Thus Gramsci linked them to wider social relations and class struggles. Many institutional economists and economic sociologists emphasize this nowadays in their studies of the socially embedded, socially regularized nature of the economy. Gramsci clearly anticipated these ideas. Economic Laws and Economic Hegemony Gramsci argues that economic laws are linked to the formation of a specific type of 'homo oeconomicus'. Thus his notes on Americanism and Fordism focus on the struggles to shape the social norms of production and consumption to reinforce the emerging accumulation regime.
Intellectuals have a key role here.
Today this role is mediated through a much expanded range of institutions and organizations, including think tanks, research institutes, business schools, management consultancy, and the business media as well as political parties. Where these forces are successful, an 'historical bloc' will be developed. Gramsci employs the latter concept to address the problematic relationship between the economic 'base' and its politico-ideological 'superstructure'. He asks how 'the complex, contradictory and discordant ensemble of the superstructures is the reflection of the ensemble of the social relations of production'. This reciprocity is realized through specific intellectual, moral, and political practices.