Gramsci’s war of position replaces zero-sum war of manoeuvre in cultural politics

Evidence

But it does not help simply to name-call it “the same.” That name-calling merely reflects the particular model of cultural politics to which we remain attached, precisely, the zero-sum game—our model replacing their model, our identities in place of their identities—what Antonio Gramsci called culture as a once-and-for-all “war of manoeuvre,” when, in fact, the only game in town worth playing is the game of cultural “wars of position.” — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 277

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the core Gramscian distinction between ‘war of manoeuvre’ (zero-sum replacement of one hegemony by another) and ‘war of position’ (slow, continuous contestation within the cultural field) that the Islamophobia toolkit needs.
• XREF: This is the scaffolding pivot connecting Gramsci’s hegemony concept to the ‘common sense’ arguments that downstream Islamophobia readings deploy; also resonates with Laclau and Mouffe’s radical democracy position.