The concept of “cultural hegemony” by A. Gramsci in the works of the Frankfurt school (M. Horkheimer, T. Adorno, and H. Marcuse)

The article analyzes the conceptual evolution of Antonio Gramsci’s notion of “cultural hegemony” as interpreted in Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s “Dialectic of Enlightenment” and Herbert Marcuse’s “One-Dimensional Man”. Spanning from Karl Marx’s publication of “Capital” in 1867 to Gramsci’s “Prison Notebooks” written in the 1920s and 1930s, over half a century elapsed. The socio-political panorama of their time, coupled with an analysis of the fragmentation of the workers’ movement alongside a communication revolution, enabled Gramsci to reformulate Marxist doctrine, introducing a new dimension: the level of mass consciousness and the competition among political forces for its control. These insights formed the basis of the works of the Frankfurt School authors. The aim of this study is to uncover the conceptual transformation of ideas concerning mass consciousness and its influence within the framework of neo-Marxist thought. Additionally, it examines critiques of the cultural industry and the power of brands within mass society.