A chain of equivalences occurs when a common opposition links together different groups (or demands). This primarily happens in response to a larger, more hegemonic power. By creating temporary chains of mutual interest, disparate groups can form a broad coalition of significant power despite differences that would usually drive them apart.
Example: In a protest movement, environmental activists, labor unions, and racial justice groups might unite under the shared opposition to corporate exploitation, even though their specific goals differ.
Example 2: A group of parents, teachers, and politicians call for textbook change, such as "the math wars" or critical race theory, in which several smaller groups with separate interests form a unity of purpose that dissolves once the goal is achieved.
Example 3: In Marxism, the notion of abolishing class (the particular) demands the emancipation of the entire society (the universal). In such cases, ethnic or religious differences are suppressed (temporarily) for the commonality of purpose.
This term originates from Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mauffe in Hegemony and Socialist Strategies (1985).
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