ABSTRACT
The work of Gramsci was chosen as the topic for the symposium because the encyclopedic breadth and uncommon depth of his thought are more unique than rare. His impact on social and political thought, critical theory and literary methodology is profound. Gramsci was an Italian journalist, activist, and social and political theorist whose writings are heavily concerned with the analysis of popular and elite culture and political theory. He is notable as a highly original thinker within the Marxist tradition, especially for his ideas concerning the role of civil society as lynchpin between the economic base and the ideological superstructure of societies. He is also renowned for his theorization of the importance of cultural hegemony as a non-coercive means of maintaining bourgeois dominance in capitalist societies.
