bloc au pouvoir · Concept

Power Bloc

권력 블록

A concept developed by Nicos Poulantzas from Gramsci, denoting the contradictory unity formed by the dominant class fractions (industrial, commercial, financial capital, etc.) under a capitalist state. The state acts as the site where the long-term political interests of these fractions are organized and unified, and the power bloc operates under the leadership of one 'hegemonic fraction.' It is not a simple instrument of a single class but a political alliance constituted through competition and compromise among fractions.

Related people

Antonio Gramsci

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (EN) Wikipedia article on Poulantzas, covering relative autonomy, the power bloc concept, hegemonic fraction, and the state as factor of social cohesion
  2. cosmonautmag.com Tony Chamas, Cosmonaut Magazine (2023): 'The power bloc is the ensemble of the dominant class fractions that achieves a contradictory unity facilitated by the state, with one leading hegemonic fraction'
  3. bobjessop.wordpress.com Bob Jessop (2014): 'the modern representative state offers a flexible framework to unify the long-term political interests of an otherwise fissiparous power bloc'
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