'This is in your best interest' is a saying people hear all the time, but is it always true? Is it really worth working under stressful conditions for minimum wage? Will staying at home taking care of the kids and making dinner really benefit you? It is difficult to fully support the claim that the tasks people subject themselves to actually support their livelihood. Rather, it is the responsible few, who hold the power, who are the beneficiaries and reap the benefits. These privileged few get what they want not by force, but through Antonio Gramsci's idea of ​​hegemony. Hegemony is the “process in which a dominant group gains – for its own interests – the approval of a subordinate class through the use of intellectual, moral, and cultural encouragement” (Mascia-Lees 151). This method does not grant power to a particular group. Instead, it allows for shifts in power between groups. If the current dominant group does not convince the oppressed, the oppressed will rise up and rebel, giving way to a new dominant group. This article will explore how this concept came about, examples of who is affected by it, where this phenomenon occurs, and current research being conducted today. Before Gramsci achieved hegemony, he was a Marxist. Marx and Engels “focused on the inequalities brought about by the development of capitalism” (Mascia-Less 133), analyzed social relations within societies that had different modes of production, and delved into the superstructure of societies based on its infrastructures. Marx and Engels believed that it was the superstructure that “produces human consciousness, determining the very way people think about the world and about themselves” (Mascia-Less 134). They also believed that control of the means of production was something... middle of paper... that works in our society today and will continue for future generations. Believe me, it's for your own good. Works Cited Artz, Lee, and Bren O. Murphy. Cultural hegemony in the United States. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2000. Print.Holub, Renate. Antonio Gramsci: Beyond Marxism and postmodernism. London: Routledge, 1992. Print.Joseph, Jonathan. Hegemony: a realist analysis. London: Routledge, 2002. Print.Kupchan, Charles A. “The Decline of the West: Why America Must Prepare for the End of Domination.” The Atlantic. Np, March 20, 2012. Web. December 10, 2013. Lears, T. J. J. “The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities.” The American Historical Review 90.3 (1985): 567-93. JSTOR. Network. December 10, 2013.Mascia-Lees, Frances E. Gender and Difference in a Globalizing World: Twenty-First Century Anthropology. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2010. Print.