Two Words, One Answer.
gramsci
 Prison Notebooks, Volume 1 $60.00 Beware! These writings are the fruits of a genius. That being said, they are virtually impossible to understand. They are not cohesive in any sense of the word an offer no linear insight to tell the reader a story. They do however offer a great deal of insight into Gramsci's thoughts about virtually every topic--from people he met, the thinkers of his days, plays and poetry to the heart of his thoughts, politics. His work on hegemony, whenever it appears is brilliant and should be given apt time to study. This is not for the casual reader. You need to have some background with his thought and the period in which he was writing. For those serious scholars, this is a must have. Otherwise, I would recommend reading the collected works. In the edited volumes you have a more cohesive story presented. You do not get this here.  Gramsci is Dead: Anarchist Currents in the Newest Social Movements $41.00 This book can be read as an extended literature review, a sociological account of radical social movements, or a valorization of non-hegemonic politics. It is a refreshing break from poststructuralist authors who are unable to communicate in language that can be understood without a PhD. This book can be read by activists and academics alike. One of Day's aims is to highlight the problematic orientation towards hegemony within social and political thought and social movements. His critique is nuanced, leaving room for considerations of and orientations towards hegemony, while opening up a whole new field of possibilities. It is not so much that Gramsci is dead, but that he is forced off center stage by a different form of politics. Day's argument isn't simply a critique of hegemonically-oriented forms, but rather a celebration of what he calls 'the newest social movements' which operate outside the logic of hegemony. Day's appropriation of post-structuralism, anarchism, postanarchism, postmarxism and other theories are both insightful and clear.  Unravelling Gramsci: Hegemony and Passive Revolution in the Global Economy $30.00 Unravelling Gramsci makes extensive use of Antonio Gramsci”Ēs writings, including his much-overlooked pre-prison journalism, prison letters, as well as his prison notebooks, to provide a fresh approach to understanding his contemporary relevance in the current neoliberal world order. Adam Morton examines in detail the themes of hegemony, passive revolution and uneven development to provide a useful way of analysing the contemporary global political economy, the project of neoliberalism, processes of state formation, and practices of resistance. The book explores the theoretical and practical limitations of how Gramsci”Ēs ideas can be used today, offering a broad insight into state formation and the international factors shaping hegemony within a capitalist framework.  Antonio Gramsci (Routledge Critical Thinkers) $23.95 An introduction to the work, key ideas and influence of Gramsci, Italian Marxist theorist and political activist. Gramsci was a long term prisoner of the Mussolini regime, hence his most famous writings have been those penned in his cell, including the "Prison Notebooks" and the "Prison Letters." Gramsci's ideas about the the relationships between the rulers and the ruled, about domination, resistance and transgression, have been extremely influential in cultural studies and cultural theory. He is perhaps best-known for formulating the concept of "hegemony" which describes the process whereby the ruling power wins the consent of the ruled to the status quo, and hence to fit their subordination , and their ways of understanding the world with the interests of the ruling power. Gramsci's ideas were much employed during the grim years of Thatcherism, as critics on the left (notably Stuart Hall) struggled to find ways to explain the fact that the working classes kept voting for Thatcher, even though it was apparently against their interests to do so. Gramsci's thought also offers hope in that challenges or transgressions to hegemonic ideas or structures can be found even in the most outwardly conservative of narratives. Popular culture has often been cited as a key battleground, on which struggles for meaning and power take place - for example debates about whether Eminem is a "good thing" - because he speaks for the disenfranchised white working-class American, and argues against racial boundaries in music - or a bad thing because of his homophobic and misogynistic lyrics. Steven Jones' book will explain the contemporary relevance of Gramsci's ideas, notably about hegemony, through recent texts, phenomena and events such as the death of Diana, "La haine," the Global spread of McDonalds and anti-globalization tracts including Naomi Klein's "No Logo." |
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