GRAMSCI

THEORY OF CULTURAL

HEGEMONY

THE THEORY IN ESSENCE

Antonio Gramsci is best known for his theory of ‘cultural

hegemony’.This describes how states use cultural

institutions to maintain power in

capitalist societies.

SO WHAT IS CULTURAL HEGEMONY?The term 'hegemony' was coined by Gramsci, to

denote the predominance of one social class over others (bourgeois hegemony).

This refers to political and economic control, but also the 'hegemonic culture’.

The bourgeoisie propagated their own values and norms so that they became the "common

sense" values of everyone in the state, particularly those subordinated by it.

People in the working-class (and other classes) identified their own good with the good of the

bourgeoisie, and helped to maintain the status quo rather than revolting.

There is a clear relationship between persuasion, consent and occasional brute

force involved in cultural hegemony.

Gramsci does not understand the 'state' in the narrow sense of the government and instead, sees

the ruling-class maintaining its dominance over society in two different ways:

COERCIONThis uses the

'political society' (army, the police,

legal systems etc.) of the capitalist

state, to force other classes to accept its

role.

CONSENT (HEGEMONY)This uses the 'civil society' (family, education systems,

trade unions etc.) ideas and values to persuade the subordinate class that its rule is legitimate. The civil society are commonly seen

as the 'private' or 'non-state' sphere, who mediate between the state and the

economy.

HEGEMONY AND THE MASS MEDIAGramsci emphasizes struggle. He noted that 'common

sense is not something rigid and immobile, but is continually transforming itself'.

As Fiske (1992) puts it, ‘consent must be constantly won and rewon, for people's material social experience constantly reminds them of the disadvantages of

subordination and thus poses a threat to the dominant class.'

In other words, hegemonic values and the social experience of the subordinate class, means there is an

inevitable site of ideological struggle where people may reject hegemonic values based on their own

experiences of poverty, oppression etc. It is argued that the mass media acts as an ideological

'site of struggle' as the ruling-class rely heavily on consent to maintain their rule. Gramsci recognizes that power needs constant negotiation, and believes that as

long as the dominant class are able to control influential institutions, such as popular media, e.g. magazines, films, news etc the friction is eased.

CRITICISMSGramsci is criticised for how much he emphasises

the ideas of the individuals and how little he extends upon his idea of the impact of the ‘coercion’. His theory fails to regard the

significance of economic factors. For instance, a worker may wish to overthrow Capitalism, but resist a revolution because they

fear repression from the state or losing their jobs. Others may accept hegemony because they feel as

if they cannot change it; not simply because they accept the moral leadership.

Other sociologists using a Marxist framework, stress the role of ideas and consciousness and how important it is for resisting dominance and

changing society.

HEGEMONY IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Record companies control production and distribution of music. They promote

bands/artists that they deem profitable and ‘dump’ unprofitable bands/artists. Because they control production and

distribution, they can exert their hegemonic power over the audience.

A surge in audience exposure to an artist via advertising and marketing,

generally means they will attract a wider audience and generate a higher

profit.

GRAMSCI’S THEORY IN RELEVANT CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE (1)

Throughout the first decade of rock ‘n’ roll, major labels such as Capitol and Atlantic, made sure that white

culture reigned supreme. Such corporations would only allow white men (Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Carl Perkins

etc.) become rich and famous from rock ‘n’ roll. The truly famous celebrities in rock ‘n’ roll were always

white. Some of the most popular household names from this era include Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, the

Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Black artists who chose to progress in this genre, were restricted to the underground. A prime example is

George Clinton’s band Funkadelic, who synthesized a hybrid of soul, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and funk. Their lyrics

were inspired by the radicalism of black politics in Detroit, representing the class wars that the state

aimed to destroy. Funkadelic were therefore completely ignored by the music industry, then banned from the rock ‘n’ roll press

and history books, despite their incredibly influential style of music.

GRAMSCI’S THEORY IN RELEVANT CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE (2)

It was the racial controversy of MTV in the early eighties that sparked a revolution in commercial

black music. Audiences noticed that the first years of MTV were tainted with a completely all-

white playlist. As a result the fans staged a protest, which MTV realized could have

permanently damaged their success, they later introduced Michael Jackson and later Prince.

This demonstrates Gramsci's 'ideological state of struggle' as the body of protestors rejected the hegemonic value that only white males should be able to dominate mainstream music. Their

revolt allowed others to challenge the hegemonic culture, and therefore induce a much needed social change by posing an active threat

to the prosperity of MTV.