Question

according to marx, in an industrialized society, most people become members of the proletariat, or those who sell their labor to a few large companies. a few are among the bourgeoisie, a group of middle - class merchants, accountants, lawyers, and other professionals who sell small consumer products or professional expertise, but their numbers will eventually shrink. marxist theorists today see this process playing out as mechanized production and the vast use of information technology renders many once relatively high - paying jobs obsolete. as the workers and those struggling to find steady work become increasingly numerous and increasingly miserable, they will inevitably bond over a recognition of their common economic condition - what marx calls class consciousness - and will come together to demand change. they will seize the privately held technologies and swiftly and violently act to capture government power. this represents what marxists call the dictatorship of the proletariat, a temporary period when the workers would organize, take control of the state, and engage in the cleanup operations needed to usher in communism. during this period, the proletariat should control all political speech to prevent counterrevolution and work to upend the social relations of production - that is, social norms such as marriage that have been shaped by the capitalist economy. marx believed that the forces of capitalism were well advanced in germany, and he anticipated that german workers would realize his vision for a workers revolution, which in turn would extend to neighboring countries. yet this revolution failed to occur. why? italian marxist antonio gramsci (1891 - 1937) argued that the owners of the means of production weaponize culture against the workers. they manufacture a set of cultural norms through their control of the media, churches, and schools, asserting what gramsci called hegemony, or domination by means of the prevailing culture. hegemonic cultural norms define it as unacceptable to be a revolutionary and acceptable for workers to be content with their lot in life, with their small holdings of private property and the freedoms they enjoy in their private lives, and with the conspicuous entertainments on offer (which are full of rags - to - riches stories that distract them from their oppression and encourage them to view the economic status quo as one of economic opportunity). the hegemonic culture also celebrates patriotism, which creates a false sense that owners and workers are on the same team.

Explanation:

Marx believed capitalist forces would lead workers to revolution. Gramsci thought cultural hegemony by capitalists, like in media and schools, distracted workers from their plight and was a barrier to revolution. In advanced - capitalist Germany, the expected revolution didn't occur as workers were influenced by these cultural norms.

Answer:

The Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci argued that the owners of the means of production weaponize culture against the workers through their control of the media, churches, and schools. He called this cultural domination hegemony. In advanced capitalist Germany, the workers' revolution that Marx expected did not occur because cultural norms defined by capitalists made workers accept the status - quo, distracting them from their oppression and the need for revolution.