PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Marx, Gramsci & Arendt
According to Gramsci, ‘hegemony is primarily based on the organisation of consent. Comment.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
Ri! Marx's missing revolution + Gramsci’'s answer is hegemony ~ rule by organised, manufactured consent, not force alone R2 hegemony = control by cultural means + consent produced, not freely given → “organisation” is the operative word
Body flow
civil society (family / school / church) ~ existing order as common sense -~ intellectuals: traditional (falsely independent) + organic (voice of their class) ~ philosophy for masses ~ bourgeoisie unquestioned → consent also organised by accommodation (subaltern demands absorbed → particular interest as general) ~ Gramsci’s inversion of Marx: belief is the basis of state power, not the reverse ~ Anderson: state as instrument of socialisation, shaping minds
Counter-view
“primarily” not “wholly” + coercion never disappears ~ Gramsci (p. 12): apparatus disciplines those who do not consent ~ force as the armour behind persuasion ~ consent itself uneven — Jackson (p. 570): “contradictory consciousness” — approbation /apathy, resistance/resignation
Conclusion routes
Conclusion rR! rule rests first on organised consent (civil society + intellectuals) + force held in reserve routes R2 consent primary because organised into common sense → coercion the backstop, not the foundation
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
