Gramsci’s framework for understanding how subaltern groups interpret social reality, often in opposition to dominant narratives, is encapsulated in his concept of “folklore”. This category, arguably including modern conspiracy beliefs, encompasses diverse and often contradictory worldviews, mentalities, practices, and beliefs that emerge from subaltern lived experiences, while being profoundly shaped by hegemonic forces, such as commercial literature, information, and political propaganda. Consequently, elements from the dominant culture are often stripped of their original context and inconsistently inserted into the worldviews of subaltern groups, which are filled with anachronistic elements, thus reinforcing their peripherality from modern political and scientific discourse. Maria Chiara Pozzoni and Giuseppe Quattromini, Genealogy ; Vol. 8, Iss. 4, (2024)
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” —Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of the World Order, 1996, p. 51