A HEGALIAN DIALECTIC OF ENTITLEMENT AND TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

This study applies the Hegelian dialectic to analyze two opposing frameworks for social change processes, one disempowering and leading to demoralization, and the other empowering, leading to positive and sustainable social change across historical and contemporary contexts. It explores how seven conceptual dyads undergo aufheben (sublation) to transcend opposition. Using Hegel’s triadic dialectic (thesis-antithesis-synthesis), the study identifies absolute negations and synthesizes them into a higher-order framework. The dialectical process reveals contradictions resolve into transformative syntheses, offering a diagnostic tool for democratic erosion and renewal. The study bridges Hegelian philosophy and sociopolitical praxis, advancing a pluriversal lens for global conflicts. The shift from a unipolar to a pluriversal global order necessitates moving beyond traditional political strategies—rooted in hegemony and zero-sum logic—toward relational frameworks centered on co-sovereignty and civil reciprocity. The framework can assist social scientists and activists in navigating power asymmetries (e.g., epistemic injustice, colonial legacies) through dialectical resolution, with speculative moments serving as a conceptual blueprint for fostering mutual recognition, coexistence, and international peace. Future research could explore how the sublated framework shapes adaptive strategies, relational bonds, and normative codes. Methodologically, scholars should investigate whether Hegel's distinctive application of deconstruction within the analytical process of abstraction constitutes a substantive departure from Derrida's approach to deconstruction. Additionally, to advance toward Hegel's ideal of comprehensive understanding and achieve a more robust synthesis, scholars should:

1) Systematically integrate multiple antitheses emerging from competing ideological perspectives, and 2) identify the common essence producing negative consequences in the thesis-antithesis dyads and among thesis-antitheses set, thereby refining and strengthening Hegel's dialectical framework.