Reading Gramscian Politics

Abstract

The political and social theory of Antonio Gramsci has had a significant influence among critical scholars in the social sciences.¹ Yet, perhaps more than the work of other theorists, Gramscian analysis is not self-evident and requires interpretation and exegesis: most significantly, Gramsci’s greatest contributions to theory were written in prison, under the gaze of censors, circumstances under which he developed a number of euphemisms and codes for political figures and events. Compounding this, however, is the fact that Gramsci’s prison notebooks have become available to scholars only gradually, being published in a somewhat piecemeal manner, particularly in translation, making the task of interpretation more challenging.² These issues notwithstanding, Gramsci has often been subjected to partial readings that flatten his political theory to (a typically oversimplified understanding of) his conception of hegemony.