Antonio Gramsci's articles of "History of the Subaltern Classes," "The Concept of Ideology," and "Cultural Themes: Ideological Material" all deal with some aspect of culture. In his first article, he mentions how subaltern classes are subaltern because they, unlike the ruling class, "are not unified." Gramsci goes on to say that the history, or rather misfortune, of subaltern classes is due to several aspects of both their own doings and occurrences they have no control over. For example, the first attribute of a subaltern class that Gramsci lists is the fact that their economic production, or lack thereof, gives way to their socioeconomic status. Their low socioeconomic status disallows them from being a ruling class, which in turn makes them succumb to the "mentality, ideology, and aims" of the ruling class. Gramsci goes on to mention five other attributes of a subaltern class, but also mentions that within subaltern groups, at least one will always "tend to exercise a certain hegemony." The subaltern groups that choose to begin to practice hegemony do so by studying their counterparts. They observe first and foremost the ruling class, but they also study their fellow subaltern groups and learn how to exude leadership and power (two attributes that their fellow subaltern groups do not have). Leadership and power, according to Gramsci, are the two main ingredients to achieve a ruling class status.
In his second article, Gramsci discusses how ideology has been misinterpreted for centuries--ranging from being an "aspect of 'sensationalism'" to being a "specific 'system of ideas.'" He claims that there are two different types of ideologies: "historically organic ideologies" and arbitrary ideologies. He explains that ideologies are the center of a person's life. Ideologies have psychological effects that determine what a person does or doesn't do during his or her lifetime. In his third article, Gramsci mentions that a dominant class maintains their ideologies fresh in the minds and lives of the subaltern classes mainly through the press. He goes on to say that the press is not the only source through which the dominant class gains more power, but anything that is "able to influence public opinion," such as learning institutions and associations/clubs of any sort, are also sources through which the dominant class keeps their ideologies intact in society.
