La guerra dei chierici

Il ruolo degli intellettuali e la questione dell'egemonia

Abstract

The essay aims to raise the question of intellectuals regarding the issue of hegemony. In a world wracked by geopolitical tensions and delivered to a struggle between empires for economic, political, and military supremacy, intellectuals seem to have lost the ability to influence global affairs. Beginning with the concept of cultural hegemony, it will be shown how this lemma initially means the union of violence, power, prestige and the struggle for life. It will then examine the role of culture and its potential in terms of hegemony in two authors who have questioned the role of intellectuals: Julien Benda and Antonio Gramsci. It will then move on to an analysis of the transformation of the intellectual class in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century to show whether and how intellectuals contribute to the political and economic development of contemporary empires. Following some of Zygmunt Bauman’s considerations, some possible responses to the multifaceted question of intellectuals in the new millennium will be outlined. A constant point of reference will be some geopolitical reflections based on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.