QUESTIONS ON ANTONIO GRAMSCI, SELECTIONS FROM THE PRISON NOTEBOOKS

1. Since Gramsci wrote his notebooks in prison, he had to use code language to deceive the guards. What were the code words for some of his key concepts?
2. Outline Gramsci's philosophy of praxis. What were its main three cultural moments? How did Gramsci view Marxism as a cultural phenomenon?
3. Force and consent were two of Gamsci's central concepts. What order of priority did he establish between them? What role did they play in his overall theory?
4. What were his main conceptions of the state, and what relations did they have with his concept of civil society?
5. Hegemony is perhaps one of the concepts for which Gramsci is most famous. Although much of the secondary literature has reduced the meaning of hegemony to cultural regulation, Gramsci had a much more complex notion of this concept. Try to find the different dimensions of hegemony that Gramsci discussed in different contexts. If you look hard enough, you will find up to 14 different dimensions of this concept in Gramsci's writings.
6. How did Gramsci conceive of intellectuals, or more precisely, the activity and social relations of intellectuals. What role did consent and force play in his conception? What are the differences between traditional and organic intellectuals.
7. What is the significance and implications of the distinctions Gramsci drew between 'war of position' and 'war of maneuver'. What role do these concepts play in his general theory of politics?
8. Gramsci devised the concept of 'passive revolution' to explain the persistence of ruling classes, the stability of capitalism (even under crises), and the lack of a proletarian revolution. What different dimensions does this concept have in Gramsci's writings?
9. In contrast to Europe, what significance did fordism and americanism have in Gramsci's vision of the United States? What general characteristics of capitalism did he foresee in fordism and taylorism in the United States?
10. According to Gramsci, how was sexuality regulated as part of the hegemony of American capitalism? What similarities did this bear to the regulation of alcoholism? How were excessive sexual practice and alcoholism the bane of fordism and taylorism?

© Copyright. All rights reserved. Carl Cuneo, Dept. of Sociology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.