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

Year 2017, , 5 - 16, 01.01.2017

Nicholas Onuf

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.284595

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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