And so it comes, the time to update my blog after months of scarce activity. With the publishing of the Mahon Tribunal’s report into Fianna Fáil corruption, I felt it timely to post up an essay I wrote a few months ago on the use of Gramsci’s concept of hegemony to analyze corruption in the modern capitalist state. Bear in mind Mícheál Martin’s pronouncement of his intention to expel Bertie Ahern and others from the party when reading.
Gramsci’s Hegemony and the Corruption of the Modern Capitalist State
As it is cast as an essential means by which capitalist regimes maintain power, Gramsci’s concept of hegemony can be applied to any action of, or within, the capitalist state – even one such as corruption, which may not be considered desirable by the masters of that state. Indeed, using hegemony as a lens through which to view the practice of corruption in a capitalist state is a powerful tool for anyone studying the phenomenon, particularly from a sociologist’s viewpoint.
In supporting this claim, let us look at the mechanisms and functioning of Gramsci’s hegemony. Gramsci described it as a completely controlling, indeed totalitarian, practice that shapes an entirely new reality (Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1971):
“the realization of a hegemonic apparatus, in so far as it creates a new ideological terrain, determines a reform of consciousness and of methods of knowledge: it is a fact of knowledge, a philosophical fact”.
But of course, this “reality” is merely a percept, a view held by the populace of the state’s actions. Continue reading
