Antonio Gramsci's Theory Of Hegemony And Its Political, Social And Cultural Stance In Society

In this chapter, James Lull begins by explaining what hegemony is, “the dominance that one social group holds over others” (Lull, 2015, p. 39). According to the text this is not through direct dominance, instead it is created through underlying politics and ideology. In politics, socially powerful people use their influence to convince those with less power that it is in their best interest to do what is actually in those who are socially powerful best interest. There is actually no benefit to the ladder at all, but through social dominance and persuasion is made to seem that it is.

The first issue which Cox raises is that of a lack of understanding of and study into the concept of empire by current research in the field of international relations (Cox 2004, p230). This element would appear to be sound, but only in so far as it relates to Cox’s other assertion that the orthodoxy of American society and academia are opposed to labelling America an

Hegemony is the ability to act in any foreign area one needs to, without significant resistance from rival states (Gaddis at 26). The two hegemonies that America was involved in the twentieth century were controlling part of Germany and all of Japan. America gained the power to rule over them in the Paris Peace treaties following World War II. Germany, whose overseers included multiple countries, including the United States, did not unite again until more than forty years after the World War II (Gaddis at 47). In contrast, America had sole power over Japan. America was able to resurrect Japan’s ruined economy just five years after the war because they focused Japan’s industries on two things, automobile and electronic manufacturing.

Throughout american history, examples of the United States’ domination of the political, economic, and social aspects of other countries can be seen. This domination, also known as imperialism, was primarily caused by a growing sense of nationalism, the influence of supply and demand, and a desire to maintain global military power. Imperialism is categorized into three different groups: colony, protectorate, sphere of influence. TRANSITION SENTENCE

At this point in time, the main actors in the international system are nation-states seeking an agenda of their own based on personal gain and national interest. Significantly, the most important actor is the United States, a liberal international economy, appointed its power after the interwar period becoming the dominant economy and in turn attained the position of hegemonic stability in the international system. The reason why the United States is dominating is imbedded in their intrinsic desire to continuously strive for their own national interest both political and economic. Further, there are other nature of actors that are not just nation-states, including non-states or transnational,

The struggles against authority, repeatedly and continuously, take place in the history. As for those fighters, Voltaire, a famous French writer and thinker, once put forward an idea, “It is dangerous to be right in matters about which the established authorities are wrong.”() The word “right” contrasting to “wrong” means the truth. An “established authorities” could be regarded to the dominant powers controlling and guiding people, such as long-existing conventions held and propagated by the power-holders or the influential experts in specific fields. The article will support the idea of Voltaire by providing sufficient and concrete evidences. It is reasonable that people might suffer the possibility of oppression from the authority, when the ideas of the former contrasts to the latter who tend to retain its status. The challenger is dangerous in the way that the power of authorities, at most time, overwhelm them; the characteristic of opposing ideas invites the oppression by authority. It is possible to receive potential danger from the authority, while some did succeed in the struggle.

Both authors, Samuel P. Huntington and Francis Fukuyama, don’t have any conflicting views but have different perceptions as to how they see the world after the revolution and the cold war. Samuel believes that the west is dominating the world, changing cultures and customs of other countries. However, Francis analyzes the positive aspects of how the liberal democracy in the west is more powerful than all other democratic nations and he portrays how western dominance is effective and healthy for most of the nations.

George W. Bush stated that America has no intention of being an empire and idealises freedom above all of this but what is actually meant by an empire? The term itself means “power to command”, however Robert Cox argues that “imperialism is a rather loose concept which in practice has to be newly defined with reference to each historical period” (Cox, 1981, p.142). From this, the two socialist thinkers, Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin argue in “the making of global capitalism” that capitalism on a global scale wouldn’t have been a possibility without the leadership of America and argue against the fact that China or any other country has the ability to take on this role. The American empire is the rule maker that sets the agenda for investments and international trade. This essay will investigate the strengths and weaknesses with this claim and will argue for that

There are winners and losers after every war, and the former rules the latter. The winners get a position of ruler and write history. There are a lot of nations in the world, but it is a ruler, or hegemony, to regulate what the world is. There is no doubt that the United States is the current hegemony nation. However, a position of hegemony does not last for good. As world history tells us, some nation wages war and challenges the hegemony, and then new hegemony is born. So, can America keep its hegemony position? It looks like its decline has already started, but it might regain power and be great again, as Donald Trump says. If the US loses its power, the modern world that is formed mainly by the US should change a lot. In this essay, I would

While Marx argued that the destruction of the base would mean the collapse of the super structure. Gramsci’s theories argue that the condition political and ideological superstructure can maintain the base but can also begin a process of fracturing it.

Hegemonic internationalism by definition is a paradox within itself. Internationalism suggests cooperation among nations for common good, while hegemony is an instance when one nation has power over another nation. This leads to the belief that hegemonic internationalism is, in reality, one nation pursuing its own national interests at the expense of other nation. Nazi Germany, Iran and the United States are all examples of a nation pursuing hegemonic internationalism.

In a country of complicated decisions made by politicians about far away places and the people that live there, it's only a guess as to the motives behind each of these decisions. In Noam Chomsky's book "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance", Noam gives a scrupulously researched critique of America's quest for dominance at any cost that not only has cast us in the role of a rogue superpower but also jeopardizes the very survival of humanity. From reading this book, I will give an account as to what Chomsky says about American hegemonic ideals and give him credit for the attempt that he has made to expose historical truth.

Through analyzing the written works of Max Weber’s Types of Legitimate Domination and Bureaucracy to C. Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination, the writings of the comparative authors reveal the domination of power in a socially constructed society and the way that individuals are influenced by the constructed hierarchy of power. Through sociological analysis, these concepts can be applied to the ways individuals are continuously influenced through socially constructed institutions in a society where individuals constantly interact with one another. As Mills and Weber apply sociological analysis to the context of their observations, they are able to observe the growing positive and negative influences that ultimately shape the

Though such institutions are capable of reaffirming certain statements of power, hegemony itself is, as Raymond Williams states, "a whole body of practices and expectations...our ordinary understanding of the nature of man and his world...a sense of reality...a sense of absolute" (4).

In “Biographies of Hegemony” by Karen Ho, she emphasizes that it is “only through the small and the everyday that we can understand the criteria of hegemony in all its particularity and contextuality” (168). To fully understand and evaluate someone or a group, people must look at the small qualities they have and the everyday stories each person has lived or seen. Smallness can be defined as certain experiences and individual characteristics that are overlooked, especially by big businesses and corporations such as Wall Street. By knowing a person down to their core and reviewing their small stories and individual experiences, people can begin to unravel and fully understand hegemony and how it came to be. Smallness tends to be overlooked and