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Moving to focus on those who hold responsibility for curriculum construction, Apple (200),
who with a tendency to be generally negative about the dominant discourses that operate in
schools, especially those in United States schools, admits that when investigating texts used
in schools, which then form the official knowledge, “…power is not only a negative concept”
(p. 5); a view also shared by van Dijk (2001b). Apple goes on to further explain that whilst it
can be used to subject groups with less power and ability to influence policy, it can also be a
sign that institutions are responding to “…our more democratic needs and hopes” (2000, p.
5). Of the maintenance of hegemonic control, even with inclusions of ‘fringe’ content Hall,
drawing on the work of Gramsci, writes:
Hegemony is constructed, through a complex series of process of struggle. It is not
given either in the existing structure of society or in the given class structure of a
mode of production. It cannot be constructed once and for all, since the balance of
social forces on which it rests is subject to continuing evolution and development,
depending on how a variety of struggles are conducted. Hegemony, once achieved,
must be constantly and ceaselessly renewed, re-enacted. This implies a conception of
the process of social reproduction as continuous and contradictory—the very
opposite of a functional achievement. (1988, pp. 53-54)
To conclude, Apple reminds us that texts have multiple readings contained within them and
there cannot be one way to interpret those meanings, even in curriculum documents that
purport to tell ‘the truth’. Therefore it is important to “…be willing to ‘read’ our own
meanings of a text, to interpret our own interpretations…” (Apple, 2000, p. 58). This is a
particularly important factor to consider when analysing textbook content, or any other text,
that form parts of the official knowledge of a school curriculum.
2.4 Defining hegemony as ideological power.
The analysis of hegemonic power defined by Gramsci and as exercised by those who have
access to decision making processes, such as determining schools’ official knowledge, is
relevant to this project. Supporting this approach, Luke contends that “like many other forms
of contemporary social theory, the generational basis of CDA can be traced to the political
events of 1968. This would include neoMarxist theories of interpellation and hegemony, as
in…interpretations of Gramsci and Althusser…” (2002, p. 98, emphasis added; see also
Wodak & De Cillia, 2006). The definition of hegemony used here derives from Gramsci’s
latter work, the period of his imprisonment and published in his posthumous texts, known
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