Antonio Gramsci: Power through Ideological Leadership

Dr Christopher Kollmeyer

27 Feb 2007 SO4530

Discussion Facilitator and Brief Essay

Date 8 March Topic Social Mobility and Subjective Class Location

15 March Post-materialism and Values Politics 22 March Class Politics in Post-industrial Society

19 April
26 April 3 May 10 May

Civil Society and Social Capital

Corporations and Interlocking Directorates Political Awareness & the Media Globalization and National Democracy

Biographical Notes of Interest

Italian (born 1891, died 1937) University at Turin (Fiat and class conflict) Co-founder of Italian Communist Party Jailed by Mussolini in 1926

Main works: Prison Notebooks

Culture, Ideology, & Early Marxism

Karl Marx
Base-Superstructure

Exploitation class consciousness

Friedrich Engels
False consciousness

State-Civil Society Distinction in Politics

Rule through State Politics: How much coercion is needed?
Compromise
Coercion

Hegemony
(Soft power)

Domination
(Hard power)

Rule through Civil Society: How accepted are the ideas of the dominant class?

Very

Not at all

Hegemony
Leadership Common Sense

CounterHegemony?
Opposition

Key Concepts Restated

The State
Civil Society

Hegemony
State Politics (compromise) Civil Society (intellectual leadership) Common Sense

Counter-hegemony War of manoeuvre vs. War of position

Summary
Modes of rule according to Gramsci: 1. Ideological leadership (CS hegemony) 2. Compromise (Political hegemony) 3. Coercion (Police-military force) Hegemony re-established daily Political change requires new morality