The Justice-Oriented Hegemonic Loop: A Strategic Analysis of Zohran Mamdani's Victory in New York (2025)

Urban policy literature shows that elite coalitions based on financial and media capital primarily determine power distribution in capitalist megacities. Yet, Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 New York mayoral victory, with $12.95 million against competitors’ over $50 million, challenged this pattern. This study explains his success by proposing the “Justice-Oriented Hegemonic Loop” as an anti-hegemonic strategic model in hybrid warfare contexts. Using a qualitative approach and critical discourse analysis based on Laclau and Mouffe (2001), data were drawn from speeches, digital content, official documents, and critics’ texts, validated through theoretical saturation and triangulation. Findings indicate Mamdani’s success rested on a triple articulation of redistributive justice, resistance identity inspired by Shiite political theology, and digital mobilization, forming an anti-hegemonic stance against the financial-media coalition. Results suggest that intangible resources, when strategically framed, can substitute material assets in attaining power. The model offers a practical framework for justice-oriented strategic management and analyzing transnational movements in hybrid warfare.