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Gramsci and Democracy
Introduction
Esteve Morera, Department of Political Science. York University, North York, Ontario
M3J IP3
Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique, XXIII:I (March/mars
1990). Printed in Canada / Imprime au Canada
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24 ESTEVE MORERA
is merely to offer
prison work that are
did not make explici
and political theor
The Pedagogical Re
In a well-known pa
is a philosopher, al
in the slightest ma
there is contained
existence of a philo
as language, taste a
consensus, much less for progressive political activity. That is,
Gramsci's conception of hegemony, or of moral and intellectual leader-
ship, is not to be reduced to a liberal view of the consensual basis of the
state; for Gramsci, the meaning of consensus is not to be found in the
apparent willingness of an individual to accept certain views and to
engage in certain activities, but rather in the conditions for that
willingness to be present.
The problem of the creation of a new hegemony is that of
elaborating a critical and self-conscious conception of the world and
thus confronting the prevalent world view, " 'mechanically' imposed by
the external environment."6 This critical distance, however, is not
easily gained; it necessitates a process of learning and, inevitably, it
brings into focus the question of the control over this process, of the
relation between intellectuals and the masses. From the point of view of
liberal democracy, of course, there is no problem; at least it is not one in
real terms given the emphasis on free speech and the availability of
information, although little concern is shown for the ideological basis of
the existing information. For non-liberal democrats, in particular for
socialists, there are two ways of approaching this problem: one may
attempt to illuminate the masses or, according to the alternative
suggested by Gramsci, engage the masses in a process of critical
development that will result in a more coherent, deeper, and realist
conception of the world. The first alternative requires the existence of
organizations and a cadre of intellectuals whose role it is to educate, to
5 Antonio Gramsci, Qiaderni del Carcere, ed. by Valentino Gerratana, 3 vols. (Turin:
Einaudi Editore, 1975), Vol. 2, 1375. For an English translation, see Antonio
Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, trans. and ed. by Quintin Hoare and
Geoffrey Nowell Smith (New York: International Publishers, 1971), 323. In
subsequent references to the Quaderni the corresponding page references in this
English translation will be given in parentheses.
6 Ibid., 1375-76 (323).
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Abstract. In the Quaderni del Carcere, Antonio Gramsci provided the foundations for a
socialist theory of democracy. This theory can be drawn from some of Gramsci's most
important concepts: his views of intellectual activity on the one hand, and the conceptions
of hegemony and civil society on the other. The former provides a general conception
of a non-bureaucratic relationship between leaders and the led, the latter points to a
participatory model of political activity. This thesis, however, is formulated within the
framework of a realist epistemology in which the class structure is conceived as the
long-term determinant of the general historical process. Hence, although Gramsci's
thought sheds new light on a non-class domain of political activity, it is constrained by both
socio-economic conditions and the realism of available knowledge.
Resume. Dans les Quaderni del Carcere, Antonio Gramsci apporte, fondement, pour
une theorie socialiste de la democratie. Cette theorie peut se deduire de certains concepts
les plus importants de Gramsci: celui, d'une part, de l'activite intellectuelle, et, de l'autre,
ceux de l'hegemonie et de la societe civile. Le premier offre une conception generale des
rapports non-bureaucratiques entre les dirigeants et la base; les derniers prefigurent un
modele de participation h l'activite politique. Cette these pourtant se formule dans le cadre
d'une epistemologie realiste dans laquelle la structure de classes est consideree comme
determinant a long terme le processus historique general. Par consequent, bien que la
pensee de Gramsci jette une lumiere nouvelle sur un domaine d'activite politique sans
caractere de classe, ce domaine est circonscrit a la fois par les conditions socio-
economiques, et le realisme des donnees disponibles.
impart the truth to the masses. This leads easily to elitism and to the
familiar situation where the so-called truth does not matter at all; it is not
regarded as relevant by anyone except the few converted intellectuals.
The second alternative engages both masses and intellectuals in a
process of learning.
According to Gramsci, if the relations between intellectuals and
masses are not to be, as they would be in the first alternative, "relations
of purely bureaucratic order" in which intellectuals become a "caste or
a priesthood," there must be the possibility of a dialogue; that is, the
masses must contribute significantly to the elaboration of a new world
view. "The popular element 'feels' but does not always understand or
know." In contrast, "the intellectual element 'knows' but does not
always understand or in particular 'feel.'" Separated, these two
extremes are blind passion and sectarianism, on the one hand, or
pedantry and philistinism, on the other. It is only by bringing these two
elements together, that is, by realizing that one cannot know without
understanding and especially without feeling, that the elaboration of a
coherent, critical, and above all relevant world view is possible.7
Introducing science into the life of people from the outside often
leads to scepticism, sectarianism and, what is worse, tragedy. Charles
Mills, for instance, has attempted to show that part of the failure of the
New Jewel Movement in Grenada was due to this ill-conceived attempt
to introduce science from above without any regard for the local
specificities, or for the "feelings" of the people who were supposed to
learn a foreign science. As a member of the party put it, "[f]rom my own
7 Ibid., 1505 (418).
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26 ESTEVE MORERA
Gramsci's points m
conception of the w
beliefs, culture and m
the depths of histor
equipped to articulate
masses "dialectical
responsibility to fa
hegemony. They wi
history.
In conclusion, on the vital question of the elaboration of a socialist
conception of the world, Gramsci calls for active and equal participation
of the masses and clearly dismisses any elitist model of intellectual
work. For these reasons he contends that
[t]he position of the philosophy of praxis is the antithesis of the Catholic: the
philosophy of praxis does not tend to maintain the "simple" in their primitive
philosophy of common sense, but instead to lead them to a superior conception
of life. If it affirms the need for contact between intellectuals and the simple it is
not to limit scientific activity and to maintain unity at the low level of the masses,
but precisely to build an intellectual-moral bloc which can make politically
possible an intellectual progress of the masses and not only of small groups of
intellectuals."
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Gramsci and Democracy 27
13 Cain, for instance, has argued that Gramsci's historicismn "transcends the distinction
between absolutism and relativism" with the consequence, which she thinks to be a
sound position, that the "verifying claims of reason" are rejected, for, "if there is no
absolute knowledge there can be no truth." In short, "Gramsci regards correct
knowledge as historically specific and class specific." See Maureen Cain, "Gramsci,
the State and the Place of Law," in David Sugarman (ed.), Legality, Ideology and the
State (London: Academic Press, 1983), 105. In spite of some seemingly corroborating
statements in the Quaderni, this is not Gramsci's epistemology, though it is an
extremely popular interpretation of his prison work, one that is mainly based on
simplistic assumptions and careless reading of his prison work.
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28 ESTEVE MORERA
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Gramsci and Democracy 29
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30 ESTEVE MORERA
analysis of hegemony,
class continues to play
There are, nevertheles
that depend on his con
must be made fully exp
completeness. Since i
Gramsci's conception o
notion of class will be
As a first approxim
interesting to note tha
Thompson has perhaps
Class, he writes, is "a h
observation of the soc
object to which "class"
time, in a single slice o
long-term process, n
Although at any given p
just as the motion of
nevertheless present as
process must develop. A
presence and long-term
remind us of the gre
movement of tectonic p
and contributes to the cr
forms, but does not di
each of them. Similarly
determine every single
asserts that over the l
historical development
The relations among
mechanism of history
productive forces, exp
although it does not ex
insofar as it "may vary
individual situation."
depends not only on th
the complexity of civil
ability of the leading
Gramsci's theory is a
21 E. P. Thompsom, "Eight
Classes?" Social History 3
22 Fernand Braudel, Ecrits
23 Joseph Femia, Gramsci'
Revolutionary Process (Oxfo
original.
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Gramsci and Democracy 31
24 Sassoon has argued that Gramsci "emphasized the unity between transformations in
the economy and the rest of society. This unity was conceived in terms not of a
reduction of different levels to changes in the economy, but rather in terms of the need
to pose the possibility of a transformation of society within the context of the potential
given by changes in the organization of production." See Anne Showstack Sassoon,
"Gramsci: A New Concept of Politics and the Expansion of Democracy," in Alan
Hunt (ed.), Marxism and Democracy (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1980), 85;
emphasis in the original.
25 Gramsci, Quaderni, Vol. 2, 859-60, and Vol. 3, 1615-16 (235).
26 Gerald Caplan, "Soul-searching Begins on NDP Political Role," The Sunday Star
(Toronto), December 11, 1988.
27 Jules Lobel, 'The New Nicaraguan Constitution: Uniting Participatory and
Representative Democracy," Monthi, Reviewi 38 (1987), 11-12.
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32 ESTEVE MORERA
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Gramsci and Democracy 33
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34 ESTEVE MORERA
centrality of classes
evidence, not the immediate sort of empirical evidence based on
short-term developments, can validate this principle. At any point in
time the immediate evidence of the role of classes may be lacking and
other forms of political activity may be more evident and more
important. The question is whether this mere conjuncture of political
forces is sufficient evidence for the kind of conclusions reached by
Laclau and others.
To illustrate further Gramsci's conception of the participation o
various groups in a historical movement for social transformation, som
remarks on sex and gender relations may prove valuable. Gramsci di
not write extensively on this issue, nor are his statements on it
particularly enlightening. However, they shed some oblique light on ou
concerns.
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Gramsci and Democracy 35
Conclusion
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36 ESTEVE MORERA
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Gramsci and Democracy 37
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