“The French Revolution brought down the monarchy, but the culture of authority did not easily disappear.” French citizens storming the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Work by Jean-Pierre Houël.

A recurring illusion in politics is the belief that winning an election or seizing power will change everything. However, the experience of the past several decades shows that this is not the case. 

Even when regimes change, school education, the media, everyday language, and common sense do not easily shift. The reason is that while a state can be captured, society cannot be transformed overnight.

Even if the state is captured, society remains

Antonio Gramsci did not understand power solely in terms of law and the military. He focused on why people accept certain orders as “the way things are.” He called the state in which people voluntarily reproduce the existing order “hegemony.” This means that social consensus, rather than coercion, is the power that maintains rule.

For a long time, we have focused on elections, policies, and regime changes, while relatively neglecting issues of education, culture, and language. As a result, even as regimes changed, classrooms and culture remained the same. The National Assembly changed, but social common sense did not shift easily.

Max Weber defined the “state” as an organization that holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force. However, the state cannot directly control people's thoughts and emotions. That realm remains with society. Society is moved by custom and repetition rather than law, and schools, families, and the media together create common sense.

Gramsci viewed the continuity of culture as more important than political power. Regimes may change, but culture is accumulated over generations. Therefore, he believed that “wars of maneuver”—such as elections and policies—have their limits, and that “wars of position,” which change education, culture, and language, are necessary.

Even if the state is captured, society remains. This is a call to change our strategy. Political achievements can only be maintained for a long time if the language and cultural foundation that describe society are accumulated first. The true victory is decided in society, not in the state.

Even if revolutions succeed, culture resists

The expectation that society as a whole will change if a revolution or a regime change succeeds has repeatedly failed throughout history. Even if institutions change, mindsets remain the same, and even if those in power are replaced, worldviews are not easily shaken. Gramsci explained this as being due to the different paces of politics and culture.

Politics moves quickly. Governments, laws, and administration can be changed in the short term. However, because culture is accumulated over a long period through schools, families, language, and customs, it does not change easily. The first phenomenon that appears after a revolution is cultural resistance.

The French Revolution dismantled the monarchy, but the culture of authority did not easily disappear. The Russian Revolution also saw the establishment of a new system, but state-centric thinking was maintained. Even new institutions were eventually influenced by the existing culture.

Gramsci viewed culture not as a result of politics, but as the foundation that supports it. If culture does not change, there is a high probability that new institutions will eventually be absorbed into the existing ways over time. That is why he emphasized that cultural work before a revolution is more important than work after it.

Culture does not resist on the streets. It quietly maintains an existing worldview through textbooks, dramas, news, and daily language. That is why it is all the more powerful. The state commands, but culture makes those commands feel like common sense to the people.

We have overestimated politics and underestimated culture. We have spoken of freedom and responsibility but failed to convey them in the language of culture. Explanations alone are not enough to change common sense.

The saying “Even if revolutions succeed, culture resists” is not a statement of resignation, but a strategy. It means that we must prepare culture before politics. Change can only be sustained when we approach it at the pace of culture, not the pace of politics.

Positions are behind the front lines

The biggest mistake in politics is misidentifying the site of the battle. We look only at the front lines, such as elections and regime changes. But the real battle is already decided elsewhere. Gramsci called that space the “position.”

Front lines are clearly visible, but positions are hidden within schools, textbooks, the media, dramas, and everyday language. The front line is where results appear, and the position is where results are created. If you lose your position, you will eventually be pushed back even if you win on the front line.

Gramsci distinguished between wars of maneuver and wars of position. A war of maneuver is the rapid acquisition of power, such as through elections and revolutions, while a war of position is the process of slowly changing common sense and values. He believed that the more developed a civil society is, the more important the war of position becomes.

The state can change laws and institutions, but society only moves through persuasion and learning. Unless people's criteria for judgment change, new policies will not last long.

Positions are formed as textbooks, media, cultural industries, and academia connect with one another. Concepts originating in universities become social common sense through publishing, education, and media. This network creates hegemony.

We have spoken of the values of freedom and responsibility, but we have not put enough effort into accumulating them culturally. Therefore, the moment we explained our policies, we were already fighting at a disadvantage.

Positions are behind the front lines. This means that we must prepare culture before politics. When we accumulate common sense through education, language, and culture, our victories on the front lines can also be sustained. Ultimately, the long-term battle is decided not on the visible front lines, but in the invisible positions.

※ For more detailed information, I recommend the new book by Songsan Jeong Gwang-je, "A Liberal's Reading of Gramsci."

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