Hegemony, class and the Commonwealth: a Marxist perspective

How should Marxists and critical thinkers view the Commonwealth? Given its imperialist past, what is the point of the current Commonwealth of Nations? This paper attempts to consider these questions from a neo-Gramscian perspective. The authors suggest that while the longevity of the Commonwealth might, at first glance, appear puzzling to Marxist and critical-thinking scholars, a class-based analysis provides a possible explanation. The authors suggest that Marxists could view the Commonwealth through the Gramscian concept of hegemony as a multilateral forum for the transnational capitalist class, where common (capitalist) interests are fostered through shared interests between global and domestic elites.