The Common Sense of Hegemony and Habitus. Towards a Theoretical-Conceptual Interaction between Gramsci and Bourdieu

This article presents some conditions of possibility for a broad and deep Gramsci-Bourdieu interconnection, meaning it is an exploration and reconstruction of the affinities that emerge from their respective approaches to the socio-cultural dynamics of their own times. Some of the terms through which it is possible to formulate complementarities will be shown, in particular through the identification of the links that bind the two authors within an integrable perspective on mass society, common sense and practical sense; on the relations between the high/legitimate sphere and the low/dominated/subaltern sphere of culture; and thus, on the articulation between cultural expressions/practices and social stratification. In this regard, it is emphasized how the points of contact between some couples of interpretative categories of each-habitus and doxa, hegemony and common sense, respectively-might detect some paths of interaction. Essentially, by highlighting the commonalities and shared ground of the two conceptual universes, we seek to understand whether it is possible to refer to them in social research; and whether their intertwining can give rise to reformulations and developments of conceptual and epistemological devices, with a view to their use in social theory.