Hegemony

Hegemony (pronounced with a soft or hard 'g') is the power of one group over other groups. Hegemony is mostly used to refer to relationships between different nations (or countries). This might be direct dominance, such as through military might, but may be indirect dominance, such as when a nation can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage.

Hegemony often describes the relationship of a great power to nearby less powerful countries. The term is Greek, and was first used about the influence of a great city over the cities which were allied to it. Examples are the Peloponnesian League of Sparta (6th to 4th centuries BC); the short-lived Delian League of Classical Athens. The later League of Corinth was headed not by a state, but by Philip II of Macedon. Such a hegemon is a king or ruler with personal power.

A hegemonic relationship is usually described as less than an empire, but more than a regional power. This means a hegemon may not actually take control of other nations, but has the power to greatly influence what they do. On the other hand, a global hegemon is more powerful than, say, Iran is in the Middle East.

Cultural Hegemony

A term made by Antonio Gramsci.It is a form of social control by the elites over the lower classes.  Here, ideas and opinions are enforced by them, so that the lower classes accept only the elite’s opinions and not their own.

Other websites

• Stuart Hainsworth, "Gramsci's hegemony theory and the ideological role of the mass media"
• Mike Dorsher, Ph.D., "Hegemony Online: The Quiet Convergence of Power, Culture and Computers" Archived 2010-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
• Hegemonic Pundit, a neo-con blog Archived 2021-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
• Hegemony and the hidden persuaders - the power of un-common sense