James lull media communication culture

Hegemony Article By James Lull

Presentation By Rena Howie

Goals

Understand what Hegemony is, as defined by James Lull and supported by others

Think critically about what hegemony means and how this term will apply to the studies done in this course

Thesis

James Lulll says, “Hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others” (41).

“But Hegemony is more than social power itself; it is a method for gaining and maintaining power” (41).

This article looks at how society perpetuates power and how it maintains an ideological power dynamic.

Evidence Lull Provides

Quote from Hall, 1985: “Hegemony is “dominance and subordination in the field of relations structured by power.”

Classical Marxist theory

Lull cites Karl Marx’s theories of how economic status plays a role in one’s power

Evidence Continued

Antonio Gramsci who coined the term “hegemony” and emphasized society’s “super structure” its ideology-producing institutions (1971, 1973, 1978, Lull, 42).

Gramsci’s theory of hegemony connects ideological representation to culture (42).

Boggs’ idea that society’s “elites” use mass marketing to further perpetuate its norms

Elites use mass media to “perpetuate their power, wealth, and status by popularizing their own philosophy, culture and morality” (Boggs, 1976: 39, Lull, 42)

”British social theorist Phillip Elliott suggested similarly that the most potent effect of mass media is how they subtly influence their audiences to perceive social roles and routine personal activities” (Lull 42).

Application to Film

Hegemony ideas shown in film studies

Time periods shown in film demonstrate power-transitions in US

Themes of family show how culture contributes to power-transition

Film is a major form of mass media, multi-billion dollar industry

Discussion Activity

Why do you think mass marketing became a tool used to perpetuate hegemonic ideologies?

How can we as citizens and consumers be more mindful of what messages we are receiving?

References

Lull, James. Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach. Columbia University Press; 2nd edition, 2000.