A hegemonia resiste e se reinventa: o papel das Big Techs na reconfiguração hegemônica dos Estados Unidos

Abstract

This study analyzes the role of Big Tech in sustaining and reconfiguring the hegemony of the United States of America (USA) in the capitalist world-system, based on the theoretical approach of Immanuel Wallerstein and the analysis of the Apple and Meta corporations. The research is qualitative and adopts a deductive methodology based on literature review and two case studies, from the theoretical perspective developed by Immanuel Wallerstein. It starts from the hypothesis that Big Tech acts as a pillar of US hegemonic power, reproducing the center-periphery logic on a global scale through the capture, control, and monetization of data, a process analogous to the ways in which past hegemonies used strategic technologies to sustain their economic, political, and military influence, including the USA. The main analytical dimensions of Big Tech – date of creation, founders, areas of activity, market value, and strategic acquisitions – reveal that their power derives not from individual genius, but from the privileged insertion of these companies in the cycles of expansion, crisis, and restructuring of historical capitalism. The case study of Apple and Meta demonstrates that both embody the contemporary logic of digital accumulation as predicted by Wallerstein's center-periphery dynamic: while Apple consolidated a model of vertical integration between hardware, software, and services, Meta perfected the extraction of value via surveillance capitalism, converting social interactions into economic raw materials and reinforcing the international division of digital labor, in which peripheral countries provide data and attention while value is concentrated in the center. It is concluded that Big Tech companies not only reflect the structural interests of the United States, but are decisive for the maintenance and reinvention of US hegemony in the digital age, operating as geoeconomic and technopolitical instruments that update old forms of domination through new infrastructures of informational power.