{"id":10758,"date":"2026-04-16T21:31:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/?p=10758"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:01:59","slug":"antonio-gramsci-and-the-praxis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/?p=10758","title":{"rendered":"Antonio Gramsci and the Praxis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>To understand the &#8220;Philosophy of Praxis&#8221; and its application to modern digital media, we have to look at how Gramsci&#8217;s theories evolved from abstract philosophy into a manual for cultural change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. The Philosophy of Praxis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gramsci used the term &#8220;Philosophy of Praxis&#8221; partly to get his writings past prison censors, but it also represents a sophisticated evolution of Marxism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Beyond Economic Determinism:<\/strong> He rejected the idea that capitalism would simply collapse on its own due to economic laws. Instead, he argued that human willpower, ideas, and organization (<strong>praxis<\/strong>) are the &#8220;engines&#8221; of history.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unity of Theory and Action:<\/strong> Praxis is the point where theory meets practice. It\u2019s the idea that understanding the world is inseparable from changing it. For an Associate Professor or a student, this means education isn&#8217;t just about absorbing facts, but about developing the critical tools to challenge &#8220;common sense.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Digital Media: The New &#8220;Trench&#8221; of Civil Society<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 20th century, Gramsci focused on newspapers and unions. In 2026, the &#8220;War of Position&#8221; has shifted to the digital landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Algorithmic Hegemony:<\/strong> Today, algorithms often act as the &#8220;organic intellectuals&#8221; of the ruling class. They curate what we see, often reinforcing the status quo or &#8220;common sense&#8221; by creating echo chambers that make existing social structures feel natural.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Digital War of Position:<\/strong> Social media platforms are the new &#8220;earthworks and ditches.&#8221; While they can be used for state surveillance (Political Society), they are primarily spaces of Civil Society where ideas are debated.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Counter-Hegemony Online:<\/strong> We see &#8220;Organic Intellectuals&#8221; in the form of independent creators, activists, and digital scholars who use these same platforms to challenge dominant narratives. A viral thread or a well-cited video essay can be a modern &#8220;War of Position&#8221; tactic, slowly shifting the cultural needle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Comparison: Classic vs. Digital Civil Society<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Feature<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Classic Civil Society (Gramsci&#8217;s Era)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Digital Civil Society (Modern Era)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Primary Medium<\/strong><\/td><td>Print, Pulpit, and Podium<\/td><td>Platforms, Algorithms, and Apps<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Intellectuals<\/strong><\/td><td>Professors, Clergy, Journalists<\/td><td>Creators, Influencers, Data Scientists<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Site of Struggle<\/strong><\/td><td>Physical meetings, Town halls<\/td><td>Social feeds, Comment sections, Forums<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Speed of Consent<\/strong><\/td><td>Slow, generational socialization<\/td><td>Rapid, real-time &#8220;trending&#8221; consensus<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.&#8221; \u2014 <strong>Antonio Gramsci<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In the context of your work in Political Science, do you see the current digital shift in India as a decentralization of power, or simply a more efficient way for the &#8220;state&#8221; to manufacture consent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To understand the &#8220;Philosophy of Praxis&#8221; and its application to modern digital media, we have to look at how Gramsci&#8217;s theories evolved from abstract philosophy into a manual for cultural change. 1. The Philosophy of Praxis Gramsci used the term &#8220;Philosophy of Praxis&#8221; partly to get his writings past prison censors, but it also represents&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[103,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-science-2","category-western-political-thought"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10758"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10760,"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10758\/revisions\/10760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drtktopecollege.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}