Angela Davis On Hegemony Summary

Angela Davis proposes solidarity as a pragmatic approach to addressing hegemony, and uses personal anecdotes to explain Trenholm’s definition of hegemony and to portray the views of Stuart Hall’s ideas of production and circulation in a way that stresses the inherent connections in society. As defined by Trenholm, hegemony is the idea that the dominant viewpoints “reflect and reproduce only those ideas, meanings, and values that uphold the interests of the power elite and that they silence opposing views” (Trenholm 284). Davis approaches hegemony in a similar manner, further claiming that differentiating between societal structures and individuals is the key to undermining hegemony. Due to her understanding of the intersectional topics of personal identity, Davis also claims that solidarity is another manner of
and Israel. This shows that by controlling the news outlets, public awareness was shifted away from the horrifying fact that America was supplying the conflicts in Palestine and Israel. This example encapsulates Hall’s interpretation of the one-sided story, “as the event must become a 'story' before it can become a communicative event” (Hall 128). As such, both Hall and Davis believe that as soon as an event receives exposure, its meaning is determined before it is given a fair chance to be analyzed. Davis also spoke to the relationships between racism and the war against terror, highlighting that individuals cannot be brought to justice if this hegemonic system remains in place. She states that although removing one person from a place where they can undermine activism or cause harm to a community is useful for those immediately around, the fact remains that the cycle of hegemony is still in