Hegemony: Chatterjee via Gramsci

Dr Philip Holden, University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore

This is a term which Chatterjee adopts from Antonio Gramsci. For Gramsci, hegemony is the dominance of one group or class in society, achieved not through force but rather through the consent of other groups. Consent is achieved through the dominant group associating itself with moral and intellectual leadership in a society. In classical Gramscian terms, the state dominates through force (having the monopoly on legitimised violence) while hegemony is achieved through institutions which we would associate with "civil society."

Last Modified: 19 April, 2002