179
See also: Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Friedrich Engels 66–67 ■ Pierre Bourdieu 76–79 ■ Zygmunt Bauman 136–43 ■
Herbert Marcuse 182–87 ■ Jean Baudrillard 196–99
CULTURE AND IDENTITY
in a crisis, as it should be according
to classical Marxist theory. He
argues that repression by the ruling
class is insufficient to secure a
stable social order; there must also
be ideological subjugation. This
happens in a complex process
whereby the ruling elite propagates
its views of the world so that they
are accepted as common sense and
largely beyond contention. Gramsci
calls this “hegemony,” a concealed
mode of class domination that
explains why workers can become
Fascists rather than revolutionaries.
The hegemonic struggle
Gramsci claims that hegemony is
cultural and that it is involved in a
struggle between competing class-
based world views, by which is
meant sets of values, ideas, beliefs,
and understandings of what human
beings are like, what society is,
and—crucially—what it could be.
Hegemony, he says, involves
an invisible mechanism whereby
positions of influence in society
are always filled by members of an
already ruling class—largely with
the consent of the subordinated.
The ruling class’s ideas, which are
the dominant ones permeating the
whole of society, are propounded
by intellectual groups working
in its service (often only partially
knowingly) such as journalists
who disseminate these ideas to
the wider population. Constant
exposure to them means that the
lower classes experience them as
natural and inevitable, and come
to believe them. Hegemonic ideas
shape the thinking of all social
classes. It is for this reason, says
Gramsci, that the challenge
of modernity is not to become
disillusioned with the ongoing
struggle but to see through the
“illusions”—the views propounded
by elite groups—and resist them.
Because individuals have the
capacity to think critically about
the view imposed upon them,
which Gramsci calls “counter-
hegemonic” thinking, the ruling
class’s ideological dominance is
often in the balance. In Western
liberal democracies, the challenge
to hegemony is an everyday reality.The nature and extent of these
struggles between competing
world views is contingent upon
social, political, and economic
circumstances. A series of
prolonged economic crises leading
to high unemployment, for example,
is liable to result in a situation in
which various counter-hegemonic
forces arise in the form of trade
unions or protest movements.
Gramsci notes that in most
capitalist societies the ruling
classes face constant opposition
and dissent “from below” and have
to devote a vast amount of time and
energy to managing this situation,
with complete control highly
unlikely, even for short periods.
Gramsci’s ideas emphasize
the role of individuals and
ideologies in the struggle for social
change, and thereby challenge
the economic determinism of
traditional Marxism. His concept
of “cultural hegemony,” which
recognizes human autonomy
and the importance of culture,
has had a lasting impact on a
number of academic disciplines. ■Antonio Gramsci Antonio Gramsci was born
in Sardinia, Italy, in 1891. He
was a cofounder of the Italian
Communist Party. While
serving as the party’s leader,
he was sentenced to 20 years
imprisonment in 1928 by Benito
Mussolini, Italy’s prime minister
and dictator at the time.
Gramsci wrote prolifically
while in prison. Although he had
a prodigious memory, without the
help of his sister-in-law, Tania,
who was a frequent visitor, his
ideas would not have come to
light. This intellectual work did
not emerge until several yearsafter World War II, when it
was published posthumously
in what are known as the Prison
Notebooks. By the 1950s, his
prison writings had attracted
interest not only in Western
Europe, but also in the Soviet
bloc. Due to the poor diet,
illness, and bad health he
suffered in prison, Gramsci died
of a stroke at the age of only 46.Key works1975 Prison Notebooks
(three volumes)
1994 Pre-Prison Writings