Counterhegemony at work: the Belt and Road Initiative and the restructuring of international political economy

Since its inception, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has aimed to strengthen transnational connectivity through infrastructure development and trade facilitation, and thus become a focal point in the field of international political economy (IPE). This article offers a conceptual exploration of how the BRI is restructuring the IPE toward a multipolar order of geopolitical and geoeconomic cooperation. Drawing on Gramsci’s analytical framework – particularly his insights into (counter)hegemony – I analyze how the BRI fosters a counterhegemonic movement among Global South actors, led by China, to build their own ladders of development and challenge neoliberal IPE. Addressing a synergy of ideas, institutions, and material capabilities, this analysis seeks to transcend the Western-centric neoliberal IPE by advancing a Southern-oriented international development paradigm. Specifically, the BRI has the potential to institutionalize developmental IPE which emphasizes infrastructure investment, industrial policy, and economic planning to foster industrialization and promote national development. By returning to Gramsci’s theorization, this article offers a revised analytical lens through which to understand the restructuring of IPE. It foregrounds the possibility of a historical bloc forming around Global South interests, thereby expanding the theoretical and political terrain for rethinking global order beyond neoliberal orthodoxy.