Hegemony

Hegemony Defination "Concepetualises the way in which one class maintains dominance over the rest of society by a subtle system of coercion and consent. Coercions is maintained through the law, police and armed forces, and ideological persuasion. The theorist Gramsci's important comtribution gives insight into the way that our minds are colonized by dominant ideas thrugh the instititions of civil society- the family, religious organizations, schools and so on." ( Quoted from Margeret Lewith book's entitled Communtity Development, Page xiii) Comunity Development Example Society and the machine (informally the Man) or the (the dominate class) uses so many forms of subtle techniques to make oppressed group believe their messages and not ask for share of wealth or power. A Community Development example is how in urban areas , youth are expected to perform lower in educational test because they are poor. These messages are internalized by urban youth and made fashionable by sayings like "you're acting white if you get good grades." TV images of urban America do not show studious young people, rather TV shows glorify the "Totally Ganster" language and images. Thus our youth begin to internalize that to be an accepted as urban youth, I need to sag, swear, join the gang, get C, D, E, etc. Community Development action would help youth understand why these message are there so youth will not ask for a piece of the wealth pie such as better school, better teachers, etc.