- "Ah, my Belovéd, fill the cup that clears
To-day of past Regrets and future Fears—
To-morrow?—Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday’s Sev’n Thousand Years."
– Edward FitzGerald
Cultural Hegemony is a Future Era civic in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm.
Strategy[]
Everyone imitates the strongest of the day, and this is as true today as it has been 3000 years ago, and will undoubtedly be in another 3000 years. When one nation rises to dominance in its region (be it its continent, planet, or galactic quadrant), other nations will tend to emulate it in every aspect, including its culture. And when this nation undertakes specific steps to incentivize this emulation, for example by actively promoting its culture abroad while subtly suppressing other cultures, then this effect can be weaponized and used to advance much more than just culture.
The policy cards unlocked by Cultural Hegemony can facilitate a Cultural Victory and hinder other players' Science Victory progress.
Civilopedia entry[]
Certain cultures become so ubiquitous that they produce an almost gravity-like effect on the other cultures around them, shaping those cultures either by directly replacing them, or by being substantially incorporated within the culture. Rome, for instance, was a cultural hegemon of the Mediterranean. China exerted a hegemonic effect on a greater area of Asia, and for longer. The English language is accused of being a hegemonic force in the present age.
Cultural Hegemony is seen as a negative by those cultures affected by it, as the hegemony can overwrite centuries of cultural values, language, ritual, and relationships, often in a breathtakingly short period of time. Television, for example, exported a tremendous amount of American entertainment around the world in the latter half of the Twentieth Century.
