ABSTRACT
Raymond Williams’s discussion of hegemony, a concept most fully developed in the work of Antonio Gramsci, provides an excellent summary of these points. It is Gramsci’s great contribution to have emphasized hegemony, and also to have understood it at a depth which is rare. The most helpful way of thinking through the complex characteristics, the scope and varied functions, of ideology is found in the concept of hegemony. Legitimation—Sociologists seem to agree that ideology is concerned with legitimation—the justification of group action and its social acceptance. Power Conflict—All of the sociological literature links ideology to conflicts between people seeking or holding power. Functionally, ideology has been evaluated historically as a form of false consciousness which distorts one’s picture of social reality and serves the interests of the dominant classes in a society. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
