Gramsci's Political Thought

Coutinho (political theory, U. Federal do Rio d Janeiro) investigates Antonio Gramsci's thoughts on class politics and modern political philosophy, focusing on key texts and moments in his life. He proceeds chronologically with Gramsci's formative years gaining perspective in Sardinia on class struggle, neo-Hegelianism, and the Second International. Coutinho then examines Gramsci's experience writing about and organizing with workers' councils in the early 1920s and the development of his concept of hegemony in the mid-20s. The center-piece of the book is a chapter on Gramsci's Prison Notebooks, which Coutinho consider a key set of texts in the development of Gramsci's thought and method, and Marxism in general. Later chapters turn more broadly to Gramsci's theory of the state, socialist strategy in the West, the political party as "collective intellectual," and Gramsci's legacy among Italian and Greek radicals. Three appendixes continue discussions about Gramsci's thoughts about democracy in relation to Hegel and Rousseau, the neoliberal-age as a passive revolution, and applying Gramsci's analytical categories to political developments in Brazil. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Carlos Nelson Coutinho is Professor Emeritus of Political Theory at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. He is the author of several books on political theory, such as: Marxismo e politica (Sao Paulo, Cortez, 2008; Santiago de Chile, Lom Ediciones, 2011) and De Rousseau a Gramsci (Sao Paulo, Boitempo, 2011). Professor Coutinho is editor of the Brazilian version of The Complete Works of Antonio Gramsci (Obras de Antonio Gramsci), published in ten volumes (1999-2004).