This is an excerpt from Critical Terrorism Studies: A Dictionary by Lee Jarvis and Alice Martini. Available in all good book stores, and via free download from E-International Relations.

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Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) was an Italian Marxist journalist and theorist famous for his concept of hegemony, which he developed while imprisoned by the Mussolini regime. Unlike traditional Marxist perspectives with their emphasis on economic structures as the primary force of domination, Gramsci argued that power is maintained through consent as well as coercion. He introduced the idea of hegemony, in which a ruling class secures its dominance by shaping societal values, norms, and beliefs in ways that make its rule appear natural, inevitable, or even desirable. Power, approached thus, is reproduced via cultural narratives and practices that are circulated through influential and authoritative social institutions such as education systems, the media, and religion. The worldviews that these institutions reproduce – and the class privilege they maintain – help to reinforce ruling-class ideology, and prevent alternative ideas from gaining traction. Gramsci’s work has had a powerful impact on a wide range of fields including International Relations and International Political Economy.

For Critical Terrorism Studies, Gramsci’s theory of hegemony highlights how dominant security discourses are constructed, normalised, and legitimised. Counterterrorism policies, for example, often reflect hegemonic........

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