Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulation

This article returns to Stuart Hall’s account of Thatcherism to consider the interaction between consent-based hegemonic devices and the structural compulsions that emanate from political-economic transitions. It argues that Hall’s method of articulation offers a middle position in analysing contemp...

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Main Author: Luke Cooper
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Political Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1455768/full
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author Luke Cooper
author_facet Luke Cooper
author_sort Luke Cooper
collection DOAJ
description This article returns to Stuart Hall’s account of Thatcherism to consider the interaction between consent-based hegemonic devices and the structural compulsions that emanate from political-economic transitions. It argues that Hall’s method of articulation offers a middle position in analysing contemporary authoritarian trends, which recognises the role of structural constraints and logics, as well as the discursive construction of ideology in enabling (and inhibiting) hegemony seeking efforts. Building on existing work that has highlighted the distinction between classical neoliberal arguments regarding economic individualism and the trend towards ‘protectionist’ discourses today, where the state is cast as a protector of the in-group against threats, real and imagined, the article outlines how the method of articulation can aid us in making sense of the complexity and non-linearity of the post-neoliberal transition. This framework is then applied to the case study of the British Conservative Party’s trajectory after the 2016 Brexit referendum.
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spelling doaj-art-0b5e5d0f3b7b44edbe3eb6087a91e4f92025-08-20T02:02:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Political Science2673-31452025-03-01710.3389/fpos.2025.14557681455768Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulationLuke CooperThis article returns to Stuart Hall’s account of Thatcherism to consider the interaction between consent-based hegemonic devices and the structural compulsions that emanate from political-economic transitions. It argues that Hall’s method of articulation offers a middle position in analysing contemporary authoritarian trends, which recognises the role of structural constraints and logics, as well as the discursive construction of ideology in enabling (and inhibiting) hegemony seeking efforts. Building on existing work that has highlighted the distinction between classical neoliberal arguments regarding economic individualism and the trend towards ‘protectionist’ discourses today, where the state is cast as a protector of the in-group against threats, real and imagined, the article outlines how the method of articulation can aid us in making sense of the complexity and non-linearity of the post-neoliberal transition. This framework is then applied to the case study of the British Conservative Party’s trajectory after the 2016 Brexit referendum.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1455768/fullarticulationauthoritarianismneoliberalismpolitical-economyStuart Hall
spellingShingle Luke Cooper
Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulation
Frontiers in Political Science
articulation
authoritarianism
neoliberalism
political-economy
Stuart Hall
title Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulation
title_full Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulation
title_fullStr Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulation
title_full_unstemmed Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulation
title_short Authoritarian protectionism and the post-neoliberal transition: learning from Stuart Hall’s method of articulation
title_sort authoritarian protectionism and the post neoliberal transition learning from stuart hall s method of articulation
topic articulation
authoritarianism
neoliberalism
political-economy
Stuart Hall
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1455768/full
work_keys_str_mv AT lukecooper authoritarianprotectionismandthepostneoliberaltransitionlearningfromstuarthallsmethodofarticulation