Counterhegemony
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | '''Alternative media''' are media that differ from established or dominant types of media in terms of their content, production, or distribution. Alternative media take many forms including print, audio, video, Internet and street art. Some examples include the [[Counterculture|counter-culture]] [[zine]]s of the 1960s, ethnic and indigenous media such as the First People's television network in Canada (later rebranded [[Aboriginal Peoples Television Network]]), and more recently online [[open publishing]] journalism sites such as [[Independent Media Center|Indymedia]]. | + | '''Counter-hegemony''' refers to attempts to critique or dismantle hegemonic power. In other words, it is a confrontation and/or opposition to existing status quo and its legitimacy in politics, but can also be observed in various other spheres of life, such as history, media, music, etc. [[Neo-Gramscianism|Neo-Gramscian]] theorist Nicola Pratt (2004) has described counter-hegemony as "a creation of an alternative hegemony on the terrain of civil society in preparation for political change". |
| - | While [[Mainstream media|mainstream mass media]], on the whole, "represent government and corporate interests", alternative media tend to be "non-commercial projects that advocate the interests of those excluded from the mainstream", for example, the poor, political and ethnic minorities, labor groups, and LGBT identities. These media disseminate marginalized viewpoints, such as those heard in the progressive news program [[Democracy Now!]], and create communities of identity, as seen for example in the [[It Gets Better Project]] that was created on [[YouTube]] in response to a rise in gay teen suicides at the time it was created. | + | According to Theodore H. Cohn, "a counterhegemony is an alternative ethical view of society that poses a challenge to the dominant [[bourgeois]]-led view". |
| - | Alternative media challenge the dominant beliefs and values of a culture and have been described as "[[counter-hegemonic]]" by adherents of [[Antonio Gramsci]]'s theory of [[cultural hegemony]]. However, since the definition of alternative media as merely counter to the mainstream is limiting, some approaches to the study of alternative media also address the question of how and where these media are created, as well as the dynamic relationship between the media and the participants that create and use them. | + | If a counterhegemony grows large enough it is able to subsume and replace the ''historic bloc'' it was born in. Neo-Gramscians use the [[Machiavellian]] terms ''war of position'' and ''war of movement'' to explain how this is possible. In a war of position a counterhegemonic movement attempts, through persuasion or propaganda, to increase the number of people who share its view on the [[hegemony|hegemonic]] order; in a war of movement the counterhegemonic tendencies which have grown large enough overthrow, violently or democratically, the current hegemony and establish themselves as a new historic bloc. |
| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | *[[Alternative facts]] | + | An example of counter-hegemony in politics is the "[[anti-globalization movement]]". An example of counter-hegemony in media could be a documentary questioning the government’s involvement in a war. |
| - | *[[Citizen media]] | + | |
| - | *[[Concentration of media ownership]] | + | ==Origins of the concept== |
| - | *[[Fake news]] | + | The term "hegemony" came from the writings of Karl Marx and was conceptualized by [[Antonio Gramsci]], a Marxist social philosopher who lived in Mussolini's Italy. Because Gramsci was a Marxist, he subscribed to the basic Marxist premise of the historical dialectic. Therefore, according to classic Marxist theories, societies will transform over time from oppressive economic systems to more and more liberating ones, until finally the state of communism in society is reached. |
| - | *[[Mass media]] | + | |
| - | *[[Media activism]] | + | In his writings Gramsci claims that intellectuals create both hegemony and counter-hegemony. He argues that "there is no organization without intellectuals," for to be without them is to be without "the theoretical aspect of the theory-practice nexus essential to all effective organizations". |
| - | *[[Media democracy]] | + | |
| - | *[[Media justice]] | + | ==Counter-hegemonic actions== |
| - | *[[Pirate radio]] | + | |
| - | *[[Pirate television]] | + | Counter-hegemonic groups of people do not start off as radical or extremist groups; they encourage people to share their view against hegemony through the use of persuasion and/or propaganda whilst raising awareness. One view describes the possibility that once the counter-hegemonic group has gained enough support and consensus against the current powers, they would then attempt to overthrow them, whether through violence or democracy. Depending on whether full power is given to each individual, or if it is kept among a close few could be the deterministic factor between a decentralized government and a dictatorship. |
| - | *[[Radical media]] | + | |
| - | *[[Underground press]] | + | == See also == |
| + | * [[Counter-hegemonic globalization]] | ||
| + | * [[Critical terrorism studies]] | ||
| + | * [[Cultural hegemony]] | ||
| + | * [[Far-left politics]] | ||
| + | * [[Power (social and political)]] | ||
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Revision as of 11:34, 13 December 2018
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Counter-hegemony refers to attempts to critique or dismantle hegemonic power. In other words, it is a confrontation and/or opposition to existing status quo and its legitimacy in politics, but can also be observed in various other spheres of life, such as history, media, music, etc. Neo-Gramscian theorist Nicola Pratt (2004) has described counter-hegemony as "a creation of an alternative hegemony on the terrain of civil society in preparation for political change".
According to Theodore H. Cohn, "a counterhegemony is an alternative ethical view of society that poses a challenge to the dominant bourgeois-led view".
If a counterhegemony grows large enough it is able to subsume and replace the historic bloc it was born in. Neo-Gramscians use the Machiavellian terms war of position and war of movement to explain how this is possible. In a war of position a counterhegemonic movement attempts, through persuasion or propaganda, to increase the number of people who share its view on the hegemonic order; in a war of movement the counterhegemonic tendencies which have grown large enough overthrow, violently or democratically, the current hegemony and establish themselves as a new historic bloc.
An example of counter-hegemony in politics is the "anti-globalization movement". An example of counter-hegemony in media could be a documentary questioning the government’s involvement in a war.
Origins of the concept
The term "hegemony" came from the writings of Karl Marx and was conceptualized by Antonio Gramsci, a Marxist social philosopher who lived in Mussolini's Italy. Because Gramsci was a Marxist, he subscribed to the basic Marxist premise of the historical dialectic. Therefore, according to classic Marxist theories, societies will transform over time from oppressive economic systems to more and more liberating ones, until finally the state of communism in society is reached.
In his writings Gramsci claims that intellectuals create both hegemony and counter-hegemony. He argues that "there is no organization without intellectuals," for to be without them is to be without "the theoretical aspect of the theory-practice nexus essential to all effective organizations".
Counter-hegemonic actions
Counter-hegemonic groups of people do not start off as radical or extremist groups; they encourage people to share their view against hegemony through the use of persuasion and/or propaganda whilst raising awareness. One view describes the possibility that once the counter-hegemonic group has gained enough support and consensus against the current powers, they would then attempt to overthrow them, whether through violence or democracy. Depending on whether full power is given to each individual, or if it is kept among a close few could be the deterministic factor between a decentralized government and a dictatorship.
See also
- Counter-hegemonic globalization
- Critical terrorism studies
- Cultural hegemony
- Far-left politics
- Power (social and political)
