De-essentializing hegemony, with Gramsci, Williams, and Hall

Departing from the temptation of treating the concept of hegemony as a singular, essentialized regime, or as a term synonymous with domination, the article invites attention to its dynamic and multilayered meaning. A more nuanced treatment of the concept brings forward its plural and contested connotations. In the analysis presented here I foreground the benefits of using the concept in processual terms, as well as the internal differentiation between Gramscian-inspired appr oaches. I consider the work of Raymond Williams and Stuart Hall, as representative of a distinctively British reading of Gramsci. To the degree that a narrow and singularized use of hegemony can lead to flat and unexciting conceptualization of power, Gramscian-inspired uses capture the fluidity, complexity, and materiality of power articulations and our proximity to them.