Perennial Philosophical Aspects of Gramsci

Gramsci in the World, 2020

Revisiting Gramsci’s <i>Notebooks</i>, 2019

2017

This is a new approach to one of the greatest political theorists, Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks are one of the most popular Marxist texts available and continue to inspire readers across the world. In Using Gramsci, Michele Filippini proposes a new approach based on the analysis of previously ignored concepts in his works, creating a book which stands apart. Including chapters on ideology, the individual, collective organisms, society, crisis and temporality, Using Gramsci offers a new pattern in Gramscian studies aimed to speak to the broader audience of social sciences scholars. The tools that are provided in this book extend the uses of Gramsci beyond the field of political theory and Marxism, while remaining firmly rooted in his writings. Working from the original Italian texts, Filippini also examines the more traditional areas of Gramsci’s thought, including hegemony, organic intellectuals and civil society.

Italica, 1994

This book deals with Gramsci as a critic of the twentieth century. Christopher Norris, the editor of the present series, was the first person to suggest the topic to me, and I would like to thank him here not only for doing so, but also for his unfailing friendship over the years and the many new ideas and ways of seeing he brought into my life. I would also like to thank Janice Price, the editor at Routledge, for her admirable patience. It was a great pleasure working with her. Along the way, while I was working on the project, various friends have been supportive. Volker Gransow and Gregory Vlastos have listened, over lunch or coffee, to fragmented and disjointed minilectures on Gramsci, and they have always, and with kind words, encouraged me. Two very good friends, on the East and West Coasts respectively, have reminded me intermittently, and in no uncertain terms, that I 'should get it done'. Thank you for your advice and friendship, Peter (Carravetta) and Lucia (Birnbaum), which have served me well. Many sections of the book I had the opportunity to present at various conferences, and I would like to thank those friends who invited me to do so. Again, my thanks to Peter Carravetta and Lucia Birnbaum, and also to Anthony Tamburri and Tibor Wlassics. My students at UC-Berkeley in 'The Feminist Challenge to Critical Theory' (Fall 1989) and 'Gramsci, Western Marxism, Gender' (Spring 1990) got to know many of the ideas presented in the book, and their challenging questions, unsettling as some of them seemed at the time, have found their way, I think, in one way or another, into the final version of the project. I would like to thank Melissa Ptacek, Nadia Babella, Winifred Poster, Melissa Gum and Lisa Daniel; and also Liz Goodstein and Mary Foertsch, women whose practical feminisms have meant a lot to me. There are two more very special friends I would like to thank here: Bob Holub and Alexei Holub, both of whom had little choice but to live with me during the ups and downs of completing this project. I would like to thank both of you very much. In particular, I am indebted in many ways to my companion Bob, who listened to me on Gramscian matters on innumerable occasions and helped me with technical and not-so-technical problems alike, and, above all, whose solid knowledge of twentieth-century theory and intellectual history provided an excellent structure to my lifeworld within which it was a pleasure to construct my own version of Gramsci's critical theories. To you, Bob, and to Alexei, a big hug.

Notebooks: the journal for studies on power, 2023

Among the journal's objectives, two are of particular significance to us. The first is to offer a space for encountering and critically reflecting on social and political phenomena by engaging with Antonio Gramsci's analytical categories and method. The second aim is to highlight the importance of the connection between the theory and praxis of political action, recognising that the potential of actualisation in the latter can offer significant developments for Gramscian epistemological frameworks. The epistemological and heuristic potential of Gramsci's method, a knowledge process capable of providing pathways for the interpretation of society, is not invalidated by the transformations of the processes of accumulation that have found new spheres and modes of realisation, and the systems of social stratification that characterise contemporary society, none of which could not have been known to Gramsci. The historical-philosophical framework of his method, including its comparative orientation, makes it particularly fruitful in a wide range of studies. A Gramscian lens offers a unique perspective on interpretations of space and time, since it pursues a chronological development of events together with the identification of processes that can then be transposed to other social contexts or other historical phases. Gramsci's categories are not elaborated in the mere ideal sphere and later dropped into an empirical study; but, rather, they are derived by abstraction from observed historical contingencies. In this process, the categories are reinforced and defined, as shown in Gramsci's writings, in which the continuous process of intellectual elaboration clearly emerges in the light of specific socio-historical experiences. The creative and innovative capacity of the Gramscian method also makes it particularly fruitful in the field of political contestation, social antagonism, and movements. Gramsci's thought is often used as a toolbox to facilitate the

International Gramsci Journal, 2011

This article argues that the writings of Antonio Gramsci should be situated in their rightful social, philosophical, political, in short, 'historical' context. This is particularly true of his prison writing which is a rich resource but one which calls for delicate archaeological handling. It appears that Gramsci's Marxism is unapologetically eclectic but this results in an integrated and surprisingly harmonious theoretical and practical approach to history and society. This can be brought to sharp focus only by close examination of the educational properties of Gramsci's historical environment, the suggestions it makes, the perceptible possibilities it entails, that which blocks or impedes movement and progress, and so on. That is to say, Gramsci was not an abstract thinker. His thinking is grounded in the class war of the Italy of his time and, in turn, this was attuned to the broader struggle against capitalism in and beyond Italy's borders. This is arguably the way Gramsci would prefer to be remembered and indeed the context in which he would perhaps prefer to be utilised today. Reading Gramsci, therefore, requires knowing Gramsci. The problems encountered are an unfortunate consequence of the conditions in which he wrote but they can be overcome if we apply 'Gramsci to Gramsci'.

1891-1937) is revered as one of the key contributors to the Marxist tradition in the 20 th century, along with thinkers as diverse as Louis Althusser, Georg Lukacs and Vladimir Lenin. His contribution entailed a revision of predominant interpretations of Marx's writings during his time, in order to address the flurry of criticisms leveled at Marxist theory (both from within and outside the Marxist tradition). More specifically, Gramsci's ideas can be described as truly political and revolutionary. He sought to formulate a variant of Marxism that would make sense of existing power relations and the political currents within Italian society; at the same time, he advocated a distinct (and extensive) course of action for his country's socialist movements. This essay will attempt to survey Gramsci's ideas by presenting the key tenets of his theoretical project against the backdrop of the Marxist tradition. Two main trends should be identified here. Firstly, Gramsci fundamentally rejects interpretations of Marx which trade on a crude materialism (and economism) -to this end, he accords a greater role to the "superstructure" and emphasizes the importance of culture, civil society, political practice, and social action. Secondly, Gramsci consistently resists mechanistic (or deterministic) readings of Marx's theory of history; instead he stresses the logic of contingency in place of a logic of necessity with regards to social change -this is evidenced in his prescriptions for political (and revolutionary)