Hegemony: Difference between revisions

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'''Hegemony '''can be defined as “the social, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group.” -Merriam Webster <ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hegemony</ref> Hegemony was popularized by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, writer, and politician. He was imprisoned by the Mussolini regime for his revolutionary ideology.&nbsp;
'''Hegemony''' can be defined as ''“the social, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group”'' (Merriam Webster).<ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hegemony</ref> The term hegemony was popularized on the left by Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, writer, and politician.


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== Examples of Hegemony ==
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Disposability discourse
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Much discussion around the severity of COVID was lessened by expressing how it mainly sickens and kills elderly, chronically ill, and disabled people. This discourse suggests these groups are seen disposable.&nbsp;
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Loosened restrictions too early
'''Private property laws  <ref>https://transversal.at/transversal/0605/demirovic/en</ref>  '''
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When governments loosened COVID restrictions in response to business demands, political pressure, and public impatience, rather than scientific evidence, high risk populations (the chronically ill, disabled and elderly) were subsequently told they are disposable yet again.&nbsp;
*Private property laws were developed to protect the interests of elites who have the capital to own, and maintain ownership, of such property.&nbsp;
*These laws, for example, prevent activists from blockading the business activity that benefits the owners of the property, as they could be arrested for conducting direct actions on private property without permission. Activists would not be arrested for performing the same actions on public property.
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Working through illness
'''Big banks  <ref>https://worldcrunch.com/eyes-on-the-us/american-banking-hegemony-a-view-from-europe</ref>  '''
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Regulations around how many sick days should be required when someone falls ill with COVID also demonstrated ableism. In relation to these regulations, and in favour of profit above health, many politicians including US President Joe Biden, praised themselves for working through COVID, instead of encouraging people to rest and recover if they'd fallen ill.&nbsp;
*<span>Private banks were created with corporate interests in mind, and their sole purpose is to profit.</span>
*<span>Today, due to their financial power, banks can be found almost anywhere; from charity and NGO programs, to scholarship opportunities, to the ownership of sport, art or entertainment venues, to the sponsorship of events etc.</span>
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Individualism
'''Media '''  <ref>Altheide, David L. “Media Hegemony: A Failure of Perspective.”&nbsp;<em>The Public Opinion Quarterly</em>, vol. 48, no. 2, 1984, pp. 476–90.&nbsp;<em>JSTOR</em>, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2749038.</ref>
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Individuals have been encouraged to make 'personal' choices on vaccines (without legitimate health restrictions), masks and gatherings.
*Mainstream media <span>upholds the ideology of those that own the platforms to favour their interests. </span>
 
*<span>For example, the concept of 'objectivity' in media is supposed to encourage neutral takes on news stories so that individuals can form their own opinions. However, objectivity is a myth, and what is considered 'objective' is largely determined by the elite. Thus, the media perpetuates the status quo and never challenges it.</span>
"''There is no individual safety without collective safety and collective safety requires that no one is safe unless everyone is safe." - Mia Mingus  <ref>https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/you-are-not-entitled-to-our-deaths-covid-abled-supremacy-interdependence/</ref> ''
*<span>We see this for example in a limited coverage of the climate crisis and the systemic reasons for why we got here. Whereas a large portion of our media cover stories on crime, sports and entertainment, where there is no critical analysis of systemic issues.</span>
 
*<span>For more on media objectivity, see [https://sandyandnora.com/episode-152-the-objectivity-myth/ this podcast episode by Sandy Hudson and Nora Loreto].</span>
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Latest revision as of 19:08, 13 November 2024

Hegemony can be defined as “the social, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group” (Merriam Webster).[1] The term hegemony was popularized on the left by Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, writer, and politician.

Examples of Hegemony

Private property laws [2]

  • Private property laws were developed to protect the interests of elites who have the capital to own, and maintain ownership, of such property. 
  • These laws, for example, prevent activists from blockading the business activity that benefits the owners of the property, as they could be arrested for conducting direct actions on private property without permission. Activists would not be arrested for performing the same actions on public property.

Big banks [3]

  • Private banks were created with corporate interests in mind, and their sole purpose is to profit.
  • Today, due to their financial power, banks can be found almost anywhere; from charity and NGO programs, to scholarship opportunities, to the ownership of sport, art or entertainment venues, to the sponsorship of events etc.

Media [4]

  • Mainstream media upholds the ideology of those that own the platforms to favour their interests.
  • For example, the concept of 'objectivity' in media is supposed to encourage neutral takes on news stories so that individuals can form their own opinions. However, objectivity is a myth, and what is considered 'objective' is largely determined by the elite. Thus, the media perpetuates the status quo and never challenges it.
  • We see this for example in a limited coverage of the climate crisis and the systemic reasons for why we got here. Whereas a large portion of our media cover stories on crime, sports and entertainment, where there is no critical analysis of systemic issues.
  • For more on media objectivity, see this podcast episode by Sandy Hudson and Nora Loreto.




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  1. ↑ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hegemony
  2. ↑ https://transversal.at/transversal/0605/demirovic/en
  3. ↑ https://worldcrunch.com/eyes-on-the-us/american-banking-hegemony-a-view-from-europe
  4. ↑ Altheide, David L. “Media Hegemony: A Failure of Perspective.” The Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 2, 1984, pp. 476–90. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2749038.
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