Antonio Gramsci was born in Sardinia in 1891. He co-founded the Italian Communist Party and became its leader. In 1923, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison by Prime Minister and dictator Benito Mussolini . While in prison, Gramsci was a prolific writer. Despite his prodigious memory, without the frequent visits of his sister-in-law Tania, his ideas would never have come to light. His intellectual work had to wait several years after the end of World War II before being published posthumously under the title " Prison Notebooks ." In the 50s, his writings attracted attention not only in Western Europe but also in the Soviet bloc. Due to the poor diet, illness, and poor health he suffered during his years in prison, Gramsci died of a stroke at the age of just 46.
Without becoming disillusioned
The Marxist view of society interprets life as a continuous struggle between antagonistic groups Defined in economic terms, and with the progress of modernity, the conflict transformed into a war for control between a minority ruling elite and the majority composed of workers. The social scholar and socialist Antonio Gramsci tried to explain why the revolution did not result in a crisis, as predicted by the classical Marxist theoryAccording to Gramsci, the repression implemented by the ruling class proves to be an inadequate instrument to guarantee a stable social order and must be accompanied by a ideological submissionThe latter is a complex process, which involves the propagation of elite worldviews that become principles of common sense and are accepted almost without resistance. This is what Gramsci defines as hegemony, an intangible form of class rule that can explain why workers can become fascists rather than revolutionaries.
The hegemonic struggle
Gramsci argues that hegemony has a cultural nature and is linked to the struggle between the antagonistic worldviews of different classes, that is, their systems of values, ideas, beliefs e conceptions on what man is, what society is, and what it could become. Hegemony, Gramsci argues, involves an invisible mechanism by which prominent positions within society are always occupied by members of the class already in power, generally supported by the consensus of subordinates. The ideas of ruling class, which permeate the whole society, are developed (often not entirely consciously) by the intellectual circles in its service, such as the Journalists, which spread them among the population. The constant re-proposal of these conceptions leads the lower classes to consider them natural and necessary, to the point of making them their own. Hegemonic ideals, therefore, shape the thinking of all classes. Social classes and this is why the challenge of modernity is not to develop a disillusionment with the ongoing struggle, but rather to not let ourselves be to be deceived by illusions – the visions proposed by elite groups – and to resist them.
The role of ideologies
However, since individuals are endowed with the ability to critically reflect on the visions inculcated in them, Gramsci defines counterhegemonic thinking, the ideological dominance of the ruling class is often counterbalanced: in Western liberal democracies, the challenge to hegemony is the order of the day. The nature and extent of these struggles between opposing worldviews depends on social, political, and economic circumstances. A series of prolonged economic crises that cause high unemployment rates, for example, will most likely result in the development of various counter-hegemonic forms, such as sindacati or protest movementsGramsci argues that, in most capitalist societies, the ruling classes must constantly face opposition and dissent from below and devote a great deal of time and energy to managing the situation, with little chance of achieving total control, even for short periods of time. Gramsci's reflection highlights the role of individuals and ideology in the struggle for social change, proposing an alternative vision to the economic determinism of traditional Marxism. His concept of cultural hegemony, which recognizes human autonomy and the importance of culture, has had a major impact on many academic fields.
Gianni Broggi
