6. On leadership and power

1. Hegemony and counter-hegemony cannot be controlled.

People are way too irrational and too unpredictable and the complexities and pluralities of any form of hegemony or counterhegemony are too complex and too diverse to be controlled by anything or anyone. Institutions, social organizations nor individuals succeed in doing so.

Hegemony is not directed by a ruling class, just as counterhegemonies are not directed by some kind of vanguard: leadership at most reinforces what is already present.

Within societies, it is difficult to quasi-impossible to really pull the strings as power relations are almost always dispersed, scattered, nuanced, fuzzy and flou.

2. Hegemony is built on consent, not coercion.

Leaders and leading groups emerge only because we, the people, allow them to emerge. Power can only be hold on to when we, the people, consent to it. We determine the forms of power to which we consent.

We all shape hegemony, both in reaffirming it and in changing it. What we all think and do or don't think or do, determines what hegemony looks like and how it evolves. Leaders and leading groups are merely the megaphones that amplify the different currents within a hegemony.

3. Leadership is always temporary.

The role of the hegemon (the leader or leading group) is never fixed or absolute. Consent by the group or society is still needed. Without consent, only coercion remains. When the center of gravity shifts from consent to coercion, both hegemon and hegemony lose legitimacy.

Leadership without power

Of course, power within a society is not distributed equally. Some individuals, social groups and institutions have more power. Phrased differently, compared to others, they have had more success in using hegemonic thinking and acting to realize their own agenda without antagonizing all too drastically the broader society. They have thus succeeded in appropriating a larger share of the cake, in the form of property or political power, for example.

In the words of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, they have built up more economic, social and/or cultural capital. Due to that greater capital, they are able to weigh in more on the conversations, ideas and actions within (parts of) society, and thus on the decisionmaking.

But individuals and groups that lead do not simply impose their ideas on the rest of us. They are themselves subject to hegemonic thinking and acting.

Leading individuals and groups still have to maneuver within the chalk lines of hegemony. No one is free from hegemony. Behind the scenes, leading individuals and groups may bend or violate hegemonic rules but as soon as this is exposed, their positions of power may come under pressure.

When what is acceptable within a hegemony is exceeded, a more pronounced counter-reaction from society may arise.

When that backlash turns against the current hegemony, there is a good chance that the systems of power at the government's disposal and which are deemed authorized to exercise force, will spring into action. The center of gravity within a hegemony then shifts from consent to coercion, from agreement, approval, resignation to force, violence and repression.

As mentioned, hegemonies largely lose their legitimacy at such times.

And although individuals and groups with more power seem ubiquitous, at the same time they remain anomalies that we,

citizens, view with justified suspicion and a certain level of contempt.

We tolerate their existence, though not wholeheartedly. We continue to view them critically even when we do not always show it.

But as citizens, we always retain the right and power to make ourselves heard and seen and to go against leading individuals and groups when they are out of line.

Leaders are never omnipotent.

And we, ordinary people and citizens, are not impotent!

4. One of the key characteristics of leadership is powerlessness.

Leaders are led by the reality within which they operate. They play the leadership role to give the appearance that they are in control.

But when the impression is given that someone is pulling the strings, it is important for us, citizens, to realize that it is mere appearance.

No one is leading. Those who claim to lead are hallucinating.

Leadership is an illusion.

At best, one could try to manipulate some part of hegemony, but it will be impossible to know in advance where you will land.

5. Hegemony is not imposed on us.

In representative democracies, there is no absolute hegemony that is centrally directed and controlled by a hegemon (a leading group or ruling class) and that is imposed on everyone. The majority embraces a certain way of thinking and acting ("because that's the way it should be") which is then further reinforced and reconfirmed by our natural, human and social dynamics.

How we think and what we do is rarely imposed by force.

The use of coercion, force and repression within social organizations and institutions in functioning representative democracies is limited and increasingly less accepted today. Coercion is not a sword of Damocles that hangs permanently over our heads, but rather something that slumbers underneath the surface.

Still, it is also never completely gone.

6. The urge to conform is also a form of violence.

At the same time, consent (assent, acceptance, resignation) also comes with a certain degree of coercion and therefore violence. The pressure to conform to the group can be so great that it becomes hard to imagine how to resist. Once certain ways are internalized, thinking and acting differently can seem very strange and feel unnatural.

Internalized compulsions can make us believe that we must think and act in certain ways. Through this same dynamic, it can feel like we actually want it that way or that it is our own deliberate choice.

But no matter how coercive hegemony feels, there is always room for counter-hegemonic thinking and acting, however small that may be.

Counter-hegemonic thinking and acting always remains possible.

Great minds think (and act) alike

Thinking and acting like other people around us, gives us a sense of belonging. It creates stronger bonds between people.

For spreading sustainable ideas and actions - and thus building a sustainable (counter-) hegemony - this dynamic will be crucial.

We can only build a more sustainable future together. When we internalize counter-hegemonic thinking and acting and increasingly consider this to be the norm within our society, counter-hegemony can gradually become hegemony.

The urge to conform will be crucial to evolve from sustainable counter-hegemony to sustainable hegemony.

7. A (counter-)hegemony follows its own path, without control, without anyone at the helm.

Once a direction is set, a wide variety of dynamics takes over that no one controls or manages.

Should, at some point, leaders emerge from within a sustainable counter-hegemony, then a large part of their fate will be to ride the waves that the counter-hegemony makes by itself.

At the same time, the risk that these so-called leaders will lose themselves along the way is extremely high and can never be fully eliminated. Leaders play the role necessary to give the appearance that they are firmly in control but what initially starts out as "playing a role" can become internalized. They become the role they play and change as a person.

When confronted with leadership, it is important to keep a few things in mind:

• Leadership is overrated and only relevant in rare moments.

• Any form of power is suspect and we must approach it critically.

• Leadership is always temporary.

In the confrontation between sustainable counter-hegemony and current hegemony, it is important to keep this in mind:

• Current thinking and acting can hijack new ways of thinking and acting. That is the eternal battle of current versus new.

• Politics and technology alone - the kingpins in the current hegemony - will not get us there.

The road to a sustainable hegemony will be paved by us, citizens.

• We are hegemony. Changing hegemony must be done by us, citizens.

• When we change, hegemony changes.

We, citizens who think and act sustainably, are the key to sustainable success.

CHAPTER 6 | On leadership and power

It is an illusion to think that we can force hegemony or counterhegemony to follow a predetermined orbit. Hegemonies follow their own dynamics but they do not do so independently from us: we are its active agents who can help pull the cart or try to push it in a slightly different direction.

How we think and what we do makes a difference.

The foundation for hegemony is not power but consent and so the importance of leaders and leading groups is limited. The urge and compulsion to conform are often more difficult obstacles on the road towards a sustainable hegemony. At the same time, they are crucial to moving from sustainable counter-hegemony to sustainable hegemony.

We, citizens, are the lever to sustainable success.

We are hegemony.

62

Towards a sustainable hegemony

1. What is hegemony

1. Hegemony = how we think and what we do, from individual over social organization to institution.

2. Hegemony is everywhere and touches everything.

3. Hegemonic thinking and acting is for the most part accidental.

4. Thinking and acting hegemonically happens unconsciously most of the time.

5. Hegemony operates under the radar most of the time.

6. Hegemony arises spontaneously.

7. Hegemony brings stability.

8. We cannot do without hegemony.

9. Hegemony is self-reinforcing.

10. Hegemony is self-sustaining.

11. Hegemony is a self-renewing continuum.

12. Just about everything is at least hegemonically influenced.

13. Hegemony operates at three levels: individuals, social organizations and institutions.

14. Within society, all players play the game and thus help shape it.

15. Within hegemony the golden rule is: to conform = to confirm.

16. We regularly interpret hegemony differently.

17. Hegemony is never absolute.

18. Hegemonies evolve and change continuously.

19. Hegemony rests on a fragile balance.

20. Hegemony needs antagonism.

21. Different sub-hegemonies cohabit within a hegemony.

22. Sub-hegemonies may be more or less part of a hegemony.

23. The contours of a hegemony are porous and constantly under pressure.

24. Hegemony is complex.

25. Hegemony can probably never be fully understood.

2. How hegemonic change comes about

1. Change is hard.

2. Change begins with how we think.

3. Successful change requires us to act.

4. Change requires thinking and doing.

5. Change is achieved together.

6. Hegemonic change quietly sneaks into our lives.

7. Hegemonic change tends to be slow.

8. Change is inevitable.

9. Hegemony changes when we, citizens, change.

10. Hegemonic change moves from individuals over social organizations to institutions.

11. Institutions will probably be last to embrace hegemonic change (and by then it will no longer be a surprise).

12. Hegemonic change becomes institutionalized when it flows back towards social organizations and individuals.

3. There’s no hegemony without counterhegemony

1. Hegemony is never 100% absolute.

2. Counter-hegemonies always emerge.

3. Counter-hegemonic thinking and acting stems from hegemonic dissatisfaction.

4. Hegemonic dissatisfaction begins with individuals.

5. Counter-hegemony is always social.

6. Counter-hegemony becomes real in doing.

7. Counter-hegemony materializes when many new ideas arise among many individuals who, along with many other individuals, organize themselves into a wide range of new social organizations.

8. Counter-hegemony must remain expansive for a long time to be successful.

9. It takes a mass of individuals and social organizations think and act counter-hegemonically, before the chance arise for institutions to switch.

10. Institutionalization is crucial to complete a counter-hegemony.

4. How to realize a sustainable counterhegemony

1. We, citizens, who come up with and realize new sustainable ideas, are the main lever for a sustainable counter-hegemony.

2. A sustainable counter-hegemony begins with individuals and becomes concrete through new social organizations.

3. We realize a sustainable counter-hegemony together.

4. The building blocks for a sustainable counter-hegemony are new ecological, economic and social ideas are.

5. A sustainable counter-hegemony begins with ad hoc ideas an initiatives that each chart their own sustainable path.

6. The road towards a sustainable counter-hegemony is very bumpy.

7. A sustainable counter-hegemony constantly runs the risk of being hijacked by the current hegemony.

8. A sustainable counter-hegemony must arm itself against the current hegemony.

9. A sustainable counter-hegemony will be diverse: different individuals and social organizations will realize it differently.

10. Achieving a sustainable counter-hegemony is an ongoing balancing act.

11. Achieving a sustainable counter-hegemony requires persistence.

5. From sustainable counter-hegemony towards sustainable hegemony

1. There is no blueprint for a sustainable hegemony.

2. In a sustainable hegemony, thinking sustainably happens automatically.

3. In a sustainable hegemony, we act sustainably by nature.

4. In a sustainable hegemony, force of habit is naturally sustainable.

5. In a sustainable hegemony, we will still interpret sustainability differently.

6. On leadership and power

1. Hegemony and counter-hegemony cannot be controlled.

2. The foundation for hegemony is consent, not coercion.

3. Leadership is always temporary.

4. One of the key characteristics of leadership is powerlessness.

5. Hegemony is not imposed on us.

6. The urge to conform is also a form of violence.

7. A (counter-)hegemony follows its own path, without control, without anyone at the helm.

References:

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony 2 “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference” is a book by climate activist Greta Thunberg

Cover photo: 'green grass field under white clouds' by Pop & Zebra on Unsplash

Dirk Stael lives with his family in rural SintLievens-Houtem (Belgium). In addition to being a writer, he is also active as a change consultant and content marketer.

www.dirkstael.com

There is something at work in our society that we seldom see or hear, yet, at the same time, we both undergo and shape it every day again. That’s hegemony.

“Towards a sustainable society - How a sustainable counter-hegemony can change the current hegemony” zooms in on how hegemony determines how we think and what we do, as individuals, social organizations and institutions.

We take a closer look at how hegemony affects our daily lives as citizens ("hegemony without hegemon") and consider how we can move away from the current hegemony towards a sustainable society, by constructing a sustainable counterhegemony.