The Gramscian moment : philosophy, hegemony and Marxism

505 Pages·2009·6.159 MB·English

by  Gramsci, Antonio, Thomas, Peter D

The Gramscian Moment
Historical
Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
Paul Blackledge, Leeds – Sébastien Budgen, Paris
Michael Krätke, Lancaster – Stathis Kouvelakis,
London – Marcel van der Linden, Amsterdam
China Miéville, London – Paul Reynolds, Lancashire
Peter Thomas, Amsterdam
VOLUME24
The Gramscian Moment
Philosophy, Hegemony and Marxism
By
Peter D. Thomas
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2009
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Thomas,PeterD.
TheGramscianmoment:philosophy,hegemony,andMarxism/byPeterD.Thomas.
p.cm.–(Historicalmaterialismbookseries;v.24)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-16771-1(hardback:alk.paper)
1.Marxistcriticism.2.Historicalmaterialism.3.Gramsci,Antonio,1891-1937.I.Title.II.
Series.
HX72.T462009
335.43092–dc22
2009017891
ISSN 1570-1522
ISBN 9789004167711
Copyright2009byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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Contents
ANoteontheText........................................................... xiii
Acknowledgements ......................................................... xv
Preface ....................................................................... xvii
ChapterOne TheMomentofReading‘Capital’............................ 1
1.1. ‘IcanonlythinkofGramsci ...’ ...................................... 1
1.2. Reading‘Capital’initsmoment........................................ 7
1.3. ‘ThelastgreattheoreticaldebateofMarxism’ ....................... 8
1.3.1.Althusserianism................................................... 9
1.3.2.Gramscianism..................................................... 11
1.4. Marxistphilosophy.................................................... 12
1.4.1.‘Anewphilosophyofpraxis’..................................... 15
1.4.2.‘Anewpracticeofphilosophy’................................... 17
1.4.3.Marxismandphilosophy......................................... 18
1.5. TheAlthusserianandGramscianmoments.......................... 24
1.5.1.Gramsci’sorganicconcepts....................................... 26
1.5.2.Anenduringencounter........................................... 31
1.5.3.Marxistphilosophytoday ........................................ 35
1.6. Philosophy,hegemonyandthestate:‘metaphysicalevent’and
‘philosophicalfact’ ...................................................... 37
ChapterTwo AntinomiesofAntonioGramsci? .......................... 41
2.1. Incompletionandreconstruction ..................................... 41
2.2. Atheoreticaltoolbox? ................................................. 45
2.3. ‘AntinomiesofAntonioGramsci’ .................................... 47
2.4. 1+1=3.................................................................. 50
2.5. Detoursviadetours ................................................... 52
viii • Contents
2.6. Theemergenceofhegemony ......................................... 56
2.7. ... anditsdeformation................................................ 58
2.8. ThreeversionsofhegemonyintheWest ............................. 62
2.9. Politicalsociety+civilsociety=state ................................ 68
2.10. ShadowsofCroce ..................................................... 72
2.11. EastandWest,pastandpresent ...................................... 73
2.12. Antinomiesoftheunitedfront........................................ 75
2.13. ThespectreofKautsky................................................ 78
2.14. Alabyrinthwithinalabyrinth?....................................... 80
ChapterThree ‘ARiddleWrappedinaMysteryinsideanEnigma’?
OntheLiteraryFormofthePrisonNotebooks ............................ 85
3.1. Tracesofthepast ...................................................... 87
3.1.1.Anarbitraryandmechanicalhypostatisationofthemomentof
hegemony ......................................................... 89
3.1.2.Astrategyofdetours.............................................. 91
3.1.3.State,integralstate,politicalsociety ............................. 93
3.1.4.Baseandsuperstructure,superstructuresandideologies....... 95
3.2. Codelanguage......................................................... 102
3.2.1.AhelmetofHades? ............................................... 104
3.2.2.From‘m.’tothe‘philosophyofpraxis’ .......................... 105
3.3. Hieroglyphs ........................................................... 109
3.3.1.‘Fürewig’ .......................................................... 110
3.3.2.Threephasesofwork ............................................. 113
3.3.2.1.Firstphase................................................. 113
3.3.2.2.Secondphase.............................................. 114
3.3.2.3.Thirdphase................................................ 115
3.4. Incompletion:aworkinprogress..................................... 116
3.4.1.Fragmentaryphilology ........................................... 117
3.4.2.Ananti-philosophicalnovel...................................... 120
3.5. Anunfinisheddialogue............................................... 123
3.5.1.Theeducationoftheeducator.................................... 124
3.5.2.Necessaryincompletion .......................................... 126
3.6. AnAriadne’sthread................................................... 127
3.6.1.Preliminaryphilology............................................. 128
3.6.2.Differentialtemporalities ......................................... 129
3.6.3.Amodernclassic.................................................. 130
Contents • ix
ChapterFour ContrathePassiveRevolution.............................. 133
4.1. The‘integralstate’..................................................... 137
4.2. Thelongnineteenthcentury.......................................... 141
4.3. Thebirthofcivilsociety............................................... 143
4.4. Passiverevolution..................................................... 145
4.5. Warofposition ........................................................ 148
4.6. ‘Warofposition’versus‘warofmovement’ ......................... 149
4.7. Twophasesofpassiverevolution..................................... 150
4.8. Durationversushistoricalepoch ..................................... 152
4.9. Crisisofauthority ..................................................... 153
4.10. Modernityaspassiverevolution? .................................... 155
ChapterFive CivilandPoliticalHegemony .............................. 159
5.1. Consentversuscoercion .............................................. 161
5.1.1.‘Politicalleadershipbecomesanaspectofdomination’......... 162
5.1.2.The‘dualperspective’ ............................................ 165
5.2. Civilsocietyversusthestate.......................................... 167
5.2.1.Superstructural‘levels’ ........................................... 170
5.2.2.‘Theconceptofcivilsocietyasusedinthesenotes...’ .......... 173
5.2.3.Thestateasthe‘truth’ofcivilsociety............................ 175
5.2.4.The‘particularity’oftheintegralstate ........................... 180
5.2.5.Civilsocietyasthe‘secret’ofthestate ........................... 182
5.2.6.Politicalsocietysivethestate? .................................... 186
5.2.7.Attributesoftheintegralstate.................................... 190
5.2.8.The‘location’ofhegemony....................................... 194
ChapterSix ‘TheRealisationofHegemony’ .............................. 197
6.1. WestversusEast....................................................... 198
6.1.1.Predominanceasweakness....................................... 199
6.1.2.The‘underdeveloped’West ...................................... 200
6.1.3.TheabsentcentreoftheWest..................................... 201
6.1.4.AntinomiesofEastandWest..................................... 203
6.1.5.Theinternationalcapitaliststate-form ........................... 213
6.1.6.Differentialtemporalitiesofthestate ............................ 217