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J314:. Ideology, hegemony, Gramsci, and rap music. Dominant ideology. Taken for granted The most accepted and mainstream as “normal” Rarely challenged. Hegemony & Ideology. H: A system of social control that functions through the consent of citizens.
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J314: • Ideology, hegemony, Gramsci, and rap music
Dominant ideology • Taken for granted • The most accepted and mainstream as “normal” • Rarely challenged
Hegemony & Ideology • H: A system of social control that functions through the consent of citizens. • I: A set of assumptions used to explain and justify some form of social relationship. • A world view based on ideas taught, laws, norms.
Review • Main points last class? • Marx and Marxism • Weber: symbolic activity about politics & economics (legitimation) • Marx: distribution of property/power; alienation from production • Adorno: popular culture designed to control people- their thinking • Althusser: dominant ideologies distract
Antonio Gramsci(1891-1937) • Extended Marx’s ideas • “strategic management” consensus • concept of hegemony to cultural hegemony. • Hegemony is where the flow of information in society is controlled by a ruling elite. • CH- A social class can dominate thru cultural norms. • how media may serve as a propaganda tool to promote the dominant ideology(s) of the power elite.
Gramsci • Among most important Marxist thinkers • +30 notebooks • Mussolini - campaign against opposition • 1926 - imprisoned. • Prison Notebooks • Hegemony “neutralizes dissent” (p. 77)
Hegemony • Like Althusser’s ISAs - consensus through beliefs via institutions • According to Gramsci, elites try to manufacture consent to their policies by promoting specific values and messages in the media favorable to their interests.
Hegemony • At the same time, opposing views are censored. • In Nazi Germany, the (capitalist) German media served as a virtual indoctrination mechanism for the virtues of the dominant ideology of Nazism. • Gramsci was aware that people can be manipulated when the flow of ideas is hegemonic.
However • “Organic intellectual” • Possibility of change and resistance • Negotiated leadership • Among any group • Habermas - the everyday “lifeworld” and the public sphere "Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it."Bertolt Brecht For Brecht, art was a political weapon to be used a tool of cultural resistance.
Our capitalist mass media tends to portray the world of corporate capitalism as a healthy world of competition in which everyone benefits. • They do not advertise the fact that 60% of goods and services produced in the U.S. are produced by monopolies, oligopolies and other anti-competitive systems. • Poverty is largely censored too.
The corporate media coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq was almost entirely one-sided. • It emphasized President Bush and the Generals’ point of view while largely censoring other viewpoints.
What does a capitalist news media tend to censor? • Pro-labor news. • News that challenges the legitimacy of corporate capitalism. • Anything that challenges the dominant ideology of capitalism and its corresponding values. • Marxist ideology is nearly totally censored.
News media bias • The news media like to present themselves as the voice of moderate reason – as though they are balanced. • They tend to present their news to make it seem like common sense. • In fact, they are biased toward the wealthy, toward whites, toward males, toward established leaders, and toward large corporations.
Chilean Miners • BBC, NPR, and Mainstream outlets?
Economic News as Ideological Construct • The capitalist media rarely portray corporate takeovers and mergers as a “social problem.” • Instead, they often let the corporate executives define the meaning of their own behavior. • The executive will typically call it healthy progress, despite the fact that it is harmful to competition, consumers, and workers.
Economic News as Ideological Construct • Similarly a workers strike is often portrayed through the lens of the corporate executive more than the strikers. The striker is often
Corporate/Consumer Capitalism • Normalizes certain ways of thinking: • What is good is what sells. • Material things/beauty are more important than abstract things/beauty. • Life is about individuals in competition with each other, guiding by self-interest. • Private property is sacrosanct. • The importance of consumerism and keeping up with the Jones. • Rich people are better than poor people. • Corporate authority is to be respected. • What is good for General Motors is good for America
Features of corporate consumer capitalism • Consumerism • Materialism • Suburbia • Credit purchases • Hedonism • Status consciousness • Fear of failure • Every person for him/herself • Obedience to corporate authority
Media & Dominant ideology • Most corporate media producers argue that their images are merely reflections of our society, and that they are not purveyors of an ideology. • This argument is inaccurate. • By selecting some images and ideologies over others, they cannot help but promote specific world views at the expense of others.
Media Example • Ideological Analysis of Specific Genres of Media
#2: Rap music ideology • Rap music originated mainly out of young, inner city, working class and poor black males. • Given this demographic, the music tends to reflect a different version of the American Dream: Survival in a hostile world.
Rap music ideology • The music takes advantage of the post-1965 era of freedom of expression, with emphasis on dance, rhythm, and lyrical expression. • Today there are many types of rap music, from heavy to light, from political to commercial.
Rap music ideology • According to Tricia Rose, rap music should be understood as a mass mediated criticism of the dominant ideology of racism within the America power structure.
Rap music ideology • Rap criticizes traditional institutions like the police, the justice system, education and the job system because these systems are seen as oppressive to blacks and the goal of equality. • Rose argues that much rap music rejects dominant ideological assumptions.
Rap music ideology • Rap affirms the experiences of inner city black youth while criticizing the social institutions that contribute to their ghettoization. • Rap bands like Public Enemy and Wu Tang Clan were critical of the white power structure and its portrayal of the American system as fair and meritocratic.
Rap music ideology • Rose argues that rap music has been empowering to black youth by providing them a way to express themselves and their critical ideologies. • Yet at the same time, rap is full of ideologicalcontradictions. While some rap challenges racism, the lyrics and imagery are often misogynistic, depicting women in degrading ways. • Thus rap music may challenge some oppressive dominant ideologies (racism) while affirming other oppressive dominant ideologies (sexism).
Rap music ideology • Commercial rap is devoid of messages that are critical of capitalism. • Indeed, this music is a celebration of capitalism, consumerism, materialism, and the good life. • Rap music crosses over into white culture. • Q: Why are so many young, middle class whites attracted to rap?
In general, whites use slightly different ideological filters than blacks. • It is therefore unlikely that a white person will be attracted to rap music that labels white people as racists. • But that same white person, if they see themselves as young and hip, is likely to identify with other messages found in rap: • Non-conformist messages related to youth culture, gangsters, and youthful deviance. • Conformist messages about the good life, sexy babes, traditional masculinity, etc.