Looking At The Problems Of Hegemony Culture Cultural Studies Essay

Hegemony is the procedures by which dominant civilization maintains its dominant place: for illustration, the usage of establishments to formalise power ; the employment of a bureaucratism to do power look abstract ( and, hence, non attached to any one person ) ; the ingraining of the public in the ideals of the hegomonic group through instruction, advertisement, publication, etc. ; the mobilisation of a constabulary force every bit good as military forces to subdue resistance.

In international dealingss, there is a amalgamate tradition that associates hegemony and universe order.

However, the relation between the two variables, their reading, and the way of the causal nexus between them, is still a affair of scholarly argument.

The definition of hegemony and an imperium has been heatedly debated over the past few decennaries. Some believe hegemony is a tactic to avoid the word imperium and the negative intensions that are associated with it. Others believe that a hegemony is a more proficient, good thought out signifier of an imperium.

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Some believe it is a lesser signifier of imperialism. Although one thing that is non disputed is the fact that hegemony really good is a signifier of laterality over a smaller, weaker state, and no affair what one may name it, or how it may be approached, laterality will go on to boom through the ages. Mentioning to the organisation of the international system after the Second World War, Kindleberger argued that 'stensibly, the system was ' organized by regulations and international establishments. In world, it was led by the United States ''

In this essay, Antonio Gramsci 's hegemony attack will be profoundly analsed and examined and besides compared and contrased with the other`s attacks.

2. GRAMSCI`S THEORY OF HEGEMONY

In order to understand Gramsci and the construct of hegemony, one has to look briefly at the work of Karl Marx. Marxism viewed everything in life as determined by capital. ( Williams, R. 1977 ) The flow of money affects our dealingss with other people and the universe environing us. Marx stated that everything around us, our activities and manner of life is determined by economic content. Harmonizing to Marxism, work forces find themselves born in a procedure independent of their will, they can non command it, they can seek merely to understand it and steer their actions consequently. ( Williams, R. 1977 )

The category battle was an of import portion of Marxism. Marxism stated that society can merely be understood in footings of a system where the dominant thoughts are formulated by the governing category to procure its control over the on the job category. ( Williams, R. 1977 ) Due to development, the working category will finally seek and alter this state of affairs through revolution bring forthing its ain thoughts every bit good as its ain industrial and political organisation.

Marxaa‚¬a„?s work is extremely influenced by economic logical thinking. He divides this economic logical thinking into two degrees, being the base and superstructure. The base is composed by the stuff production, money, objects, the dealingss of production and the phase of development of productive forces. ( Williams, R. 1977 ) The superstructure is where we find the political and ideological establishments, our societal dealingss, set of thoughts ; our civilizations, hopes, dreams and spirit. ( Williams, R. 1977 ) Both the base and superstructure are shaped by capital.

While one could state that Marx was chiefly concerned with the base and economic issues, Gramsciaa‚¬a„?s work seeks to concentrate on the superstructure and political orientations. For Gramsci, the category battle must ever affect thoughts and political orientations. These thoughts would take to a revolution and to alter. Gramsci tried to construct a theory which recognized the liberty, independency and importance of civilization and political orientation. ( Ransome, P. 1992 ) Gramsci took the superstructure a measure farther when he divided it into establishments that were coercive and those that were non. The coercive 1s, were fundamentally the public establishments such as the authorities, constabulary, armed forces and the legal system which he regarded as the province or political society and the non-coercive 1s were the others such as the churches, the schools, trade brotherhoods, political parties, cultural associations, nines and household, which he regarded as civil society. ( Boggs, C. 1976 ) So for Gramsci, society was made up of the dealingss of production every bit good as the province or political society and civil society.

Gramsci accepted the analysis of capitalist economy put frontward by Marx and accepted that the battle between the governing category and the subsidiary working category was the driving force that moved society frontward. ( Boggs, C. 1976 ) Gramsci did non hold with the impression put frontward by Marx that the governing category stayed in power entirely because they had economic power. He therefore introduced his ain construct utilizing political orientation. Ideology is the shared thoughts or beliefs which serve to warrant the involvements of dominant groups. ( Boggs, C. 1976 ) Gramsci felt that ideological power kept the governing category in power because it allowed them to brainwash and pull strings the remainder of society.

Ideology is the cohesive force which binds people together. Ideology, like hegemony must non merely show the category involvements of the capitalist or working category. Gramsci insists that political orientation has a material nature in the societal lives of persons, as political orientations are embedded in communal manners of life and moving. ( R. Simon, 1992 ) This means that political orientations are embodied in the societal patterns of persons and in the establishments and organisations within which these societal patterns take topographic point. Ideology provides people with the regulations of practical behavior and moral behaviour. Ideological power stems from norms or shared apprehensions of how people should move morally in their dealingss with each other. ( R. Simon, 1992 ) Those who monopolize ideological power have authorization over others.

Subordinate groups tend to accept the thoughts and values of the dominant group without physical or mental influence because they know no better or there are non other options. ( Ransome, P. 1992 ) From Gramsci 's position, the middle class gained and maintained power due to economic domination and rational and moral leading. Here, Gramsci introduced a new construct which he called hegemony. Hegemony is a set of thoughts by agencies of which dominant groups strive to procure the consent of subsidiary groups to their leading. ( Ransome, P. 1992 ) It occurs when dominant categories in society maintain their laterality carrying the other categories of society to accept their moral, political and cultural values. This means that the bulk in a population give consent to policies and political orientations implemented by those in power. One must non presume that this consent is ever willing. Those in power may unite physical force or coercion with rational, moral and cultural persuasion. ( Ransome, P. 1992 ) The dominant political orientation is therefore accepted, practiced and spread. Hegemony emerges out of societal and category battles and serves to determine and act upon people.

Harmonizing to Gramsci, hegemony ne'er disappears but is invariably changed. He describes two signifiers of societal control. The first type is coercive control which is achieved through the usage of direct force or menace of force. ( Simon, R. 1992 ) The 2nd type is consensual control which arises when persons voluntarily follow the worldview of the dominant group. ( Simon, R. 1992 )

Gramsci says that within civil society, the dominant group exercises hegemony which is rational domination over the low-level group or consensual control, whereas in political society, domination is exercised through province or juridical authorities or coercive control. ( Gramsci, A. 1971 ) These maps are really much interlinked in the sense that rational domination is normally preceded by political domination. Social hegemony and political authorities are enforced historically in which the dominant group enjoys its place because of its map in the universe of production and lawfully by province coercive power which enforces subject on groups that do non accept. ( Gramsci, A. 1971 ) This gives rise to a division of labour or specialisation and to a whole hierarchy of makings.

Gramsci stated that the lone manner the working category can accomplish hegemony is if it takes into history the involvements of other groups and societal forces and finds ways of uniting them with its ain involvements. ( Ransome, P. 1992 ) In other words, the working category will necessitate to construct confederations with societal minorities, taking into account their battles against the capital category, therefore beef uping the place of the on the job category. The labour procedure was at the centre of the category battle but it was the ideological battle that had to be addressed if the mass of the people were to come to a realisation that allowed them to oppugn their political and economic rulersaa‚¬a„? right to govern.

Hegemony is exercised in civil society which is a tangle of category battles and democratic battles. ( Simon, R. 1992 ) Hegemony in civil society must accomplish leading in the domain of production taken up by the middle class, commanding the productive procedure and accomplishing province power. Those who have economic power have a strong nexus to political power and frailty versa. Those who monopolize control over economic production, distribution, exchange and ingestion is the dominant category which has the most power.

A alteration in hegemony may happen when the dominant category begins to interrupt up, making an chance for the subsidiary categories to unify and construct up a motion capable of disputing the weakened dominant category and accomplishing hegemony. But, if this chance is non taken, so the dominant category has the chance to reorganise new confederations and reestablish hegemony.

Hegemony goes beyond civilization which is the whole societal procedure in which people define and shape their lives. It is bases in political orientation which is a system of significances and values that expresses a peculiar category involvement. ( Simon, R. 1992 ) In order to make a category strong plenty to hold hegemony, one has to first transfuse a solid political orientation based on specific involvements that will rule the remainder of society, utilizing the influence of capitalist dealingss.

Gramsci felt that in order to hold hegemony, political orientations have to be instilled by certain people or leaders. Gramsci identified intellectuals as leaders in society. He identified two types of intellectuals. The first is traditional intellectuals who are people that regard themselves as independent of the dominant societal group and are regarded as such by the bulk of the population. ( Gramsci, A. 1971 ) The 2nd type is the organic rational. This is the group that grows organically with the opinion category, and is their thought and forming component. ( Gramsci, A. 1971 ) They were produced by the educational system to execute a map for the dominant societal group in society. It is through this group that the governing category maintains its hegemony over the remainder of society.