The sociologist and philosopher Karl Marx used the term cultural hegemony to refer to the dominance of the ruling class in society. The term “cultural hegemony” involves the maintenance of superiority or power through intellectual or cultural methods. It is typically accomplished through social and governmental systems, which enable people who can exert significant influence over the principles, customs, views, expectancies, perspectives, and conduct of other people in society. Cultural hegemony, also known as cultural dominance, works or performs by framing the perspective of society from the ruling class and the socioeconomic conditions that encapsulate it. The ruling class’s social dominance makes the verdict class influence social institutions as to what they think are legitimate and constructed for the advantage of everyone in them, even when these structures are designed solely to benefit the ruling class and its interests are marginalized. They can use ideology and tradition instead of violence to be more potent than in a military regime.
The aspect of cultural hegemony has been widely used in the film industry to make great movies and television series to show the viewers the influence of the ruling class in the social and governmental structures. Although films and televisions are made or created, they always represent real-life situations. Films and television series are an alternative presentation of the happenings in society. This work elaborates on the cultural hegemony of most political campaigns. It will focus on the cultural hegemony shown in the political campaign video of president joe Biden which took place in Michigan, posted on YouTube by NBC news in 2020, before his election.
Cultural dominance is quite common in society today; let’s take the example of the current United States of America president, Joe Biden. Former president Obama spoke candidly about the differences between Biden and Trump. He was confidence that Biden would be dedicated to his role as president just as he was as vice president (People news). No doubt Mr. Biden is an honorable and outstanding man. Still, being president Obama’s friend, highly influenced him to be supported by the people and elected into the statehouse. This is one of the examples of how the ruling class of the society has always influenced the culture, not only the economic decisions but also the leadership or governance in each country.
Hegemony is the use of power or popularity by the ruling class in society to influence the social structures of the community. This can be done by controlling the people’s decisions or buying this influence using money. Everyone knows that political campaigns are meant to sell the good features and qualifications of the aspiring candidates, but they can also be used as sites to promote cultural hegemony. Influential leaders can use these campaigns to announce the election of the candidates that they see as competent for the world. Every individual in the world knows how powerful and influential the retired president of the United States, Barrack Obama is. In the video, he promotes the candidate Joe Biden who is presumably his friend, to the people of the United States (NBC news). In Michigan, he directly said that the people should choose Michigan because he means a change to America. Barack further says that he loves Joe Biden and will make a great president. the retired president of the United States influences people by using power and popularity. He influences the leadership of the United States because he perceives that the candidate he is promoting is good for the people.
According to the video posted by NBC News, Barrack Obama called out Donald Trump for only caring about feeding his ego. On the other hand, he commended Joe Biden for caring about keeping the people safe (NBC News). Through this speech, Barack positively confirms his disapproval for the sole competitor or opponent of Joe Biden, Donald Trump. He even uses the pandemic to highlight the poor decisions and plans the then-president Donald trump makes concerning the people of the United States (NBC news). The retired president Barack uses his power to influence the people to believe his opinions about the candidates aspiring to become president of the United States. His public intentions may be to promote a good and competent president to the United States statehouse, but that does not change the fact that his actions in the campaign video portray a picture of cultural hegemony. This is just an example of how the ruling class has influenced the leadership in countries worldwide. Some of the leaders they promote are outstanding, like Joe Biden, but others are very incompetent and are elected for the ruling class’s own needs.
Works Cited
NBC news. “Biden And Obama Campaign In Michigan | NBC News.” YouTube, NBC News, 1 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc0Gb6coKKQ. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.
PEOPLE news. “Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s Close Bond Through the Years.” PEOPLE.com, 20 Jan. 2021, people.com/politics/joe-Biden-and-Barack-Obama-close-bond-through-the-years/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022.
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