Antonio Gramsci

Portrait of Antonio Gramsci around 30 in the early 20s via Wikipedia

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) was an Italian Communist founder and party leader, imprisoned by Benito Mussolini‘s Fascists for 11 years. In jail he wrote his Prison Notebooks where he outlined his ideas about hegemony.

The concept of hegemony has ancient roots, but Gramsci was the first to use hegemony to describe the idea of a ruling class socially and economically dominating others within a given society.

The contemporary sociological meaning of the term hegemony points to an entire system of cultural values and practices existing within interconnected and (apparently) legitimate social institutions (e.g. markets, legal system, government, education, religion and media) which the powerful allegedly use to oppress the powerless.

Gramsci died in Rome shortly after gaining his freedom.

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