Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) is seen as one of the most important Marxists. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party in Italy. He spent much of his life in prison for his political activities. During his captivity he wrote more than 30 books. These books are all about Italian history, nationalism and certain ideas in Marxism. Gramsci made an important contribution to the theory of cultural hegemony.
Hegemony
Hegemony is a Greek term that indicates that a single state can rule over other states. Gramsci developed this theory in his [Prison Notebooks . It means that when one social group can rule over all other social groups, the dominant group is seen as the norm. This way everyone would benefit from it.
Hegemony was a concept used by Marxists such as Lenin. It represented the political leadership of the working class in a democratic revolution. Karl Marx already wrote about the false consciousness that the working class suffered from. Gramsci was not satisfied with this analysis. According to Gramsci, the analysis did not illustrate why the working class struggle was moving so slowly.
Gramsci and hegemony
According to Gramsci’s cultural hegemony theory, social patterns will become dominant through culture because of the ruling class. These social patterns will become part of our daily habits, causing the philosophy, culture and morality of the ruling elite to be seen as the natural order. Such a system will lead to a society in which revolutionaries are excluded by the social class.
Gramsci distinguished between a political society and a civil society. He saw political society as harsh and coercive. These were the public institutions, such as the government, the military and the judicial system. Civil society consisted of institutions such as the church, schools, trade unions, political parties, cultural associations, etc.
Realism
Realism has different ideas about cultural hegemony. Realism is based on the basic principle of dominance. Realists believe that international power has the greatest influence on international security. Hegemony must be stable and one state is dominant. The state is the most important actor and can exert force. The goal in international politics is survival. This means that a state cannot rely on other states for survival. Therefore, safety can only be achieved through self-help. Within realism there is the hegemony stability theory. This theory was invented by the neorealist and political scientist Robert Gilpin. The theory was mainly devised to explain how international organizations work.
Difference between Gramsci and realism
The major difference between realists and followers of Gramsci is that realists view hegemony as a dominant power of a state, while Gramsci looked at hegemony as the relationships between different social classes. A class is considered hegemony when it has legitimized its dominance through institutions and concessions. Today, according to some, the United States can be seen as a hegemon. The situation in Libya provided a clear picture of Gramsci’s and the realists’ view of hegenomics. On the one hand, the whole world was waiting for the US’s first move, as the US is seen as the most powerful state with the best capabilities. On the other hand, the people felt that America had to take the first step from the moral aspect.