Antonio Gramsci

Antonio Gramsci

ItalianJanuary 22, 1891 – April 27, 1937Philosophy

Italian Marxist theorist whose concept of cultural hegemony—the way ruling classes maintain power through culture and consent rather than force—has been enormously influential in cultural studies and political theory. He wrote the Prison Notebooks while imprisoned by Mussolini. His thought is the foundation of Western Marxism.

Works