Cultural hegemony is the philosophic and sociological
conceptThere are two prevailing theories in contemporary philosophy which attempt to explain the nature of concepts . The representational theory of mind proposes that concepts are mental representations, while the semantic theory of concepts holds that they are abstract objects...
, originated by the
Marxist philosopherMarxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms which cover work in philosophy which is strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory or which is written by Marxists...
Antonio GramsciAntonio Gramsci was an Italian philosopher, writer, politician and political theorist. A founding member and onetime leader of the Communist Party of Italy, he was imprisoned by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime...
, denoting that a culturally-diverse society can be ruled (dominated), by one of its
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
es. It is the dominance of one social group over another, i.e. the
ruling classThe term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society...
over all other classes. The ideas of the ruling class come to be seen as the
normSocial norms are the behavioral expectations and cues within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors." These rules may be explicit or implicit...
; they are seen as universal
ideologiesAn ideology is a set of aims and ideas that directs one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a...
, perceived to benefit everyone whilst only really benefiting the ruling class.
For
Karl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a Germanphilosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, communist and revolutionary, whose ideas are credited as the foundation of modern communism...
, a capitalist society’s economic recessions and practical contradictions would provoke the
working classWorking class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in lower tier jobs as measured by skill, education, and compensation....
to
revolution in deposing capitalismA proletarian revolution is a social and/or political revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialists particularly those of the communist variety....
— and then to restructuring the existing institutions (economic, political, social) per rational, socialist models; thus, beginning the transition to a communist society.
Cultural hegemony is the philosophic and sociological
conceptThere are two prevailing theories in contemporary philosophy which attempt to explain the nature of concepts . The representational theory of mind proposes that concepts are mental representations, while the semantic theory of concepts holds that they are abstract objects...
, originated by the
Marxist philosopherMarxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms which cover work in philosophy which is strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory or which is written by Marxists...
Antonio GramsciAntonio Gramsci was an Italian philosopher, writer, politician and political theorist. A founding member and onetime leader of the Communist Party of Italy, he was imprisoned by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime...
, denoting that a culturally-diverse society can be ruled (dominated), by one of its
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
es. It is the dominance of one social group over another, i.e. the
ruling classThe term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society...
over all other classes. The ideas of the ruling class come to be seen as the
normSocial norms are the behavioral expectations and cues within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors." These rules may be explicit or implicit...
; they are seen as universal
ideologiesAn ideology is a set of aims and ideas that directs one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a...
, perceived to benefit everyone whilst only really benefiting the ruling class.
Cultural Hegemony: Gramsci’s theory
For
Karl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a Germanphilosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, communist and revolutionary, whose ideas are credited as the foundation of modern communism...
, a capitalist society’s economic recessions and practical contradictions would provoke the
working classWorking class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in lower tier jobs as measured by skill, education, and compensation....
to
revolution in deposing capitalismA proletarian revolution is a social and/or political revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialists particularly those of the communist variety....
— and then to restructuring the existing institutions (economic, political, social) per rational, socialist models; thus, beginning the transition to a communist society. In Marxian terms, the society’s dialectically-changing economy determines its cultural and political superstructures, i.e. its social and economic classes. Despite Marx and
Friedrich EngelsFriedrich Engels was a German social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of communist theory, alongside Karl Marx. Together they produced The Communist Manifesto in 1848...
having predicted said eschatological scenario in 1848, decades later, the workers — the economic core of an industrialised society — had yet to effect it.
To understand this, Gramsci posits a
strategic distinction, between a
War of Position and a
War of Manoeuvre. The war of position is intellectual, a
culture warThe culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditional or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
in which the anti-capitalist politicians (communist leaders sponsors, socialist scholars and ideological subversionist) seek to have the dominant voice in the mass media, other mass organisations, and the schools(and actively do ideological subversion). Once achieved, this position will be used to increase
class consciousnessClass consciousness is consciousness of one's social class or economic rank in society. From the perspective of Marxist theory, it refers to the self-awareness, or lack thereof, of a particular class; its capacity to act in its own rational interests; or its awareness of the historical tasks...
, teach revolutionary theory and analysis, and to inspire revolutionary organisation(
demoralization). On winning the intellectual war of position, communist leaders would then have the necessary political power and popular support to begin the
war of manoeuvreManeuver warfare, also spelled manoeuvre warfare, is the term used by military theorists for a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption brought about by movement...
— the
armed insurrection against capitalismThe term revolutionary socialism refers to Socialist tendencies that advocate the need for fundamental social change through revolution, as a strategy to achieve a socialist society...
.
Although
cultural domination was first analysed in economic class terms, it is broadly applicable to
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
. Gramsci suggested that prevailing
cultural normsSocial norms are the behavioral expectations and cues within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors." These rules may be explicit or implicit...
must not be perceived as either “natural” and “inevitable”, but, that said
cultural norms (institutions,
practicesA convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom....
, beliefs) must be investigated for their roots in societal domination and their implications for societal
liberationLiberation, Libération or Liberate may refer to:* Liberty, the condition in which an individual has the ability to act according to his or her own will....
.
Cultural hegemony is neither monolithic nor unified, rather it is a complex of layered
social structureSocial structure is a term used in sociology and anthropology to refer to relationships or bonds between groups of individuals . Whereas 'structure' refers to "the macro", "agency" refers to "the micro"...
s (classes). Each has a “mission” (purpose) and an internal logic, allowing its members to behave in a particular way that is different from that of the members of the other social classes, while also coexisting with these other classes. Because of their different social missions, the classes will be able to coalesce into a greater whole, a
societySociety or human society is the manner or condition in which the members of a community live together for their mutual benefit. By extension, society denotes the people of a region or country, sometimes even the world, taken as a whole....
, with a greater social mission. This greater, societal mission is different from the specific missions of the individual classes, because it assumes and includes them to itself, the whole.
Likewise, does
cultural hegemony work; although each person in a society meaningfully lives life in his or her social class, society’s discrete classes might appear to have little in common with the life of an individual person. However, perceived as a whole, each person’s life contributes to the greater society’s hegemony. Diversity, variation, and freedom will apparently exist, since most people “see” many different life circumstances; but they are incapable of perceiving the greater hegemonic pattern created when the lives they themselves witness coalesce into a “society”. Through the existence of minor, different circumstances, a greater, layered hegemony is maintained, not fully recognized by most of the people living in it.
In a layered cultural hegemony, personal "
common senseCommon sense , based on a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on: that which they "sense" as their common natural understanding...
" maintains a dual structural role. Each individual utilizes this "common sense" to cope with their daily life and explain to themselves the small segment of the
social orderSocial order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
they come to witness in the course of this life. However, because it is by nature limited in focus, common sense also inhibits the ability to perceive the greater, systemic nature of socio-economic exploitation that cultural hegemony makes possible. People concentrate their attention upon their
immediate concerns and problems, i.e. their lives (systematically troubled, preoccupied, absorbed and lost in the daily routines), rather than (attentive, intent, focused) upon the
fundamental sources of (their) social and economic
oppressionSocial oppression has in recent times been an epiphenomenon of various types of social dysfunction, whereby discrimination against an identified group is stimulated, encouraged and reinforced by way of promoting antagonism towards the Other...
, and be focused to solve their particular fundamental problems. Problems that been put on them by Marxist-Leninist politics created design of a "social order". The Hegelian-Gramsci hegemonic limited state of focus, where one cannot see out of the box.
Gramsci’s intellectual influence
Although the concept of Cultural Hegemony has primarily been used by leftists, organized conservative social organizations (movements) also have used it in their politics. An example, in the US of the 1990s, were the efforts of evangelical Christian organizations to win election onto local school boards in order to have the power to dictate curricula aligned with their religious interpretation of what constitutes a proper
public education. To wit, in 1992, at the Republican Convention, the rightist politician Patrick Buchanan addressed the conventioneers using the term
Culture WarThe culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditional or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
in describing his perception of US politics, as being the socio-political struggle between conservatism and liberalism.
As a theory, Cultural Hegemony has deeply influenced
EurocommunismEurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant in a Western European democracy and less aligned to the influence or control of the Communist Party of the Soviet...
, the
social sciencesThe social sciences are the fields of scientific knowledge and academic scholarship that study social groups and, more generally, human society. The social sciences initially were constituted of five fields: Jurisprudence and Amendment of the Law; Education; Health; Economy and Trade; Art...
, and activist politics. In the social sciences, its theoretic application in examining major
discourseDiscourse means either "written or spoken communication or debate" or "a formal discussion of debate." The term is often used in semantics and discourse analysis....
s (e.g. those posited by
Michel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, sociologist and historian. He held a chair at the Collège de France with the title "History of Systems of Thought," and also taught at the University of California, Berkeley.Foucault is best known for his critical studies of...
) is an important aspect of
sociologySociology is the scientific or systematic study of human societies. It is a branch of social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, often with the goal of applying such...
,
political sciencePolitical science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. It is often described as the pragmatic application of the art and science of politics defined as "who gets what, when and how",...
,
anthropologyAnthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....
, and
cultural studiesCultural studies is an academic field which combines political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, literary theory, media theory, film/video studies, cultural anthropology, philosophy, museum studies and art history/criticism to study cultural phenomena in various societies...
; moreover, in education the concepts of cultural hegemony led to the development of
critical pedagogyCritical pedagogy is a teaching approach that attempts to help students question and challenge domination, and the beliefs and practices that dominate. In other words, it is a theory and practice of helping students achieve critical consciousness. Critical pedagogue Ira Shor defines critical...
and technique of communist ideological subversion of West Democracy.
The 'International Gramsci Society' (IGS) was founded in October 1989 at the International conference "Gramsci nel mondo" held in Formia, Italy . Exactly in the time that supposedly European Communist party colapsed and Russians start disseminating information about a "Soviet discontinuity" in 1989-91 Society is International ideological thinktank.
The aim of the International Gramsci Society is to facilitate communication and the exchange of information among the very large number of marxist individuals from all over the world who are interested in Antonio Gramsci's life and work and in the presence of his hegemonic thought in culture. http://www.internationalgramscisociety.org/
Society organizes an international conference every few years. IGS conferences provide the occasion for an extensive examination of the status of Gramsci's hegemony influence in contemporary culture, the diversity of Gramscian studies, the various directions in which the interpretations and the uses of Gramsci's ideas and categories have been developing and provide IGS members with the opportunity to collectively plan the work of the Society and give its organizational structure a more permanent and solid form. IGS Newsletter in both paper and electronic form. All back issues of the 'IGS Newsletter' are available in an online searchable HTML format and as downloadable Adobe Acrobat Reader at.pdf files and 'International Gramsci Journal', is published by University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/research/gramsci-journal/
a peer-reviewed, biannual electronic journal. The IGS Coordinating Committee is (2007) composed of a 10 members from United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, United States, Mexico, Italy, Japan. A number of individuals who represent various geo-cultural areas and who collaborate with the secretary in gathering and disseminating information of interest to Society 'RethinkingMarxism'http://rethinkingmarxism.org/cms/ a journal of economics,culture & society Print ISSN 0893-5696 Online ISSN 1475-8059 from 1988, Marxist journal who have demonstrated significance of Gramsci's Marxist traditions and sponsoring four international gala conferences, and its sponsoring organization, the 'Association for Economic and Social Analysis' http://www.einet.net/review/1302-869793/Rethinking_Marxism_Association_for_Economic_and_Social_Analysis_Home_Page.htm
Contemporary political analysis: cultural hegemony’s influence
In political analysis, cultural hegemony is a much-applied analytic model. For example, an analysis of US political power from 1932 to 2006 addresses the dynamics of class struggle and cultural hegemony, documenting that the 1930s increase in trade union membership helped create the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
’s wide, popular base of political support. This situation was maintained until 1980, when the Republican Party successfully learned to appeal to the working class by means of the
Southern StrategyIn American politics, the Southern strategy refers to a purported Republican method of winning Southern states in the latter decades of the 20th century and first decade of the 21st century by exploiting opposition among the segregationist South to desegregation and Civil Rights, and the cultural...
, first articulated in the late 1960s during the electoral campaigns of Richard M. Nixon.
See also
- Cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating, or artificially injecting the culture of one society into another. It is usually the case that the former belongs to a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter belongs to a smaller, less important...
- Dominant ideology
The dominant ideology, in Marxist theory, is the set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society, framing how the majority think about a range of topics...
- Hegemony
Hegemony is the preponderance of power, and the construction of consent from the powerless through cultural values.-In politics:...
- Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy
Written in English in 1985 by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy is a work of political theory in the post-Marxist tradition...
- Nicos Poulantzas
Nicos Poulantzas was a Greek Marxist political sociologist. In the 1970s, Poulantzas was known, along with Louis Althusser, as a leading Structural Marxist and, while at first a Leninist, eventually became a proponent of eurocommunism. He is most well-known for his theoretical work on the state...
- Political consciousness
Following the work of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx outlined the workings of a political consciousness.-The politics of consciousness:...
- Posthegemony
Posthegemony is the theory that the concept of hegemony can no longer properly describe social order.-Theory:Posthegemony finds that ideology is no longer a political driving force and that the theory of hegemony therefore no longer accurately reflects the social order: "ideology critique--the...
- Southern strategy
In American politics, the Southern strategy refers to a purported Republican method of winning Southern states in the latter decades of the 20th century and first decade of the 21st century by exploiting opposition among the segregationist South to desegregation and Civil Rights, and the cultural...
- The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society , by Jürgen Habermas, was published in 1962 and translated into English in 1989 by Thomas Burger and Frederick Lawrence...
- James C. Scott
James C. Scott is Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. Before being promoted to Sterling Professor, he was the Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Anthropology. He is also the director of the Program in Agrarian Studies...
, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (1990), contests “cultural hegemony” with “hidden transcript” vs. “public transcript”
External links
- http://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/index.htm
- http://www.internationalgramscisociety.org/
- http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/research/gramsci-journal/
- http://rethinkingmarxism.org/cms/
- http://www.einet.net/review/1302-869793/Rethinking_Marxism_Association_for_Economic_and_Social_Analysis_Home_Page.htm
- http://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/prison_notebooks/selections.htm
- http://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/prison_notebooks/index.htm