Philosophy
Gramsci's Cultural Hegemony and the Role of Intellectuals
Quick fact
Gramsci wrote his theory of cultural hegemony from a fascist prison cell in the 1920s and 30s, arguing that a group's power often rests more on 'common sense' ideas than on force; he famously noted that the state's power is 'hegemony armored by coercion.'
Why this is interesting
Why do people often accept social and political orders that seem to work against their own interests? What if the most powerful weapon of a state isn't its army, but its ideas?