Hegemony Research

For this essay I have chosen to argue the case against the sociocultural concept of Hegemony with reference to key thinkers in this field including Antonia Gramsci and Stuart Hall, using examples from Contemporary Western society and cultures. I would like to begin my essay by simply defining the term Hegemony. “Hegemony is the social, cultural, ideological, and economic influence used by a dominant group over another group in society.”(Encyclopaedia Britannica 2014) “It is applied cautiously rather than forcefully through cultural means and economic power.”(New York Times 2009) Hegemony for me is essentially the term used when powerful people use their influence to convince others in society to do what is in the more powerful people’s best interests. It depends upon the successful use of cultural and social institutions such as the media to shape the limits of economic and political freedom for citizens. In this essay I will outline and discuss how hegemony carries this out and with what effects. I will look specifically at the role hegemony plays in both the media and in politics.

In today's world, hegemony is often used to refer to a group in society having power over others within that society. In this instance “Hegemony can be represented as a power system.”(Christensen 2014) Every day practices show how governments rule and have complete power over our societies. The act of paying taxes is an example of everyday hegemony. However, “in fair systems no group systematically evades the burden of responsibility of taxation”. (Sobel 2012) Another example in today's society includes donating funds to political parties and businesses to further their influence and monetary gains. In many Western societies, governments are in...

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In conclusion, hegemony has both its advantages and disadvantages in society. In terms of politics, for the wealthy it is a means to achieve more capital for the conservative classes. For the less privileged classes, their economic wellbeing remains static, relying on social benefits and poorer opportunities to further their wellbeing. Despite the system of free education, the lower classes of society have not gained materially because the cost of third level education is unattainable due to their lower income. In relation to media, Hegemony can easily shape the opinions and views of the public and influence their perception on certain issues. It is because of this I am against the idea of hegemony. We as citizens must be conscious of the presence of hegemony in our society and the way in which it is used to sway our thinking on certain issues.