• hegemony

    Date: 2009.10.22 | Category: Glossary, Unit SSK12 | Tags:

    Glossary
    Unit: SSK12
    Week: 7 (in Week 8.)
    Date: 22 October 2009

    Word: hegemony n. hegemonic adj.
    Context: Hegemonic appears in the Bizzell (1986) article: “Hence the world view Perry describes can be taken as hegemonic…”
    Definition: Hegemony (from Greek hegemonia, via hegemon, meaning leader or ruler, from hegomai, meaning to lead or command) has been used since the 19th century “to describe the predominance of one state over others”. The term was used most frequently to describe the political domination of one nation over others, for example the French rule over much of Europe during the Napoleonic area. During the 20th century a new definition arose, developed fully by (and associated closely to) Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, who used it to “denote predominance of one SOCIAL CLASS over others”. Hegemonic can simply mean dominant, ruling, or supreme. In Bizzell’s case she refers to a dominant, ruling or supreme worldview over others.
    Word in Use: Some commentators say that the left-wing has a hegemonic hold over article writing for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

    Bullock, A., and Trombley, S., eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.

    Bunnin, N., and Yu, J., eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.

    The Australian Oxford Dictionary. 2004. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.