The Method of Hegemony

Hegemony is the social, economic and/or political supremacy of one group or state over the other(s). The word, ‘hegemony’ is accredited to Antonio Gramsci for his writings from prison under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. Gramsci refers hegemony as ‘predominance, obtained by consent”. It also focuses on process of gaining and prolonging that power through coercion and consent respectively. The method of hegemony is by the cautious manipulation of the social foundations by the authoritative class, to impose their beliefs on general masses, in such a way that the modified social culture is undertaken as norm. Such a cultural state leads to the absorbing of the resulting social, economical, and political inconsistency as conventional. These social constructs, in turn, are perceived as natural and beneficial to the larger general masses, when in fact it services only the dominant group. Its ultimate objective is to take over the majority’s worldview with that of the ruling social class’.

In the past 200s years, the method of media has transformed from newspapers, radios, televisions to now social platforms like Facebook, Instagram etc. One thing has remained same throughout, ie. many of these media outlets and newspapers are owned by incredibly wealthy people, as such they will tend to have editorial outlook that will support political parties or policies which legitimise the existence of vast wealth equality. {Even though social platforms aren’t owned by wealthy people, it is used to manipulate the public – eg. Trump victory and it’s linkage with Fb}. However, these media outlets do not present this as one side of a many-sided argument. They present it as a simple “common-sensical” world view, that is how this idea deep roots itself in the mass.

Taking a simple example of one of the world’s oldest social stratification system, the caste system in India, where Hindus are divided in 4 categories: Brahmin (priests, teachers), Kshatriya (warriors, rulers), Vaishya (farmers, merchants) and Shudra (labourers). It’s a rigid system, in which people born to a caste can’t change it throughout their life, meaning a labourer’s child can’t get education and be a teacher one day. The origination of the classification though related mystical, only favours the people of the high class, ie. the brahmins or kshatriyas, the hegemons. The system that ages back to nearly 3 millennials, had it’s people believe that majority of the population (Vaishayas and Shudras) are supposed to be deprived of education or other benefits rejoiced by the upper castes. Hegemony can be observed almost everywhere, English as linguistic hegemony, globalisation of world cuisine through brands like KFC, Starbucks etc., engineer as hegemon profession in Indian masses.

The dialectic nature of hegemony (coercion and consent) can be aptly explained by the political administrative dynamics in colonial India. India undoubtedly could not be ruled by the British solely by direct dominance and acts of forcing compliance. Starting with trade through the British East India company and later defeating the French in Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British started actively colonising Indian territories and thus showing coercion. The colonial system, through political, economic, social and cultural mechanisms, such as land tenure, revenue policies and education system, created consensual submission of the masses. They started appointing Indian sepoys in the British administration, who rejoiced the pleasures of British lifestyle, marking consent in the masses. This was complemented by the coercive criminal justice system, a component of the larger system interspersed amid the community, exercising surveillance and using force when required on behalf of the colonial rulers. The British thus used the mechanism of hegemony to colonise India in the name of its ‘civilising mission’ for two centuries.

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