An Overview: Hegemony, Ideology and the Reproduction of Domination

Abstract

One of the more fundamental questions for sociological theory and research is the extent to which rule though consent is generally far more effective than coercion, but how do ruling classes, or perhaps status groups, engineer that very consent? How do elites get large masses of people to “willingly assent” to their claims of entitlements to their wealth, power and status? This was a fundamental question for Marx, who attempted to understand how and why capitalism endured despite its hardships and adversities for the vast majorities of the workers. This became one of the central questions for later Marxist thinkers such as Lukacs, Gramsci and the Frankfurt Scholars. In the present issue, the work of a number of scholars, influenced by these traditions, will attempt to provide some answers to the fundamental question of why people act in ways that subvert their own self-interests, elide their freedom and thwart self-realization.