Read the following passage and answer the questions : An essential function of…
2022
Read the following passage and answer the questions :
An essential function of hegemony involves convincing people to support the existence of a social system that does not support them in return. Marginalised groups do not often protest or revolt against ideologies that overwhelmingly support privileged groups because, on some level, they consent to being dominated. This statement prompts an immediate question: Why would anyone consent to such an arrangement? While dominant ideologies may reflect the desires and interests of socially powerful groups, for these ideologies to remain dormant or hegemonic, they must also feature an additional promise. It is in the best interest of the marginalized groups to accept these beliefs as well. Put another way, members of socially powerful groups act to have their world view accepted as the universal way of thinking, and members outside these groups come to accept some of these ideologies because they appear beneficial in some way. This is referred to as a process of spontaneous consent because it is typically informal or unnoticed. The best way to understand the spontaneous consent of hegemony is through an example. A number of ideological components within a nation’s higher education system may not be in the best interests of students. One dominant belief suggests that college students should pay for their own education. Despite being affected by the belief, they accept it, and the ideology survives. When such consent fails, however, the concept of hegemony also explains how dominant ideologies evolve to contain this failure through a process of flexible appropriation. In such a situation, it is likely that dominant cultural institutions will absorb any challenging beliefs, integrate them into the hegemonic matrix, and re-establish the previous norm. As a result, hegemonic systems never go away. They simply change form through a process of constant give and take between social group. Hegemonic ideological structures maintain control in part through the never-ending process of integration and appropriation of marginalised ideologies.
The dominant cultural institutions have the power to
(A) Absorb challenges
(B) Maintain relations with social groups
(C) Destroy opposition
(D) Re-establish the previous norms
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below :
Answer: D. (A) and (D) only — ConceptIn passage-based combination questions, each statement must be checked against the author’s explicit claims. A combination is supported only when every…
- A.
(A) and (B) only
- B.
(B) and (C) only
- C.
(C) and (D) only
- D.
(A) and (D) only
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept
In passage-based combination questions, each statement must be checked against the author’s explicit claims. A combination is supported only when every component is supported; one unsupported component excludes the whole combination.
Application
Locate the sentence that assigns powers to dominant cultural institutions: they may absorb challenging beliefs, integrate them into the hegemonic matrix, and re-establish the previous norm.
The phrase “absorb challenging beliefs” directly supports the action “Absorb challenges.”
The same sentence directly supports the action “Re-establish the previous norms.”
The passage describes give-and-take between social groups as a process, not maintenance of relations as an institutional power; it describes absorption and integration of opposition, not its destruction.
Contrast
“Absorb challenges” with “Maintain relations with social groups” combines one explicit institutional action with a claim the passage does not assign as an institutional power.
“Maintain relations with social groups” with “Destroy opposition” replaces the passage’s mechanisms of give-and-take, absorption, and integration with different claims.
“Destroy opposition” with “Re-establish the previous norms” combines an unsupported description of the response to opposition with one explicit institutional action.
“Absorb challenges” with “Re-establish the previous norms” contains the two actions explicitly attributed to dominant cultural institutions.
Cross-check
Both institutional actions occur in sequence in the passage’s account of flexible appropriation: the system incorporates a challenge and then restores its prior norm.
Result
The supported pair is “Absorb challenges” and “Re-establish the previous norms.”