Gramsci Essay - 732 words

Gramsci The problems of Marxism are diverse, but all center on the failure of Marxist theory to be realized in practice. The most
significant example of this is the persistent survival of the capitalist mode of production. Marx predicted its downfall because he saw
the mixture of the capitalist mode of production and democratic politics as a contradiction. By asking the question how can capitalism
persist? (Z. Przworski, 19) Antonio Gramsci has provided the most promising way of reviving Marxist theory. In order to explain the
perseverance of the capitalist mode of production, Antonio Gramsci puts forward his concept of hegemony. Hegemony has been
heralded as the most promising answer to the problems of Marxism.

He argues that dominance in economic relations of production is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for social dominance. The
economically dominant class also requires hegemony to rule. Hegemony is the ideological dominance of society, the position in which
an ideology favorable to the dominant class is agreed upon by the society as a whole. The subordinate classes are persuaded to hold
views and values, which are consistent with the continued economic and social dominance of the ruling class. Through this concept, it
is possible to show how capitalism and democracy have survived in Marxian terms. This is the great success of Gramscis work.

The most important aspect of the notion of hegemony is that of consent. In order to gain hegemony, the economically dominant class
must forge alliances through compromise with other classes and social forces, so that it may gain political and ideological leadership.
Hegemony creates a far more complex relation between the two fundamentally opposed classes. The alliances a hegemonic class will
form, and the compromises it makes with other classes ensure that it gains the active consent of society. Gramsci uses the term
active consent to show that the individual person or group is not passive in the creation and maintenance of hegemony. Classical
Marxism says that the state is a reflection of the economic reality of society, and uses the base-superstructure distinction to
illustrate the causal links between the two.

Gramsci's thesis challenges this analogy, as the concept of hegemony allows for the ruling class to be partly determined within the
realm of politics. It is also possible,
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Essay Tags: marxist theory, gramsci, hegemony, ruling class, marxist This is an Essay sample / Research paper, you can use it for your research of:
Gramsci