Dominant groups become hegemonic when subordinates accept their vision as legitimate.

Evidence

Recent sociological theories of ideology have made use of Gramsci’s concept of ideological hegemony (Gitlin, 1980; Gramsci, 1971; Williams, 1973). Ideological hegemony is said to exist when the ideas of one group dominate or exert a predominant influence on the major cultural and social institutions (Fermia, 1975, p. 29; Williams, 1960, p. 587). These ideas explain social reality—in particular, inequalities between social groups—in a manner that defends and justifies such inequalities. A dominant group is truly hegemonic when people of all stations in life, dominant and subordinate, accept the vision of society as espoused by the dominant group. In this respect, Gramsci’s notion of hegemony corresponds to Marx’s dictum (1964) that “the ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas” (p. 78). Gramsci, however, added an element of exchange and indeterminancy that elevates the role played by human subjectivity. For Gramsci, the economic base of society creates rough boundaries on ideas but does not predetermine or directly create ideological belief systems (the “superstructure”). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3380

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Gramsci’s ideological hegemony sharply: not mere dominance but the acceptance of the vision by subordinate groups too.
• XREF: Connects to the ‘On Sacrifice’ piece’s interest in how stratified societies stabilize themselves through consent, as well as to Bourdieu’s symbolic violence. — connects to: Revolutionary optimism degenerated from autonomous will into worship of the organization. — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 144; Hegemony succeeds when subordinate groups accept the dominant vision as their own — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 3380; Racism becomes hegemonic when subordinated groups consent to naturalized hierarchy. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 461