Re-framing hegemony: Mindanao, Okinawa, and American preponderance in East Asia

Departing from the debates on order transitions in East Asia, this lecture explores the oft-neglected role of subalterns in (re)constructing the U.S. hegemony in the region. Using a novel theoretical framework, ‘triptych of hegemony’, it argues that American hegemony is a system that consolidates itself by reinforcing (post)colonial relations between the subordinate state capitals, Manila and Tokyo, and their peripheries, Muslim Mindanao and Okinawa. The first part discusses hegemony-making from a historical perspective, focusing on ‘colonial encounters’ involving the U.S., the Philippines, Mindanao, Japan, and Okinawa. The second part examines the contemporary ramifications of these encounters manifested in militarisation and subaltern resistance, focusing on the role of Mindanao and Okinawa as critical strategic outposts for American power projection in the region. The lecture ends with reflections on the persistent subaltern condition of subnational actors implicated in the U.S.-China power rivalry. 

Carmina Yu Untalan is a former fellow at the International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden University. She will be a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, where she will explore alternative approaches to international relations through African and Asian anticolonial thought. Her research interests include ontological security, international relations theory and postcolonial studies.