ABSTRACT
Until quite recently the notion of hegemony attempted to conceptualize the development of a subjectivity whose way of thinking resulted in the reinforcement and reproduction of the relations of exploitation and domination as a function of the nation state. Hegemony must be understood as a dynamic not static state in which there is a continuous and ongoing struggle to ensure the dominant modes of thought and ways of acting without which capitalism could not exist remain embedded and accepted by the majority of people. Proletarian culture and ideology as mediated at work, in the home or in leisure were in essential respects alternatives to dominant society. The history, memories, struggles, and culture of working-class life become subsumed within an all-encompassing neoliberal program premised on individualism, careerism, competition, and an 'international division of labor'. To be middle class is to 'internalize the dominant meaning system of capitalist society with its strong emphasize on competitive individualism'.
