The Gramscian Moment: Philosophy, Hegemony and Marxism

Winner of the Premio internazionale Giuseppe Sormani 2011, awarded by the Fondazione Istituto Piemontese Antonio Gramsci in Turin for the best book/article on Gramsci in the period between 2007-2011 internationally.

Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks are today acknowledged as a classic of the human and social sciences in the twentieth century. The influence of his thought in numerous fields of scholarship is only exceeded by the diverse interpretations and readings to which it has been subjected, resulting in often contradictory images of Gramsci. This book draws on the rich recent season of Gramscian philological studies in order to argue that the true significance of Gramsci’s thought exists in its distinctive position in the development of the Marxist tradition. Providing a detailed reconsideration of Gramsci’s theory of the state and concept of philosophy, The Gramscian Moment argues for the urgent necessity of taking up the challenge of developing a “philosophy of praxis” as a vital element in the contemporary revitalisation of Marxism.

Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks are today acknowledged as a classic of the human and social sciences in the twentieth century. The influence of his thought in numerous fields of scholarship is only exceeded by the diverse interpretations and readings to which it has been subjected, resulting in often contradictory images of Gramsci. This book draws on the rich recent season of Gramscian philological studies in order to argue that the true significance of Gramsci's thought exists in its distinctive position in the development of the Marxist tradition. Providing a detailed reconsideration of Gramsci's theory of the state and concept of philosophy, The Gramscian Moment argues for the urgent necessity of taking up the challenge of developing a philosophy of praxis" as a vital element in the contemporary revitalisation of Marxism.

Peter D Thomas is lecturer in the history of political thought at Brunel University. He has previously studied and worked at the Universities of Queensland, Naples, Berlin and Amsterdam. He has published widely on Marxist political theory and philosophy, the history of political thought and the history of philosophy and is an editor of the journal Historical Materialism: research in critical Marxist theory.