Talk:Hegemony

Perhaps adding the concept of hegemony in international relations theory would be a great addition. The school of Offensive Realism has hegemony as its dominant concept.

I'll work over the next couple days to gather my IR notes and try and type something that's coherent.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.150.143.52 (talk • contribs) 08:56, 13 December 2004

controversial right-to-work laws are matter-of-factly described as "protective"

unsigned one, they certainly make union membership more "voluntary", which is the issue in the context in which it is used. Whether they can really protect one in an environment of social ostracism is a matter of how well this and other laws are enforced.--Silverback 15:01, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

that's the pro-"right-to-work" version of things - it's a single perspective on a controversial issue that's mostly irrelevant to the main article - and it's presented in a manner that gives no indication that not everyone sees it that way. it's unnecessary and one-sided. there should at least be some sort of an indication that a very different view exists, in which "right-to-work" laws are harmful anti-worker legislation masquerading as some sort of counter-hegemonic intervention. really, any sort of sign that "protective" is a very, very controversial descriptor for these laws would be a good thing.

seems to me the definition to date fails to account for non-national hegemony - where, for example, is mention of the ideological hegemony that is capitalism? this isn't an american hegemony tho america is the greatest force in it and produces great cultural effects through it. the EU, cited as a competing hegemony with the US is part of a greater capitalist hegemon as is china and russia and india and just about anywhere outside of north korea and myanmar. even countries living in near autarky are respondent to - almost governed by - the external forces of capitalism. the oil regime and iran or venezuala for example. capitalism as the only present hegemony, led culturally and legally and militarily by the US. discuss.

Should there be a picture of american influence a tailored http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Soviet_Union_Locator.png for instance? I think it would serve to show the greatest extent of hegemony thus far.

“The majority of commentators, anxious to stress the decisive contribution made by Gramsci, or more subtly, to oppose Gramsci to Lenin, end up by underestimating the place of hegemony in Lenin’s work and remaining almost completely silent on the Third International.” (Buci-Glucksmann, Christine; Gramsci and The State; p174)

“All the usual, regular and current work of all organizations and groups of our Party, the work of propaganda, agitation and organisation, is directed towards strengthening and expanding the ties with the masses.” (Lenin; Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in The Democratic Revolution, Lenin: Selected Works; p51)

“In a word, to avoid finding itself with its hands tied in the struggle against the inconsistent bourgeois democracy the proletariat must be class-conscious and strong enough to rouse the peasantry to revolutionary consciousness, guide its assault, and thereby independently pursue the line of consistent proletarian democratism.” (Lenin; Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in The Democratic Revolution, Lenin: Selected Works; p85)

"Only the proletariat – by virtue of the economic role it plays in large-scale production – is capable of being the leader of all the working and exploited people, whom the bourgeoisie exploit, oppress and crush, often not less but more than they do the proletarians, but who are incapable of waging an independent struggle for their emancipation.” (Lenin; The State and Revolution; Lenin: Selected Works; p281)

“In the East, the state was everything, civil society was primordial and gelatinous; in the West, there was a proper relation between state and civil society, and when the state tottered, a sturdy structure of civil society was immediately revealed. The state was just a forward trench; behind it stood a succession of sturdy fortresses and emplacements. Needless to say, the configuration of the state varied from state to state, which is precisely why an accurate reconnaissance on a national scale was needed.” (Gramsci, Antonio; Prison Notebooks, Volume III; trans. Buttigieg; p169)

It looks more like splatter software code than an ingress. You guys can do better than this. Slashes, obscure letters, broken sentences, parentheses, links, different colors, References, references, references.

My eyes bleed

Hegemony is the political, economic, or military predominance of one state over others [1]. In ancient Greece, hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states [5]. The dominant state is known as the hegemon [6].

How hard is it to make it easy?

There appears to be a misplaced military spending chart (compared to percentage of GDP) in the “Historical Examples” section. The graph has no context, and would seem unfit to place there. If it is supposed to be self-explanatory, that would mean it is implying that countries that spend a greater percent of GDP on military have greater Hegemony, which is definently not true and is in fact starkly contrasted by Ukraine’s presence at the top of the list with about 34% of spending on Military at this time.

As I am not an editor, I do not have any authority here, so it would be helpful if an experienced editor could weigh in and reevaluate the graph’s presence. ~2026-22233-9 (talk) 15:39, 11 January 2026 (UTC)