The Long
Insurgency

Dossier

Civil society

Reader glossary: Gramsci’s use

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Chronology

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Overview

Meaning and example

For Gramsci, civil society includes groups and social ties that shape beliefs and loyalties. His examples included the Church, trade unions, and schools. He set this work of building consent apart from the government’s use of force. But both could help sustain the same social order. A private group could still serve those who ruled.[4]

Illustration: A church may teach duties toward authority, while a union may teach workers to act together. Each can shape how people understand their place in society. They need not teach the same outlook.

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