Ok, this is not going to be anything deep or outstanding. I just want to get my thoughts out so I can hopefully get a better grasp of the concepts we're discussing in History of Anthropological Thought. I understand the basic structure, but the examples Dr. Richardson give all relate to Hank Williams. Since I'm not a big fan of Hank, I can't exactly grasp what he's trying to bring out. This should help me, and if it helps someone else, that's cool.

Also, if anyone wants to correct my thought process, feel free to do so. With everything going on, this semester has been rather stressful, and my ability to focus seems to have diminished greatly. So, as long as there are no nuns with rulers involved, correction is welcome.

Hegemony: When a small group of people dominates a large group with the consent of the group to be dominated. Now, this happens in any society to an extent, and it is not always a bad thing. Like anything, a concept is neutral, but the application of it is what becomes "good" or "evil".

GFFA examples: Well, one basic example is the Galactic Senate. The various planets agree to send a few individuals to represent them, and the decisions made by that body are more or less binding.

Another is the Jedi Order. The Jedi all agree to be governed by the Council; the Council makes decisions by following the Will of the Force, the Jedi Code, and (I'd argue) precedents set forth by previous Council decisions. Sometimes the decisions are good ones, sometimes not.

A final example is, of course, the reorganization of the Republic into the Galactic Empire. We see in ROTS how enthusiastically the representatives agree to this new form of hegemonic domination based upon the fear (partially true due to the war and ultimately true due to Palpatine's deceitful machinations) and uncertainty caused by recent events. Here, the larger group (the Senate) agrees to Palpatine's complete domination (a very small group) for their own safety and security. Also, because the representatives were elected, the largest group (the Galactic citizens) more or less agree to this because they have hegemonically agreed to the stewardship of their interests by their representatives, and the representatives have agreed to this new stewardship of their interests by Palpatine.

Ultimatley, I guess you can picture hegemony like a pyramid; each level gets smaller as you move to who is ultimately running the show.

Resistance: As I'm sure you can all gather, resistance is when someone decides he or she does not like being dominated by anyone else. The most common form of resistance is "foot dragging." No, that's not a technical term, but you get the idea. You do as little as possible to bog down the system. I'd wager that there was much foot dragging during the construction of the Death Star, and that played a role in Tarkin's use of Wookiee slaves; and I'd also wager that they foot-dragged as well to a degree.

Resistance also takes the form of sabotage. Whoever removed Camino from the Jedi Archaives attempted to sabotage any efforts to discover the cloning facilities. While Dooku seems the logical choice, there is no direct evidence of this, and that is what makes it truly effective sabotage.

There is also civil disobedience. That is when those who believe a law is unjust, simply ignore it. Anakin's violation of the marriage prohibition is an example of this. And to those at the time it may have been viewed as wrong, ultimately, had he not gotten married and fathered two headstrong children, the galaxy would have been doomed.

Then there is open rebellion. This is the least common form of resistance. The Rebel Alliance is of course a primary example of this. The Rebellion started when a group of senators wanted to work within the system to save it, but that system changed to one that no longer allowed for dissention. Unable to get their voices heard - because who listens to reason during a crisis? - they found themselves forced to work outside the new system to fight its tyranny and get the old hegemony back. And I'm not going to get into the "certain point of view" argument that they merely wanted to regain the power Palpatine had stripped from them, but that is a valid argument in light of human history.

This rebellion succeeded, but not all rebellions do succeed. That's just the nature of the beast, as the rebels tend to have more antiquated equipment and/or be under-equipped, under-funded, and outnumbered.

Rebellion is, of course, the heat that causes the water to boil in the melting pot of society. If enough heat is applied, the water will boil over, and that is why many socieites have (or have traditionally had..things have changed in the past few centuries) escape valves - usually festivals of the "Lord of Misrule" or something similar. These festivals invert the social order for a short time and allow the voiceless to symbolically voice and/or act out their complaints against the establishment. After a few days of chaos, things return to normal.

I haven't found anything to suggest that anything like this existed in the GFFA. I doubt Palpatine thought such a festival necessary, as he could always use the military to crush any malcontents. IF someone knows of something I don't, please tell me.

May the Force be with you.