Introduction
Antonio Gramsci's 'philosophy of praxis' marked a decisive break from orthodox Marxist economic determinism by asserting the relative autonomy of the ideological and political superstructure. Rejecting the vulgar materialist view of culture as a mere passive reflection of the economic base, Gramsci identified civil society—the realm of voluntary associations, education, media, and religion—as both the fortress of capitalist legitimation and the indispensable terrain of subaltern political praxis.
Civil Society as a Site of Domination: Manufacturing Hegemony
In Gramscian political theory, ruling classes maintain power not merely through coercive political society (the police, military, and legal courts), but primarily through consensual leadership established within civil society.
- The Western State and Its Fortresses: Gramsci contrasted the Eastern State (e.g., Tsarist Russia), where civil society was primordial and the state was everything, with the advanced Western State, where a robust civil society shields the state. Here, the formal state is merely an outer ditch, protected behind a resilient trench network of private institutions such as schools, churches, trade bodies, and mass media.
- Cultural Hegemony: The ruling class exercises moral and intellectual leadership by universalising its specific worldview. Subordinate classes internalise bourgeois values as natural, inevitable, and universally beneficial rather than historically contingent and exploitative.
- Common Sense (Senso Comune): Domination is entrenched by shaping popular 'common sense'—an uncritical, contradictory, and fragmented aggregate of received ideas, folklore, and cultural norms that pacifies subaltern groups and discourages systemic critique.
Civil Society as a Site of Subaltern Resistance: Counter-Hegemony
Because hegemony is grounded in consent rather than total physical subjugation, civil society is also uniquely vulnerable to ideological rupture, making it the primary site for subaltern emancipation.
- Organic Intellectuals: Gramsci rejected the notion that intellectuals constitute a detached, class-neutral caste (traditional intellectuals). Instead, subaltern groups must develop their own 'organic intellectuals'—thinkers, leaders, and organisers directly embedded in their material reality who provide theoretical coherence, identity, and political self-awareness to subordinate classes.
- From Common Sense to Good Sense: Through political education and critical cultural engagement, organic intellectuals transform the subaltern's fragmented 'common sense' into 'good sense' (senso buono)—a rigorous, coherent, and class-conscious philosophy capable of identifying structural oppression.
- The Historic Bloc (Blocco Storico): Subaltern emancipation requires building an expansive counter-hegemonic coalition. The historic bloc fuses progressive economic strata with an alternative ideological superstructure, uniting diverse subaltern groups into a cohesive political force.
War of Position: Cultural and Institutional Trench Warfare
Gramsci argued that modern revolutions in societies with a dense civil society cannot rely on a sudden frontal assault on state power (a 'War of Maneuver'). Instead, subaltern forces must wage a protracted 'War of Position' across cultural, educational, and institutional frontiers.
- Ideological Reclamation: Subaltern resistance advances by gradually capturing and repurposing civil institutions, creating counter-narratives, and establishing alternative cultural spaces.
- Contemporary Illustration: The Indian Farmers' Movement (2020–21) exemplified a modern War of Position. Agrarian subalterns leveraged grassroots community leadership, independent community media platforms such as the Trolley Times, and sustained peaceful encampments to deconstruct dominant neoliberal agricultural narratives and build widespread societal consensus.
Conclusion
Gramsci radically redefined Marxist praxis by relocating the fulcrum of revolutionary transformation from pure economic crisis to cultural and institutional struggle. Civil society is not a neutral civic arena, but an active ideological battleground where ruling hegemonies are manufactured and where subaltern counter-hegemonies must systematically prevail before enduring state transformation can be achieved.