António Gramsci

António Gramsci was an Italian thinker and Marxist philosopher who analyzed how societal power is maintained. He introduced the idea of "cultural hegemony," meaning the ruling class maintains control not just through force, but by shaping cultural ideas, values, and beliefs to seem natural and inevitable. This cultural influence helps sustain social inequalities without open conflict. Gramsci emphasized the importance of intellectual and cultural struggle in creating social change and believed that social progress requires building a "counter-hegemony"—alternative ideas and values that challenge the dominant ruling class.