Hegemony and Political Parties

The aspect of the Gramsci article that seemed most relevant to me was the last section: “Observations on Certain Aspects of Political Parties in Periods of Organic Crisis.” It brought the theoretical analysis the connections between hegemony and class to a realistic level. Gramsci writes, “parties come into existence, and constitute themselves as organizations, in order to influence the situation at moments which are historically vital for their class; but they are not always capable of adapting themselves to new tasks and to new epochs, nor of evolving pari passu with the overall relations of force (and hence the relative position of their class) in the country of question.” (219)

By absolutely no means do I claim myself to be well versed in British politics, but on reading this quotation, it brought to my Prime Minister Thatcher and the miners’ strike in the mid-1980s. The Conservative Party was well established when PM Thatcher entered office, but she found that past party leadership had failed in making the changes necessary for what she believed to be a better Britain. One of her most ardent desires was to squelch the growing power of the labor unions. The miners’ strike was there attempt to show their collective organization and power. After a year, the workers acquiesced without any gains. While PM Thatcher was ultimately successful against the miners, it seems to be a symbol of class groups attempting to make change, one way or the other. Thatcher, an Oxford-educated lawyer, felt that the unions were gaining too much power and worked to fight them. She was a successful Prime Minister in terms of years in office, but was it a bad taste in the collective mouth of Britain that kept New Labour in 10 Downing Street from 1997-2010?

In addition, as we were speaking how elements of comedy can come out of class conflict, I find it interesting that several British comedians often find material in PM Thatcher’s conflict with the miners. An example: “Stephen Fry: Four to seven hours . . You'll live a lot longer than if you have eight hours every night. People who have eight hours or more live shorter lives. Jimmy Carr: Yeah, but if you only sleep four hours a night, it can lead to dismantling the welfare state. Stephen Fry: Margaret Thatcher is a famous example, and very well put, of someone who didn't get that much sleep. Jimmy Carr: Yeah, no wonder really, what she did to the miners!” (QI, Series D, Episode 1, "Danger") It is a moment of national unity when people across classes can laugh at their past.