Gramsci and the struggle of ideas

Gramsci made important contributions regarding the role of the struggle of ideas in formulating strategy and tactics for the conquest of power. Analyzing the difference between the tactics adopted in Tsarist Russia and in the more developed capitalist countries, he wrote: "The determination, which in Russia was direct and launched the masses into the streets for revolutionary assault, becomes more complicated in Central and Western Europe due to all these political superstructures created by the greater development of capitalism; it makes the action of the masses slower and more cautious and, therefore, requires from the revolutionary party a much more complex and far-reaching strategy and tactics than those that were necessary for the Bolsheviks in the period between March and November 1917."

Gramsci further emphasized that in more developed capitalist societies, "battles must initially be fought within civil society, aiming at political-ideological leadership and the achievement of consensus," and that "within civil society, classes seek to exercise hegemony, that is, they seek to gain allies for their positions of political-intellectual leadership and consensus." And, for this, the ideological struggle, the struggle of ideas, plays a decisive role.

This viewpoint stems from an analysis of the roles of coercion and cohesion as mechanisms of political domination in countries at different stages of capitalist development. In any political system, power utilizes both mechanisms. However, coercion is the determining factor where liberal democracy does not exist, where civil society organizations, responsible for ideological dissemination, are weak.

In countries where the rules of the liberal democratic state have been implemented, cohesion prevails over coercion. This is because civil society is strong and relies on parties, parliament, churches, professional organizations, unions, media, and scientific and artistic institutions to ensure the ideological and cultural hegemony of the dominant classes.

In capitalism, with political freedom, civil society is more organized and the state has better mechanisms for defense. The dominant classes have political and ideological hegemony, which hinders the revolutionary process. Hence the problems faced by revolution in the most developed capitalist countries.

So much so that Marx considered that the socialist revolution would first emerge in the most developed countries where there was a strong working class. However, in these countries the states were more shielded against revolutionary movements and, for this very reason, the revolution took place in the country where the link of imperialist domination was weakest, Tsarist Russia.

Under the conditions of neoliberal globalization, this situation has become more complex. The crisis of the capitalist system has led to structural changes in the system, with the predominance of financial capital, dominated by the United States.

The state has been captured by the financial system, and popular sovereignty, which was already limited, has been further weakened, especially in Latin American countries. The Constitution and laws have been disregarded. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches are subjugated to the interests of the system.

Both international and national media, along with social networks, have come to play a highly relevant role in the construction of conservative hegemony. This is true both for the consolidation of governments that support neoliberal policies and for the destabilization of governments that seek to implement a national project focused on development, social justice, and the affirmation of national sovereignty. Under these conditions, the conquest of hegemony by progressive sectors of society has become more complex.

Neoliberalism replaced the violence of military coups with institutional coups where ideological and cultural hegemony, the struggle of ideas, became important elements in the preparation and consolidation of the coup.

Cuban agent Raúl Antonio Capote Fernandez, who infiltrated the CIA for 10 years, stated that the Americans unleashed a culture war, a struggle in the realm of ideas, upon realizing that the leadership of the left in Latin American universities was one of the causes of the emergence of progressive governments in the region. As a result of this realization, a plan was put into practice aimed at constructing conservative and right-wing thought in universities and among intellectuals.

Following the guidelines of the so-called "soft coup," which establishes five steps for an institutional coup, the struggle of ideas was carried out in the preparatory phase of the parliamentary coup in Brazil. It centered on the fight against the state, the defense of free enterprise and private property, the encouragement of individualism, and the combat against progressive ideas, social struggles, and communism. This ideological offensive was accompanied by a process of depoliticization of society through the fight against parties, politics, and politicians. To this end, courses were held in the United States and Brazil, dissemination bodies were created, and institutions were organized to spread neoliberal and right-wing ideas.

This offensive was combined with political mobilization through the fight against corruption in defense of a false ethic. These two factors allowed for the construction of the hegemony of conservative thought in broad segments of Brazilian society, guaranteeing the necessary support for the parliamentary coup.

Despite struggles on several fronts, popular mobilizations have been limited. Faced with the attack on rights historically won by workers, the category did not mobilize widely against the imposition of the anti-labor reform. Society practically did not mobilize when the authorization for the Supreme Federal Court to judge the illegitimate Temer government for corruption was being voted on. Among the youth and intellectuals, the strength of the right has grown alarmingly.

This situation, combined with the discrediting of politics, has generated a climate of distrust among the masses, leading to a certain passivity despite the seriousness of the measures adopted by the illegitimate and corrupt Temer government.

The achievement of a new political hegemony for the left, capable of reversing this situation, is linked to the reconstruction of progressive thought in society, through the struggle of ideas around themes such as the defense of the democratic state, a factor of balance in the economy and social relations; the defense of values ​​dear to the left, such as solidarity and the fight against social injustices; the defense of individual and social ethics; the fight against individualism; and the fight against hatred, discrimination, and violence.

The importance of emphasizing the role of the struggle of ideas in the current stage of the political struggle in the country is linked to the underestimation, by the left, of this front. And this disregard contributed to facilitating the parliamentary coup. The excessive concern with the electoral process and presence in the state apparatus weakened the social struggle and sidelined the struggle of ideas and the politicization of society.

The greater efficiency of the struggle of ideas necessitates the creation of means to propagate it. In the period prior to the military coup, there were important initiatives in the cultural and artistic field that played a prominent role in the struggle of ideas. The UNE (National Union of Students) had the Popular Culture Center, the Recife city hall had the Popular Culture Movement, the Natal city hall had the "You can learn to read with your feet on the ground" movement, the Catholic Church had the Basic Education Movement, and the Ministry of Education developed adult literacy programs using the Paulo Freire method. Through this method, not only literacy was taught, but also the causes of exploitation and hunger.

For all these reasons, the resumption of a new political hegemony through the mobilization of the masses around a new project for the country also involves a struggle of ideas. It involves the deconstruction of conservative and right-wing values ​​and ideas and the affirmation of progressive values ​​and ideas.