Cultural hegemonist
From WikEd
"Cultural influences have set up the assumptions about the mind, the body, and the universe with which we begin; pose the questions we ask; influence the facts we seek; determine the interpretations we give these facts; and direct our reaction to these interpretations and conclusions."
--Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma (1944)
[edit] Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of
Cultural Hegemony is defined by Wikipedia as "the concept that a diverse culture can be ruled or dominated by one group or class, that everyday practices and shared beliefs provide the foundation for complex systems of domination."
Hegemony is defined as "the predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others." (Dictionary.com)
"Hegemony = leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others" (http://www.caledonia.org.uk/hegemony.htm)
The concept cultural hegemony was developed by an Italian, Antonio Gramsci. This theory was developed while he was imprisoned from 1928 until his death in 1937. He wrote about cultural hegemony while trying to understand the failure of socialism and to develop a socialist program that could function successfully in the modern world. (Rosengarten) He proposed that in a given setting, the dominant group would exert its influence via cultural influence and control over cultural institutions rather than through coercive force. (Kachgal)
Althusser (1971) used the term “ideological state apparatus (ISA)�? (p. 155), which includes cultural ISA and communications ISA. "If the ISAs ‘function’ massively and predominantly by ideology, what unifies their diversity is precisely this functioning, in so far as the ideology by which they function is always in fact unified, despite its diversity and its contradictions, beneath the ruling ideology, which is the ideology of ‘the ruling class’ (p. 155).
[edit] Effect of Education on Hegemony
The hegemony of the United States is reinforced in several ways, one of which is through the education system. This system teaches the ideals of American socieity (e.g. capitalism, private property, the state). These "truths" are given to the students over and over, so that by the time they are adults, those values are unquestionable. (Metareligion)
[edit] Examples in Education
One of the most widely known examples of cultural hegemony was the efforts of evangelical Christian groups to dominate school boards in the 1990s and thus earn the power to dictate curriculum. (Wikipedia) This group wanted to eliminate the teaching of evolution from public school curricula.
[edit] Evidence of effectiveness
[edit] Critics and their rationale
Critics of cultural hegemony say that it implies the population is gullible, easily led on, and unable to think for themselves.
[edit] Alternative explanations due to Diversity considerations
[edit] Signed �?life experiences�?, testimonies and stories
WOW, the first one! According to the defintion of Cultural Hegemony, the dominate group of the US is white. Right? But why is it that when I turn around people of the so called "dominate group" are tanning to get darker, getting plastic surgery to have a more curvy figure, getting injections in the lips to make them fuller, wearing urban clothing, i.e. FUBU, Sean John, South Pole, etc, and trying to speak urban slang? Is it because the minority culture becoming the more dominate culture. (Hope I did not offend anyone but I have always wanted to ask). Ty Martin
[edit] References and other links of interest
Rosengarten, F. “An Introduction to Gramsci’s Life and Thought.�? http://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/intro.htm
Kachgal, Tara. “Cultural Hegemony Theory.�? http://www.unc.edu/courses/2000fall/jomc245-001/cultural_hegemony.html
Metareligion. Ideological Hegemony. http://www.meta-religion.com/Secret_societies/Conspiracies/Media_control/ideological_hegemony_i.htm
Althusser, L .(1971). Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. In Storey, J. (Ed.) (1998), In Cultural Theory and Popular Culture (pp. 153-164). New York: Prentice Hall
