Hegemony (for the vocabulary challenged - like me)

[kid a]

Since this word is in the title of the current #1 and #9 book on Amazon, here is a brief definition:

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Hegemony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hegemony (pronounced he'jem.ə.ni or hə'dʒɛ.mə.ni) (greek:ηγεμονία) is the dominance of one group over other groups, with or without the threat of force, to the extent that, for instance, the dominant party can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage; more broadly, cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group. Hegemony controls the ways that ideas become "naturalized" in a process that informs notions of common sense.

Cultural and political power in any arena has rarely achieved a perfect balance, but hegemony results in the empowerment of certain cultural beliefs, values, and practices to the submersion and partial exclusion of others. Hegemony affects the perspective of mainstream history, as history is written by the victors for a sympathetic readership. The official history of Communism, re-writing history, erasing people's names and images from official state photos, provides a richly-exampled arena of cultural hegemony.
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[snappyturtle]

1. Thank you. nt

[Cerridwen]

2. I'm gonna kick this back up

I bet there are a few others that could use some help though they might not say so. I needed a reminder as to the meaning of this word. Thanks.

:D

Pretty scary stuff in that definition

Hegemony affects the perspective of mainstream history, as history is written by the victors for a sympathetic readership. (I added the emphasis)

Do you suppose any historians re-wrote any of the history of liberals and progressives? Nah, didn't happen. As someone here once noted, Zinn's book was just "agitprop" against the "real" history we've been taught about "mainstream history". (do I really need a sarcasm smiley? Just in case...) :sarcasm: