The Impact of the Counter Hegemonic Project on Global Justice

`It is in justice that the order of a city is centered.` What if there is no justice

Counter hegemonic projects are global movements that seek to challenge the norms that facilitate injustice and authoritarianism in order to achieve democracy and justice across the globe. These projects have become diversified within the age of information and are currently addressing reforms towards social, political, economic, and environmental justice. The pervasive nature of political regimes and giant corporations has borne the need to exert public influence and democracy on the fundamental functions of these institutions which have crisscrossed the path of justice, and depressed rights and liberties of the general population through globalization.

The Arab spring was a series of revolutions and uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East that instigated and stimulated the change of regimes. These mass revolutions were offset by Mohammed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in December 2010 in Tunis to protest police oppression. These ignited the flames against political corruption, extra-judicial killings, living standards, cultural freedoms, political rights and the democracy in Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, Algeria, and Morocco. In the Democratization Theory and the “Arab Spring” by Alfred Stephan, the Arab Spring in Tunisia played a significant role in creating a paradigm shift in Islamic countries that began questioning the Koranic statutes of consensus, justice, and consultation. These fundamental aspects of religion were agglomerated with political theory and activism as counter hegemonic projects that epitomized revolutions that came afterwards. The impact of the Arab Spring motivated the recent uprisings against Sudan's regime to achieve democracy. In countries such as Libya and Syria, the Arab Spring included armed rebellions that decimated infrastructure, led to the loss of life, and created civil strife that is present till to date. The global justice movement, therefore, played a vital role in agitating for social, political, and economic rights in these countries. The adoption of digital technologies such as social media encouraged broadcasting of information, and creation of political forums for debates and analysis of the uprising waves that consequently led to these uprisings being successful in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan.

The Black Lives Matter is a significant African American movement that challenges the social ideology of race and police authority which has prevalently witnessed the deliberate and systematic oppression and killing of African Americans in the United States. The movement operates through social media hashtags, protests, and national conferences in seeking justice for victims of police brutality and economic oppression. Thomas Dominique via his journal thoughts explained that the Black Lives Matter movement was initiated after the shooting and killing of Michael Brown- a Black American teenager- by a Police officer, Darren Wilson, in 2014. The state-sanction black violence has created a perpetual hell of living for Blacks in America who face discrimination in access to social services, political rights, and are susceptible to mass extrajudicial killings. This injustice obfuscates the American constitution that guarantees rights and freedoms to every citizen without bias. The implication of the diversion from the constitution has seen the Black Americans change political stands against reigning governments, boycott industrial activities, protest across streets in America and call for arrests and prosecution of members of the Ku Klux Klan. The fact that American racism is embedded in every institution has provided the Black Lives Matter, the gear to act against the systems and liberate themselves despite the lack of support from a democratic nation. This is a counter hegemonic project that pursues justice and elimination of prejudice and selective emancipation in the United States of America.  

The los indignados is a Spanish movement that uses insubordination and protests to articulate the need for economic and political reforms that have devastated the social welfare among the ordinary people in Spain. The movement, like other European movements, has employed digital technology to successfully create cohesion of the public in the fight against austerity measures employed by the government and corporations. Paolo Cossarini notes that the Indignados began in May 2011 after prolonged periods of the economic crisis which was characterized by loss of jobs, poor housing policies, banking, and mortgage oppression, health and education crisis and inefficient political reforms. The movement established local assemblies that encouraged mass boycotts of industries and used mottos and slogans to attract huge gatherings that camped in public spaces to protest against the government. Paolo further explains that the activism in the movement played a significant role in reducing the forced eviction of the debtors and changing of Spain's mortgage rules. This counter hegemonic project that began in the same period as the Arab Spring created attention towards the political and economic injustice rolled out through corporate influence on politics. The dire effects of capitalism on the economy have often been demonstrated by unequal income opportunities, skewed financial policies by banks, and extreme capitalism that expands the social gap between the rich and the poor. The impact of the los indignados movement was the creation of a crisis of hegemony that shifted economic and political opportunities to the masses hence achievement of social justice.

The years of industrialization and revolution of technology have borne adverse effects on the environment and are slowly creating a decaying pattern on the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and vegetation. Corporate institutions and governments have failed mother Earth. This stimulated the rise of environmentalists and climate justice movements which spearheaded campaigns against waste dumping, fossil-fuel corporations and agrofuel. According to Almeida in 2019, the 2007 Bali Conference on Climate Justice led to the growth of climate justice movements around the world that campaigned against climate change and carbon offsetting. The dramatic effects of the natural catastrophes linked to climate change and increased pollution have raised awareness on the peril created by industrialization. The climate justice movements through some of its leaders such as Greta Thunberg have insisted on the urgency to procure alternative methods of industrializing farms, transport, and production. This is a counter hegemonic project that strives to create climate change awareness and the need to bolster measures that prevent global warming in every country.

Public outrage and actions against injustice are the solutions to reforming economics, politics, and societies. According to Martin Luther King Junior, "Injustice here is a threat to justice everywhere." Therefore, this calls for global action against all forms of corruption, oppression, and suppression of human rights in order to achieve global democratization and peace.