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'''Hegemony''' (pronounced {{IPA|hɪ'gem.ə.ni}}) (greek:ηγεμονία) is the [[Dominance hierarchy|dominance]] of one group over [[other ]] groups, with or without the [[argumentum ad baculum|threat of force]], to the extent that, for [[instance]], the [[dominant]] party can dictate the [[terms ]] of [[trade]] to its advantage; more broadly, [[culture|cultural]] perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group. Hegemony controls the ways that [[ideas ]] become "naturalized" in a [[process ]] that informs notions of [[common sense]].

Throughout [[history]], cultural and [[political ]] [[power (sociology)|power]] in any arena has rarely achieved a perfect [[balance]], but hegemony results in the [[empowerment]] of certain [[cultural]] [[belief]]s, [[Value (personal and cultural)|values]], and practices to the submersion and [[partial ]] [[exclusion ]] of [[others]]. Hegemony affects the perspective of mainstream history, as [[history is written by the victors]] for a sympathetic readership. The [[official ]] history of [[Christianity]], marginalizing its defined "[[heresy|heresies]]", provides a richly-exampled arena of cultural hegemony.

Jás Elsner, in ''Imperial Rome and [[Christian ]] Triumph'' (1998), has written: :"[[Power ]] is very rarely limited to the pure exercise of brute force.... The Roman state bolstered its [[authority]] and [[Legitimacy (political science)|legitimacy]] with the trappings of ceremonial — cloaking the actualities of power beneath a display of wealth, the sanction of [[tradition]], and the [[spectacle ]] of insuperable resources.... Power is a far more [[complex ]] and mysterious quality than any apparently simple manifestation of it would appear. It is as much a matter of impression, of theatre, of persuading those over whom authority is wielded to collude in their subjugation. Insofar as power is a matter of presentation, its cultural currency in antiquity (and still today) was the creation, manipulation, and display of [[image]]s. In the propagation of the imperial office, at any rate, art was power." (quoted at [http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth212/late_antiquity_imp_image.html])

[[Antonio Gramsci]] devised one of the best-known accounts of hegemony. His [[theory ]] defined the [[State]] by a mixture of [[coercion]] and hegemony, between which he drew distinctions; according to Gramsci, hegemony consists of political power that flows from [[intellectual ]] and [[moral ]] [[leadership]], authority or [[consensus]], as distinguished from mere armed force.

The [[word ]] "hegemony" originated in ancient [[Greece]], and derives from the word ''hegeisthai'' ([[meaning ]] "to lead"). An early example of hegemony during ancient [[Greek history]] occurred when [[Sparta]] became the hegemon of the [[Peloponnesian League]] in the [[6th century BC]]. Later, in [[337 BC]], [[Philip II of Macedon]] became the personal Hegemon of the [[League of Corinth]], a [[position ]] he passed on to his son [[Alexander the Great]].

In ancient [[China]] during the [[Zhou Dynasty|Eastern Zhou dynasty]] the Zhou kings appointed hegemons (known as "Ba"). This was due to the increasing chaos that resulted from the weakening of Zhou authority. The hegemons - initially from the powerful state of [[Jin (state)|Jin]] - were men with sufficient strength to impose Zhou rule. In [[return ]] they got prestige and legitimacy they would not otherwise [[enjoy]]. The office of hegemon had vanished by the [[time ]] the last Zhou king was deposed in [[256 BC|256 BCE]].

The term hegemon is also used to describe [[Japan]]'s [[three ]] unifiers in the late [[sixteenth century|sixteenth]] and early [[seventeenth century|seventeenth centuries]]. [[Oda Nobunaga]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] each had different titles (and held many different posts during their lifetimes), but each had in common that they exercised hegemony over all or much of Japan (and in Hideyoshi's [[case ]] much of [[Korea]] at one point). For ease of reference they are collectively referred to as the three hegemons or the three unifiers.

To the extent that hegemony appears as a cultural phenomenon, cultural institutions maintain it. The [[Medici]] maintained their hegemony in Tuscany through [[control ]] of [[Florence]]'s major guild, the ''Arte della Lana.'' Modern hegemonies also maintain themselves through cultural institutions, often with allegedly "voluntary" membership: the [[law abiding citizens]] or, arguably, the [[Teamsters]] in states without "[[right-to-work law|right to work]]" laws — one might adduce countless modern [[associations]].

In more [[recent ]] [[times]], [[analysts ]] have used the term '''hegemony''' in a more abstract [[sense ]] to describe the "[[Proletariat|proletarian]] [[dictatorship]]s" of the 20th century, resulting in regional domination by local [[power (international)|powers]], or domination of the [[world ]] by a [[global ]] power. China's position of dominance in [[East Asia]] for most of its history offers an example of the regional hegemony.

The [[Cold War]] (1945 - 1990), with its main avenues of coercion — the [[Warsaw Pact]] led by the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] and [[NATO]] led by the [[United States]] — often appears as a battle for hegemony. The details of the parties' respective [[ideologies ]] have no relevance to whether they are hegemons: both sides featured [[superpower]]s (supported by their [[client state|client]]s) battling to dominate the [[arms race]] and become the supreme world superpower. The details of the ideologies do come into play to the extent they determine how persuasive or efficient each hegemon is.

Since the end of the Cold War, analysts have used the term "hegemony" to describe the United States' [[role ]] as the sole superpower (the [[hyperpower]]) in the modern world. However, some scholars of international relations (such as [[John Mearsheimer]]) argue that the United States does not have global hegemony, since it [[lacks ]] the resources to impose dominance over the entire globe. Also, [[The People's Republic of China|China]] is at least partially a superpower itself, and is capable of competing with the U.S.

The novel ''[[Valis]]'' by the [[science ]] [[fiction ]] writer [[Philip K. Dick]] treats the [[concept ]] of hegemony as one aspect of what he calls the [[Black Iron Prison]], a totalised [[system ]] of [[social ]] control.

[[Orson Scott Card]] used the title 'Hegemon' to describe the office of world [[leader ]] taken by the fictional [[character ]] [[Peter Wiggin]], the brother of [[Ender Wiggin|Andrew (Ender) Wiggin]]. The story of Peter's rise to dominance is (partly) told in the [[science fiction]] novel '[[Ender's Game]]', and more fully in the 'Shadow' series. Peter uses his great intelligence and political savvy to manipulate [[public ]] opinion. Initially through Locke, his alter ego, and Demosthenes, that of his sister [[Valentine Wiggin]].

[[Dan Simmons]]' [[Hyperion Cantos]] also features an interstellar [[society ]] called 'The Hegemony of Man'.

[[Geopolitics]] influences hegemonies. Ancient hegemonies developed in fertile river valleys (an example of [[hydraulic despotism]]): [[Egypt]], China and the succession of states in [[Mesopotamia]]. In China during the [[Warring States Era]] the state of [[Qin (state)|Qin]] artificially created waterways (such as the [[Chengkuo Canal]]) in [[order ]] to give itself an advanatge over its neighbouring rival states. Hegemonic [[successor state]]s in Eurasia tended to cluster around the [[Middle East]] for a period, utilising either the sea (Greece) or the fringe lands ([[Iran|Persia]], [[Arabia]]). The focus of European hegemony moved west to [[Rome]], then northwards to the [[Franks]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The Atlantic seaboard had its heyday ([[Spain]], [[France]], [[Britain]]) before the fringes of the European cultural area took over in the twentieth century (United States, [[Soviet Union]]).

Some regions exhibit continually fluctuating areas of regional hegemony: [[India]], for example, or the Balkans. Other regions show relative [[stability]]: northern China offers a case in point.

<!--this section [[needs ]] further editing-->Conrad Phillip Kottak, in ''Window on Humanity'' (2004),<!--is this the book that was [[being ]] referred to?--> explains hegemony in terms of ideologies that offer explanations [[about ]] why the existing order is in everyone's interest. Many things are promised, but are said to take time and patience in order for [[them ]] to happen.

One [[good ]] way to keep the [[people ]] away from [[oppression]] would be by telling people that they will eventually gain power in the near [[future]]. In most cultures it is seen that the young respect their [[parents]]; therefore they let their elders decide what they [[want ]] to do because of the great respect they have towards them. [[Another ]] great example would be Solitude: separating soldiers and making them talk by [[torture]].

Mike Dorsher, Ph.D., "Hegemony Online: The Quiet Convergence of Power, [[Culture ]] and Computers" [http://www.uwec.edu/mdorsher/ica2001/hegemony_online.htm]