Antonio Gramsci is without doubt, a spiritual follower of Marxism. Drawing the consequences of his experiences of worker's movements and communist party politics, as well as of his numerous readings and philosophical influences, he has greatly contributed to the evolution of Marxist thought in the 20th century. However, he developed a theory in contrast with the traditional Marxist current of thought. By shifting his attention from the Marxist focus on economics, towards a theory in which humans play an active role, Gramsci has revived the role of politics, and more generally of society, in Marxist political thinking. But more than an analyst of capitalist society and of historical phenomena, he was first and foremost a theorist of revolution. What role does social cohesion and consent play in Gramsci's theory? Social cohesion refers to the way in which norms and values help to hold the society together, whereas social consent relates with the way in which agreement is reached. Both these notions are closely related with the sphere of politics, as they help to understand how political power can be achieved and maintained.
[...] Why does Gramsci view social cohesion and consent as an essential tool to understand society and processes of domination? The limits of Marxism Marx saw the connection between the base, which refers to the organization of the modes of production of a society, and the superstructure, that is the human society, as being a one way relationship in which the economic base determined the organization of society. Whether it concerned a slave system, a feudal society or a capitalist one, the political, social and cultural aspects of these societies were primarily determined by the way in which the modes of production were organised. [...]
[...] Because of the traditional Marxist theory's failure to provide analytical tools able to describe historical events, Gramsci has shifted its attention toward the subject, the human, which opens the space for cohesion and consent to become a central focus of his theory. II) How is social cohesion and consent built, and how does it operate? The focus on social cohesion and consent in Gramsci's theory helps to explain how a dominant social group comes to power and maintains its position. Gramsci developed a conceptual tool in order to analyze the role of cohesion and consent in such situations, that of hegemony. [...]
[...] Gramsci recognised that social cohesion and consent was only efficient when linked with material conditions. Conclusion: Gramsci understood social cohesion and consent as an essential element which had been missing for the traditional Marxist theory. He used it as both an analytical tool to study society, and as a normative concept aimed at guiding the revolutionary process. He successfully managed to integrate the issue of social cohesion and consent within a Marxist framework. (2185 words) References: Boggs, C., Gramsci's Marxism (London, Pluto Press, 1976) Femia, J.V., Gramsci's Political Thought, Hegemony, Consciousness, and the Revolutionary Process (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981) Gramsci, A., Selection from the Political Writings (1910-1920) (London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1977) Gramsci, A., Selection from the Prison Notebooks (London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1971) Joseph, J., Social Theory: Conflict, Cohesion and Consent (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2003) Joseph, J., Hegemony: A Realist Analysis (London, Routledge, 2002) Boggs, C., Gramsci's [...]
[...] What is the relation between social cohesion and consent and power? Hegemony is usually understood in opposition with coercion, or what Gramsci called domination. Both refer to some form of social control which is exercised by the dominant group in power, to the way the supremacy of a social group manifests itself. In capitalist societies, force is only used in exceptional circumstances, in times of strong crisis. The normal way for the rulers to enforce their control on society and thereby maintain themselves in power is through hegemony. [...]
[...] III) How does he understand social cohesion and consent in terms of revolutionary prospects? Gramsci was a revolutionary thinker. As he put it, entire intellectual formation was of a polemical nature, so that it is impossible for me to think “disinterestedly” or to study for the sake of studying.'[9] His study was aimed at giving directions for actual political practice. Therefore, studying the role of social cohesion and consent in Gramsci's revolutionary thinking sheds a new light on these concepts. [...]
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