Gerald Bivens

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'hegemony'=df

Antonio Gramsci understood [hegemony] as the conditions necessary, in a given society, for the achievement and consolidation of rule. He argued that hegemony was always constituted by a combination of coercion and consent. Although rule can be obtained by force, it cannot be secured and maintained, especially in modern society, without the element of consent.1

Italian philosopher-theorist Antonio Gramsci conceptualized hegemony, as "the 'spontaneous' consent given by the great masses of the population to the general direction imposed on social life by the dominant fundamental group."2

Notes

  1. Michael Omi and Howard Winant, "Racial Formation," in Publication (City of publication: Publisher, Year published), Page range.
  2. Brenda J. Allen, Difference Matters (City of publication: Publisher, Year published), Page range.