Antonio Gramsci lived the Great War as a "historic break," a profound experience that left an indelible mark on the development of his political thought. Translated into English for the first time, Alternative Modernities reconstructs and analyses this critical period of Gramsci's intellectual formation through a systematic analysis of his writings from 1915 to 1935. For Gramsci, Soviet Communism, "Americanism," and the "new" Fascist State were the principle responses to the crisis of the old world order. He portrayed them as the three protagonists of twentieth-century modernity, alternatives destined to tragically clash in the worldwide struggle for hegemony. Among the arguments in his Prison Notebooks, Gramsci casts doubt on the political strategy of Soviet Communism and the theoretical underpinnings of "official Marxism." Instead, he suggests a radical revision of Marxism by breathing life into a new interpretation whose fundamental concepts are: politics as the struggle for hegemony, the "passive revolution" as a historical paradigm of modernity, and the philosophy of praxis as the welding between visions of the worlds, historical analyses, and political strategies. Gramsci's intuitions culminate in a new theory of the political subject, supported by a reflection upon the 20th century that still speaks to us today, pointing the way toward a new narrative of world history. Giuseppe Vacca is a Professor and the former President of Fondazione Istituto Gramsci, Italy.

Autorentext
Giuseppe Vacca is a Professor and the former President of Fondazione Istituto Gramsci, Italy.

Klappentext
Antonio Gramsci lived the Great War as a historic break, a profound experience that left an indelible mark on the development of his political thought. Translated into English for the first time, Alternative Modernities reconstructs and analyses this critical period of Gramsci's intellectual formation through a systematic analysis of his writings from 1915 to 1935. For Gramsci, Soviet Communism, Americanism, and the new Fascist State were the principle responses to the crisis of the old world order. He portrayed them as the three protagonists of twentieth-century modernity, alternatives destined to tragically clash in the worldwide struggle for hegemony. Among the arguments in his Prison Notebooks, Gramsci casts doubt on the political strategy of Soviet Communism and the theoretical underpinnings of official Marxism. Instead, he suggests a radical revision of Marxism by breathing life into a new interpretation whose fundamental concepts are: politics as the struggle for hegemony, the passive revolution as a historical paradigm of modernity, and the philosophy of praxis as the welding between visions of the worlds, historical analyses, and political strategies. Gramsci's intuitions culminate in a new theory of the political subject, supported by a reflection upon the 20th century that still speaks to us today, pointing the way toward a new narrative of world history.

Giuseppe Vacca is a Professor and the former President of Fondazione Istituto Gramsci, Italy.

Inhalt

Chapter 1 The concept of hegemony****

1. 'Historic Breaks': the Great War and the October Revolution

2. The problem of the revolution in Italy and the 'hegemony of the proletariat'

3. The Essay on the Southern Question: First Draft of a Theory on Intellectuals

4. The origin of the Notebooks

5. Gramsci the theorist of 'revolution in the West'?

6. The concept of hegemony in the Notebooks

7. Interdependence, 'civil hegemony', 'international hegemony'

8. The crisis of the modern state and the remedies: political cosmopolitanism and supranationality

Chapter 2: The nature of passive revolution

1. Developments of the Concept of 'Passive Revolution' 2. Gramsci's Analysis of the History of Italy, from the War to His Arrest

3. Liberal Italy and fascism in the Notebooks.

4. The 'passive revolution' in the international scenario. America, Europe, Soviet Union.

Chapter 3: From Historical Materialismù to the Philosophy of Praxis: **Foundations for a Processual Theory of the Subject** 1. The Turin Factory Council Movement

2. The research programme of the Notebooks

3. A heresy of the religion of liberty' 4. Economism and scientism

5. Socialism as the Process Generating a New Rationality

6. The Constitution of the Political Subject

Chapter 4: Hegemony and Democracy

1. The Legacy of Liberalism

2. Crisis and Critics of Democracy

3. 'The Modern Prince'

4. Europe after Fascism

5. Epilogue Chapter 5: Afterword