Hegemony is a fragile, multi-front achievement won through consent, not domination

Evidence

First, “hegemony” is a very particular, historically specific, and temporary “moment” in the life of a society. It is rare for this degree of unity to be achieved, enabling a society to set itself a quite new historical agenda, under the leadership of a specific formation or constellation of social forces. Such periods of “settlement” are unlikely to persist forever. There is nothing automatic about them. They have to be actively constructed and positively maintained. Crises mark the beginning of their disintegration. … It cannot be constructed or sustained on one front of struggle alone (for example, the economic). It represents a degree of mastery over a whole series of different “positions” at once. Mastery is not simply imposed or dominative in character. Effectively, it results from winning a substantial degree of popular consent. It thus represents the installation of a profound measure of social and moral authority, not simply over its immediate supporters but across society as a whole. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 106

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lays out Hall’s core definition of hegemony: historically specific, multiarena, consent-based rather than purely dominative.
• XREF: Directly scaffolds Gramsci and connects to the Islamophobia field’s use of ‘common sense’ and consent-based power.
• DEEPTHINKING: The contrast between consent-based moral authority and imposed domination, plus the fragility/crisis dynamic, is a foundational analytical frame carried across the entire theory toolkit.