Johan Galtung yaklaşık yarım yüzyıl önce ‘emperyalizmin yapısal teorisini’ geliştirirken merkez-çevre ilişkilerini, barış araştırmaları teorisinin ve daha genel çerçevede ise ‘çevre’ ülkelerdeki akademisyenlerin uluslararası ilişkilere bakış açısının merkezine yerleştirmiştir. Galtung’a göre emperyalist sistem, özel bir çeşit ‘hakimiyet sistemi’ dir. Bu tür sistemler, imtiyazlar ve maddi refahın eşitsiz dağıtımını doğrudan, yapısal ve kültürel şiddet mekanizmaları yoluyla dayatır. Bu yazıda, onun şiddete aftettiği fonksiyonun kurallar ve düstur tarafından ifa edildiğini öne sürerek Galtung’un yapısal teorisinin yeniden yazılmasını önermekteyim. Sonuç olarak ise günümüzdeki küresel emperyalist sisteminin düsturunun işlevsel olarak bölünmüş bir hegemonya olduğunu, bunun ise özerksiz bir arkaplana karşı hiyerarşik zorlama ile desteklendiğini öne sürmekteyim.

Keywords

• merkez,çevre,hegemonya,hakimiyet,kurallar,düstur

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