"In and against the state" : Gramsci, war of position, and adult education

Abstract

This paper focuses on the way a state-funded university, as an important institution of civil society, consolidates existing hegemonic arrangements and, at the same time, offers spaces wherein these arrangements can be contested. Using ethnographic data culled from structured and semi-structured interviews as well as other appropriate documentation, the author highlights some of the challenges and contradictions of a university-based workers' education institute advocating for social change "in and against the state." The key concept from Gramsci that reverberates throughout the essay is that of "war of position."