Demarcation Hegemony

The cultural dominance of a particular boundary between science and non‑science, to the point where that boundary is accepted as natural and eternal. Demarcation hegemony determines what counts as “real science” in public discourse, what gets funded, what children learn in schools. It shapes the public understanding of science and dismisses alternative epistemic traditions as “pseudoscience” or “religion.” Under demarcation hegemony, the act of drawing the line itself is rarely questioned.

Example: “In popular culture, astrology is automatically ‘pseudoscience’ while economics is ‘science’—demarcation hegemony, where the boundary is inherited, not examined.”

Science Hegemony

The cultural, political, and ideological dominance of science as the ultimate arbiter of truth, value, and reality. Under science hegemony, any claim that cannot be validated by scientific methods is considered lesser: mere opinion, belief, or superstition. Science hegemony permeates media, education, and government, often invisibly. It is not that science is wrong, but that its dominance forecloses other ways of knowing. Science hegemony is the background condition for scientism, the science guillotine, and the various other guillotines and dominations.

Example: “The philosophy department was defunded because ‘science answers everything.’ Science hegemony: reducing the university to the laboratory.”

Demarcation Hegemony by Abzugal May 22, 2026