The Formation of Intellectuals in Society: Insights from Gramsci
Gramsci: The Formation of Intellectuals
~ following the argument
What are intellectuals? How are they
created?
•
Generally, people who use their intellect/specialized education to produce ideas/knowledge that go into
developing/maintaining the systems of production of a society
each social group/class (formed/defined by
their specific role in production system)
forms its own intellectuals
History reveals two processes of formation
intellectuals by themselves a distinct social
group
These are the two chief processes of many. Gramsci notes their
simultaneity
and
dynamic interactions
.
The processes
•
Each group/class producing its own intellectuals
who work to create the group’s economic,
social, political, cultural identities (
found
prominently in bourgeois capitalist societies
)
•
E.g. capitalist entrepreneurs produce their own
intellectuals (technician, scientist, politician,
cultural ideologue) who help run their
enterprise – often the entrepreneur performs
several intellectual functions singly
•
Creation of class-specific intellectuals is
necessitated by development and expansion of
class-activity: as production systems increase in
volume and complexity, division of labor
becomes inevitable, and some divisions require
specific intellectual activity.
•
A class of intellectuals remaining continually in
all societies – ‘traditional intellectuals’ – always
already existing when a new group/class is
producing its own intellectuals (
born and
dominant in feudal societies, but existing in
bourgeois societies too
)
•
E.g. the ‘ecclesiastics’ – church intellectuals who
monopolized idea/knowledge in feudal and pre-
feudal societies. They shared power/wealth
with feudal lords/kings, and only at the end of
the feudal age clashed against feudal rulers who
promoted a secular intelligentsia to combat the
ecclesiastics
•
Gramsci points out: - their continual presence in
history makes them autonomous, blind to
change, and idealistic (aligning with the Fascists
in Gramsci’s Italy)
The processes together
•
Happening simultaneously in recent history, they make up a symbiotic model of
the superstructure of ideas
•
maintains traditional intellectuals
•
imposition of ideas
•
History
•
new ideas altering/expanding
•
tradition
•
creates class & class-specific intellectuals
The intellectual in feudal societies
•
In feudal and pre-feudal societies, formation of the intelligentsia was
otherwise. Feudal lords (like entrepreneurs in a capitalist bourgeois
system) enshrined several intellectual roles within themselves to singly
control/determine/develop the production system, leaving almost no
intellectual space for the peasantry. So, in feudal societies, the peasant
class did not form its own intellectuals but supplied its members to
become intellectuals of higher social groups – i.e. officials/intellectual
instruments of production systems run by feudal lords.
•
Gramsci notes that such formations involved complex processes different
from those mentioned above, and are to be studied in detail elsewhere.
the ‘traditional’ intellectual
•
Derived from the ‘ecclesiastics’ and continuing through
history in all social forms,
He denies/ignores : the primacy of matter over idea
change in the superstructure of ideas
emergence of new idea/class
materialistic view of history
Believes he is: autonomous (with their ideas)
above politico-economic change
•
Gramsci’s example
of the traditional/idealistic intellectual
is
Benedetto Croce
What/who is an intellectual?
Intellectual elaboration
Muscular-nervous effort
An equilibrium
a production
system
p
Economic classes
generated from such
production system
Directs with
new technical
knowledge
‘traditional’ vs ‘emerging’ intellectuals
•
Traditional intellectuals worked
through ‘eloquence’ -
created/impressed ideas via feelings
and passions
•
Monopolized literacy/culture
•
Monopolized the superstructure
•
Believed in autonomy/absolutism of
their ideas
•
Favored static social order
•
Ignored change in the material world
•
Sided with politically dominant
group/class
•
Comprised of philosophers, artists,
religious ideologues
•
Static and prescriptive
•
Emerging/new intellectuals work
through specific technical knowledge
– inputs of scientific knowledge to
modify production
•
Expand/democratize range of
intellectuals
•
Radically change/enlarge the
superstructure
•
Bring about continual change
•
Culture the world of matter for new
knowledge
•
Leads/forges new classes to
dominance
•
Comprises of scientists, technicians,
entrepreneurs
•
Dynamic and “directive”
Expand/consolidate through education
New/emerging intelligentsia,
after the middle ages, have
spread, disseminating new
knowledge through a
hierarchy of schools
Result: industrial
progress
Transition from feudal to bourgeois
societies marked by emphasis on, and
greater engagement with intellectual
activity
Assimilation & Growth
Old/traditional intellectuals
merge with the new as the
new represent power –
derived from production
system altered by them
This assimilation is
brought about by spread
of new ideas through
elaborate education
system
Education resulting in industrial
growth
Industrial growth is index of
international politico-economic
dominance
However…………..
Bourgeois capitalist systems fail to
produce employment for all they
educate
Thus, creates unemployed mass
Education: not so democratic as it
seems
Contradictions within the intelligentsia
All classes of intellectuals
contribute ideas to the
superstructure: often such ideas
contradict and modify each other.
Thus, multiple levels of
contradiction within the
superstructure are created.
It is
through this complex of
contradictions that new
idea/knowledge is applied to the
production system
Dialectics within the superstructure
hegemony
Dominance through contradiction of ideas can be
classed into:
Two ways of dominance
State power (political society)
•
Consolidation of ideas into
wings/organizations of the state –
legislature, judiciary, executive
•
Applied directly and normatively
•
Used only when highly needed
•
Ensured by imposition upon the
people
•
Works in the public sphere
Hegemony (civil society)
•
Ideas freely moving and contradicting
in discursive spaces in civil society
•
Applied indirectly and formatively
•
Used continually as a regulatory
process
•
Ensured by acquiescence of the
people out of awe for dominant class
•
Works in the private sphere
Together, their exercise constitutes the division of labour for the intellectual
Sub-strata within ‘dominant’
intellectuals
In the modern world………….
Hegemony and the separation of
powers
contradiction
Old
ideas
New
ideas
How did such separation come about?
CROCE says:
•
Result of conflict between
Church (civil society) and
State
•
Separation happened in a
feudal structure
GRAMSCI says:
•
Result of conflict between
old ideas of political society
and new ideas of civil
society
•
Civil society is secular, and
Church now is assimilated
into State
•
Bourgeois liberalism created
this separation
•
Separation happened in a
bourgeois structure
Separation: strengths and weaknesses
strengths
•
Ensures democracy
•
Being separately exercised,
powers involve greater
number of people –
therefore greater
hegemonic control
weaknesses
•
The three powers –
legislature, judiciary,
executive – develop their
own bureaucracies, who
create dogmatic ideologies
•
Creates organized state
power to exercise on civil
society
Positioning of the powers
Civil society
Legislature (Parliament)
Executive (Government)
Judiciary
Receive
laws
from
Applies
upon
Relative independence of judiciary makes
people’s faith stronger in it.
Intellectuals are individuals who utilize their intellect and specialized education to generate ideas and knowledge essential for the functioning of societal production systems. Gramsci delves into how different social groups or classes form their own intellectuals, highlighting processes, historical contexts, and the dynamic interactions involved. The creation of class-specific intellectuals is crucial for the advancement and complexity of production systems, with examples from feudal, bourgeois, and capitalist societies elucidating the nuances of intellectual formations.
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Presentation Transcript
Gramsci: The Formation of Intellectuals ~ following the argument
What are intellectuals? How are they created? Generally, people who use their intellect/specialized education to produce ideas/knowledge that go into developing/maintaining the systems of production of a society each social group/class (formed/defined by their specific role in production system) forms its own intellectuals History reveals two processes of formation intellectuals by themselves a distinct social group These are the two chief processes of many. Gramsci notes their simultaneity and dynamic interactions.
The processes Each group/class producing its own intellectuals who work to create the group s economic, social, political, cultural identities (found prominently in bourgeois capitalist societies) A class of intellectuals remaining continually in all societies traditional intellectuals always already existing when a new group/class is producing its own intellectuals (born and dominant in feudal societies, but existing in bourgeois societies too) E.g. capitalist entrepreneurs produce their own intellectuals (technician, scientist, politician, cultural ideologue) who help run their enterprise often the entrepreneur performs several intellectual functions singly E.g. the ecclesiastics church intellectuals who monopolized idea/knowledge in feudal and pre- feudal societies. They shared power/wealth with feudal lords/kings, and only at the end of the feudal age clashed against feudal rulers who promoted a secular intelligentsia to combat the ecclesiastics Creation of class-specific intellectuals is necessitated by development and expansion of class-activity: as production systems increase in volume and complexity, division of labor becomes inevitable, and some divisions require specific intellectual activity. Gramsci points out: - their continual presence in history makes them autonomous, blind to change, and idealistic (aligning with the Fascists in Gramsci s Italy)
The processes together Happening simultaneously in recent history, they make up a symbiotic model of the superstructure of ideas maintains traditional intellectuals imposition of ideas History new ideas altering/expanding tradition creates class & class-specific intellectuals
The intellectual in feudal societies In feudal and pre-feudal societies, formation of the intelligentsia was otherwise. Feudal lords (like entrepreneurs in a capitalist bourgeois system) enshrined several intellectual roles within themselves to singly control/determine/develop the production system, leaving almost no intellectual space for the peasantry. So, in feudal societies, the peasant class did not form its own intellectuals but supplied its members to become intellectuals of higher social groups i.e. officials/intellectual instruments of production systems run by feudal lords. Gramsci notes that such formations involved complex processes different from those mentioned above, and are to be studied in detail elsewhere.
the traditional intellectual Derived from the ecclesiastics and continuing through history in all social forms, He denies/ignores : the primacy of matter over idea change in the superstructure of ideas emergence of new idea/class materialistic view of history Believes he is: autonomous (with their ideas) above politico-economic change Gramsci s example of the traditional/idealistic intellectual is Benedetto Croce
What/who is an intellectual? Opposing the tendency of the traditional intellectual to deny the intellectuality of the working classes, Gramsci questions: what is an intellectual? His answer: all men are intellectuals, since all and any action involves/requires application of intellect. Thus there cannot be a non-intellectual person. When we talk of intellectuals, we should think of all people who professionally employ intellectual elaboration (thought) and/or muscular-nervous effort (action). The combination of thought and action varies with individuals, and so varies the degree of intellectual activity. In each society, at a given point in time: a production system p Intellectual elaboration Directs with new technical knowledge An equilibrium Economic classes generated from such production system Muscular-nervous effort
traditional vs emerging intellectuals Traditional intellectuals worked through eloquence - created/impressed ideas via feelings and passions Monopolized literacy/culture Monopolized the superstructure Believed in autonomy/absolutism of their ideas Favored static social order Ignored change in the material world Sided with politically dominant group/class Comprised of philosophers, artists, religious ideologues Static and prescriptive Emerging/new intellectuals work through specific technical knowledge inputs of scientific knowledge to modify production Expand/democratize range of intellectuals Radically change/enlarge the superstructure Bring about continual change Culture the world of matter for new knowledge Leads/forges new classes to dominance Comprises of scientists, technicians, entrepreneurs Dynamic and directive
Expand/consolidate through education New/emerging intelligentsia, after the middle ages, have spread, disseminating new knowledge through a hierarchy of schools Transition from feudal to bourgeois societies marked by emphasis on, and greater engagement with intellectual activity Specialized intellectuals (scientists, technicians) Higher/technical education Result: industrial progress Basic education for maximum population
Assimilation & Growth Old/traditional intellectuals merge with the new as the new represent power derived from production system altered by them Education resulting in industrial growth State producing higher machines New intellectuals State producing efficient machines Dominant intellectuals of the new order State producing specialized intellectuals Traditional intellectuals State with widespread education system This assimilation is brought about by spread of new ideas through elaborate education system Industrial growth is index of international politico-economic dominance
However.. Education: not so democratic as it seems Bourgeois capitalist systems fail to produce employment for all they educate intellectuals Creamy layer employed Specialized but unemployed Traditional/old Specialized/new Given basic education and unemployed Rural bourgeois (from agricultural south) Urban bourgeois (from industrial north) Thus, creates unemployed mass
Contradictions within the intelligentsia All classes of intellectuals contribute ideas to the superstructure: often such ideas contradict and modify each other. Thus, multiple levels of contradiction within the superstructure are created. It is through this complex of contradictions that new idea/knowledge is applied to the production system New intellectuals superstructure Officials/bureaucrats Scientists/technicians Traditional intellectuals
Dialectics within the superstructure Dominance through contradiction of ideas can be classed into: Direct dominance of ideas that make up state machinery Political society/state Works through law, army, government policy superstructure Indirect dominance by intellectuals of dominant class Civil society hegemony
Two ways of dominance State power (political society) Hegemony (civil society) Consolidation of ideas into wings/organizations of the state legislature, judiciary, executive Applied directly and normatively Used only when highly needed Ensured by imposition upon the people Works in the public sphere Ideas freely moving and contradicting in discursive spaces in civil society Applied indirectly and formatively Used continually as a regulatory process Ensured by acquiescence of the people out of awe for dominant class Works in the private sphere Together, their exercise constitutes the division of labour for the intellectual
Sub-strata within dominant intellectuals Uppermost layer of intellectuals Entrepreneurs/scientists/technicians: the innovators whose innovations contradict already accumulated ideas New ideas happen Middle layer: bureaucracy & the traditionals Their task: to elaborate/explicate/spread/contradict They are elaborated Lower layers: who receive ideas mediated by contradiction they carry out received ideas but also contradict They are applied
In the modern world. Democratic government Dominant class Their deputy intellectuals(some of these do not contribute to production; hence unproductive workers) Legislature & administration judiciary assimilated intellectuals & the masses Ruled by political society Space for ideological contradiction Ruled by civil society
Hegemony and the separation of powers New ideas Old ideas Political society contradiction Civil society Judiciary Legislature Executive Separation of powers (of the dominant class)
How did such separation come about? CROCE says: Result of conflict between Church (civil society) and State Separation happened in a feudal structure GRAMSCI says: Result of conflict between old ideas of political society and new ideas of civil society Civil society is secular, and Church now is assimilated into State Bourgeois liberalism created this separation Separation happened in a bourgeois structure
Separation: strengths and weaknesses strengths Ensures democracy Being separately exercised, powers involve greater number of people therefore greater hegemonic control weaknesses The three powers legislature, judiciary, executive develop their own bureaucracies, who create dogmatic ideologies Creates organized state power to exercise on civil society
Positioning of the powers Judiciary Relative independence of judiciary makes people s faith stronger in it. Executive (Government) Legislature (Parliament) Civil society
