Saad
April 17, 2022: PrSF Isb-Rwp organized a study circle on “Introducing Gramsci” to enlighten the minds of attendees with ideas of one of the most important thinkers of 20th century, Antonio Gramsci. Speakers included education secretary PrSF Isb-Rwp, Shah Rukn e Alam, PrSF member Mehtab Rajput and Asad Juttah. Speakers explained the theories of Antonio Gramsci like “Cultural Hegemony”, “War of Position” and how they can help the oppressed fight against the oppressor.
Shah Rukn e Alam, the education secretary PrSF, gave the brief introduction how, before Gramsci, the base for the revolution was considered to be the economy and how a party could bring revolution in an industrialized country. Gramsci shifted the focus towards the politics and ideas. Gramsci revealed that how the state controls the lower class without using the threat of violence. Through non state factors they create a hegemony i.e. consent. Nowadays, what ISPR is doing through its drama serials is an example of an attempt to build such a hegemony. This is how they mold the thinking of the masses.
Gramsci gives a counter to this weapon which is “War of Position” a direct opposite to “War of Maneuver”. He tells how organic thinkers from subaltern can take over and influence institutions like media or educational institutions and counter the oppressing class propaganda. This counters the possibility of people embracing fascism, and a politics of hate during revolutionary instances, because of their common sense which is already polluted by the state hegemony.
Mehtab Rajput explained the way in our hegemony is created and perpetuated, in our country through civil society while the political societies continue to exploit the masses. Educational institutions directly teach state narrative that, since, state protects them from external enemy thus they are not supposed to even talk against it, an open propaganda. Another example is one nation theory which eliminates diversity and puts all nations in one block. Gramsci said we can fight their hegemony with our ideas and bringing different entities that are individually countering hegemony, together.
Asad Juttah focused on the language which is a part of cultural hegemony. He explained how in 1850, British imposed Urdu as official language in British Administrative Units of Punjab. That was their way to spread their ideas through a language by oppressing other languages of the region. The inferiority complex is the result of this cultural hegemony. Gramsci tells how to connect people with a language which itself is a whole being and not just a bunch of grammatical rules. The importance of language can be known through Fall of Dhaka which started on the issue of language.
