CS203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks, Luddite
Ideology, Identity, and Hegemony
● “Ideas and opinions are not spontaneously ‘born’ in each individual… they have a centre
of formation, of dissemination, of persuasion” - Antonio Gramsci (Marxist philosopher -
very aware of language, one of the main 3 thoughts he thought was essential in
understanding hegemony)
○ Think of how ideas are produced, who thinks about them
● → Humans make history, but not under conditions of their own making - Marx
● → Ideologies are most effective when we are least conscious of them at work
● → Ideologies act as maps of meaning
● → Marx looked at the way capital worked systematically
● → Luddites thought of as technology haters, but were protesting against automation and
deskilling of jobs
Timeline
● 1870s-1910: European imperialism, industrialization, and economic depression
● 1914-1918: WWI
● 1917-21: Russian and European Revolutions
● 1920s: rapid growth in equality
● 1922: Mussolini’s Fascists take power in Italy
● 1929: stock market crash
● 1930s: world wide depression
● 1933-45: Hitler’s Third Reich (Nazis)
● 1939-1945: WWII
● 1945-1975: Golden Age of Capitalism (Keynesianism)
● 1975-1980s: struggle for a new way
● 1990s-20??: age of Neoliberalism
“Western Marxism”
● History unfolds differently than what Marx thought
● “Classical marxism” can’t explain why WC failed “to correctly understand world they lived
in”
● Shift away from classical Marxist approach to ideology and domination
Antonio Gramsci: Hegemony, Intellectuals, and the State
● 1891-1937
● CP leader, socialist journalist and Marxist philosopher
● Linguistics, political, and cultural theory
● 1929-1925: Prison Notebooks = 3000+ pages
● Asks why didn’t the working class take power?
● Gramsci’s marxism is different than classical marxism
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Think of how ideas are produced, who thinks about them. Humans make history, but not under conditions of their own making - marx. Ideologies are most effective when we are least conscious of them at work. Ideologies act as maps of meaning. Marx looked at the way capital worked systematically. Luddites thought of as technology haters, but were protesting against automation and deskilling of jobs. 1870s-1910: european imperialism, industrialization, and economic depression. 1922: mussolini"s fascists take power in italy. History unfolds differently than what marx thought. Classical marxism can"t explain why wc failed to correctly understand world they lived in . Shift away from classical marxist approach to ideology and domination. Cp leader, socialist journalist and marxist philosopher. Gramsci"s marxism is different than classical marxism. The ability of the dominant classes to exercise social and cultural leadership to maintain their power over the economic, political, and ideological direction of the nation. Ruling class governs with consent of governed.
