Notes over Antonio Gramsci

Antonio Gramsci lived from 1891 until 1937, where he died in an Italian (fascist) prison.
He was arrested in the mid 20’s for being the leader of the Italian Communist Party, a
position that provoked fear among the Italian Fascist ruling party. During is conviction,
the prosecutor made the comment he wanted to not only imprison Gramsci but also
deprive him the ability to use his mind for twenty years. Quite the contrary, Gramsci’s
writings in prison constitute the sum of his intellectual powers- in over thirty notebooks,
Gramsci details and clarifies his views on Marxism and the problems faced by Socialism
in the early 20th Century.

His work deals primarily with the concept of Hegemony, especially hegemony as
manifested in, and through the state. Some key points to remember when reading
Gramsci’s ideas:
1. He was writing during the height of Imperialism (1919-1930’s)
2. This period is marked by the dominance of capital in economic relations- one
of the features of Imperialism

Gramsci is concerned with the immergence of the Masses into politics, and seeks to find
an explanation for how the bourgeoisie have managed to seize and maintain control.
Particularly he deals with the problems found in Italy during this period, but is also
conscious of the real difficulties faced by the Soviet State as well.

The Prison Notebooks

The agent of action in Gramsci’s writings is the Political State. He touches on the role
and importance of political parties, yet his theory articulates the role a ‘ruling’ party
should play. To begin, how does one secure rule in the state?

1. A party must be able to lead Allied Classes necessary to sustain ‘new

permanent base’
2. It must dominate the opposing classes. This occurs through co-opting the
opposing elites, and in doing so one effectively neuters the enemy.

For Gramsci, the control of the elites, and in particular the intellectuals, is key to
assuming power. These elements have direct influence over the shape of culture a society
possesses. The State is a combination of instruments of force of class + activities that
enable social relations to be reproduced. Elites and Intellectuals create those activities
that are defined as ‘social relations’, which in turn are used to justify and give authority to
the instruments of force of class.

Hegemony: Combination of force and coercion kept in balance so that force does not
overwhelm but appears to be backed by majority consent, expressed by the organs of
public opinion. (The role of Newspapers and Education are of major importance here)

When a State can not only justify its rule, but also manifest this justification through the
organs of society (education, folklore, ideology); in effect the state is able to create and
perpetuate itself then it has achieved “Political Hegemony”. Without this complete
assurance of continuation, i.e. without political hegemony, there can be no power or
sustained rule.

Social activities then fall under the abstract term of Culture, which Gramsci sees as a
widespread phenomena within the state. Intellectuals are key to the development of
social activities, and it is with this bloc that Gramsci is most concerned. Why?

With the modern era, the masses are, for the first time, an integral part of politics. No
longer can they be ignored, and current political states have each found their own unique
method to coerce these masses into not only accepting, but also perpetuating state rule.
Intellectuals have the power to articulate new bases of social and political rule, and thus
then to bring new masses of people over to their cause.

However, Intellectuals no longer represent a separate and distinct class in the modern
period. The bourgeoisie bought them off by shifting their role and definition into the
highly specialized ‘expert’, yet every class has its own distinct intellectual enclave and it
is this population that needs to be co-opted if any new movement is to establish the
beginnings of a permanent base for a new political state.

Central Political Leadership control over the Intellectuals provide:

1. Conception of life; philosophy

2. Scholastic program that attracts more intellectuals into a homogenous bloc-
primary example being teachers at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary
level

The so-called ‘Lower’ Intellectuals will follow the ‘Higher’ Intellectuals- thus the
importance of recruiting those members of the “High” Intellectual enclave.

In explaining the role the institutions of the Republic and Democracy play in modern
society, Gramsci notes the following:

1. Democracy and the Republic became the method developed to mobilize the
masses into the political scene
2. This mobilization of the masses eventually establishes the ideal of freedom of
religion and separation of church and state; this ideal helps to eliminate the
discord traditionally held between religion and the secular state.
3. This ideological transformation allows the priest to not only become the
spiritual guide to individuals, but also a social guide in the politico-economic
spheres of life

Culture: Culture has been expressed as the social activities of the state that enable the
perpetuation of that state. But what is culture ‘activity’? Gramsci notes a few examples:

1. Literature- high literature can only flourish in a culture of admiration.

Literature provides a stimulus for work as it defines the idea of beauty and
civilization. The reader feels connected to the state, feels defined as a citizen
with high literature.
a. The absence of the idea of beauty and civilization will lead to
literature, but that of a lower nature- ‘serial literature’. This can be
used by the political ruling power, but it is not as effective as high
literature.
2. Newspapers- they provide a ruling state with two fold purpose
a. Information, organ of political leadership
b. Circulates ideas of culture in absence of any centralized organ to do so,
the same is true for political parties- if they are not present then the
newspaper fills that void.

Newspapers, for example, discuss theatre reviews, architecture, literature, etc… all
examples of cultural expression. They are not as effective as a centralized organ- i.e. a
journal or periodical- but the newspaper will fill this void as any state must have a means
of creating and disseminating the idea of state culture. However, newspapers are
especially prone to abuse by the views of a rogue editor, so care must be used.

In this sense, newspapers educate. Education, according to Gramsci, is a struggle with

nature in which education reveals to man how to be ‘in touch’ with his times. It not only
introduces him to his state, but also how to perpetuate that state.

Jeremy Antley
jantley@gmail.com