Antonio Gramsci
| Antonio Gramsci | |
|---|---|
|
Antonio Gramsci in 1922
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| Identity | |
| Lifespan | 1891–1937 |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Epistemic Position | |
| Tradition | Western Marxism |
| Methodology | Historical materialism, critical theory |
| Fields | Philosophy, Political theory, Cultural studies |
| Conceptual Payload | |
| Core Concepts | |
| Associated Concepts | Ideology, Discourse, State apparatus, Interpellation, Symbolic order |
| Key Works | Prison Notebooks, The Modern Prince, Notes on Philosophy, History and Politics |
| Theoretical Cluster | Ideology, Subjectivity, Politics |
| Psychoanalytic Relation | |
| Gramsci’s theorization of hegemony, ideology, and the formation of subjectivity provided a structural framework for psychoanalytic accounts of the social unconscious, especially in Lacanian theory. His analysis of civil society and cultural mediation influenced the psychoanalytic understanding of how symbolic structures shape desire, identity, and social reproduction. | |
| To Lacan | Lacan’s theory of the Symbolic and the function of the Name-of-the-Father structurally echo Gramsci’s account of hegemony and the mediation of subjectivity through language and institutions. |
| To Freud | Gramsci’s analysis of ideology and unconscious consent parallels Freud’s insights into the unconscious determinants of belief and identification, though Gramsci did not engage Freud directly. |
| Referenced By | |
| Lineage | |
| Influences | |
| Influenced | |
Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, political theorist, and journalist whose concepts of hegemony, ideology, and the formation of subjectivity have had a foundational impact on psychoanalytic theory, especially in the Lacanian tradition and its post-structuralist extensions. Gramsci’s analysis of how cultural and linguistic structures mediate social power and identity provided a crucial framework for understanding the unconscious dimensions of ideology, subject formation, and the symbolic order in psychoanalysis.
Intellectual Context and Biography
Early Formation
Gramsci was born in Sardinia and educated at the University of Turin, where he was influenced by Italian idealism, Marxism, and the revolutionary ferment of early twentieth-century Europe. His intellectual formation was shaped by engagement with the works of Karl Marx, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Italian thinkers such as Benedetto Croce. Gramsci’s early writings reflect a concern with the relationship between culture, language, and social transformation.[1]
Major Turning Points
Gramsci’s political activism as a founding member of the Italian Communist Party and his subsequent imprisonment by the Fascist regime marked a decisive turn in his intellectual trajectory. During his incarceration, Gramsci composed the Prison Notebooks, in which he developed his most influential concepts, including hegemony, civil society, and the role of intellectuals in social change.[2]
Core Concepts
Hegemony
Gramsci’s concept of hegemony refers to the process by which a dominant social group secures the consent of subordinate groups through cultural, ideological, and institutional means, rather than by force alone. Hegemony operates through the everyday practices and beliefs that constitute “common sense,” shaping the unconscious assumptions of social subjects.[3]
Civil Society
For Gramsci, civil society encompasses the institutions, associations, and cultural practices that mediate between the state and the economy. Civil society is the terrain on which hegemony is constructed and contested, and it plays a central role in the formation of subjectivity and the reproduction of ideology.[4]
Organic Intellectuals
Gramsci distinguished between “traditional” and “organic” intellectuals. Organic intellectuals are those who emerge from and articulate the interests of specific social classes, playing a key role in the formation and transformation of collective consciousness.[5]
War of Position and Passive Revolution
The war of position describes the slow, strategic struggle for hegemony within civil society, as opposed to a direct “war of maneuver” against the state. Passive revolution refers to processes of social change that are initiated from above and incorporate elements of popular demands without fundamentally transforming power relations.[6]
Relation to Psychoanalysis
Gramsci’s influence on psychoanalysis is primarily structural and mediated, rather than direct. While Gramsci did not engage Freud’s work systematically, his theorization of ideology, consent, and the formation of subjectivity provided a framework that was later appropriated and transformed by psychoanalytic theorists.[7]
Structural Parallels with Freud
Gramsci’s analysis of how ideology operates through unconscious consent and “common sense” resonates with Freud’s account of the unconscious determinants of belief, identification, and social conformity. Both thinkers emphasize the non-rational, affective dimensions of subject formation.[8]
Mediation through Althusser and French Theory
The most significant mediation of Gramsci’s influence on psychoanalysis occurred through Louis Althusser, who drew on Gramsci’s concepts of ideology and hegemony to theorize the Ideological State Apparatuses and the process of interpellation. Althusser’s work, in turn, was a major reference for Jacques Lacan and his followers, who reinterpreted the formation of the subject in terms of the Symbolic order and the function of the Name-of-the-Father.[7]
Structural Influence on Lacan
Lacan’s account of the Symbolic as the order of language, law, and social mediation structurally echoes Gramsci’s analysis of hegemony and the role of civil society in shaping subjectivity. Both theorists emphasize the constitutive role of language and symbolic structures in the formation of the subject.[9]
Transmission through Post-Structuralism and Cultural Theory
Gramsci’s concepts were further transmitted into psychoanalytic theory via the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, who combined Gramscian and Lacanian frameworks to theorize discourse, subjectivity, and political identity. Julia Kristeva and Slavoj Žižek also drew on Gramsci’s insights in their psychoanalytic and cultural analyses.[10]
Reception in Psychoanalytic Theory
Gramsci’s influence on psychoanalysis is most evident in the work of theorists who sought to articulate the relationship between ideology, language, and subjectivity. Louis Althusser’s theory of interpellation explicitly acknowledges Gramsci’s account of hegemony as a model for understanding how individuals are constituted as subjects through ideological apparatuses.[7]
Jacques Lacan’s seminars, while rarely citing Gramsci directly, develop a parallel account of how the Symbolic order—as the domain of language, law, and social norms—structures the unconscious and mediates desire. Slavoj Žižek has foregrounded Gramsci’s relevance for psychoanalysis, arguing that the concept of hegemony provides a necessary supplement to Freudian and Lacanian accounts of the unconscious by situating subjectivity within the dynamics of social power and ideological struggle.[11]
In post-Lacanian and cultural theory, Gramsci’s concepts have been central to debates about the relationship between psychoanalysis, politics, and the construction of identity. Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s “discourse theory” explicitly integrates Gramscian and Lacanian insights, while Julia Kristeva’s work on language and the semiotic draws on both traditions.
Key Works
- Prison Notebooks (1929–1935): Gramsci’s magnum opus, composed during his imprisonment, in which he develops his theories of hegemony, civil society, and the role of intellectuals. The Notebooks are foundational for later psychoanalytic accounts of ideology and subject formation.
- The Modern Prince: A set of reflections on political leadership, strategy, and the transformation of social relations, with implications for the psychoanalytic understanding of authority and identification.
- Notes on Philosophy, History and Politics: Essays that elaborate Gramsci’s critique of positivism and his theory of praxis, relevant to psychoanalytic debates on the relation between theory and practice.
Influence and Legacy
Gramsci’s legacy in psychoanalysis is primarily structural and conceptual. His theorization of hegemony and the mediation of subjectivity by cultural and linguistic institutions provided a framework for understanding the unconscious dimensions of ideology, identification, and social reproduction. Through the mediation of Althusser, Lacan, and post-structuralist theorists, Gramsci’s concepts have become central to debates on the formation of the subject, the function of the symbolic, and the politics of desire.
Beyond psychoanalysis, Gramsci’s influence extends to cultural studies, critical theory, anthropology, and political philosophy. His work continues to inform contemporary analyses of power, discourse, and the construction of social reality.
See also
References
- ↑ Forgacs, David (ed.), The Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings 1916–1935. New York: NYU Press.
- ↑ Hoare, Quintin and Nowell Smith, Geoffrey (eds.), Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
- ↑ Laclau, Ernesto and Mouffe, Chantal, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. London: Verso.
- ↑ Buttigieg, Joseph A., Gramsci on Civil Society. Boundary 2, Vol. 22, No. 3 (1995).
- ↑ Gramsci, Antonio, Selections from Cultural Writings. Harvard University Press.
- ↑ Thomas, Peter D., The Gramscian Moment: Philosophy, Hegemony and Marxism. Brill.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Althusser, Louis, Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. London: New Left Books.
- ↑ Crehan, Kate, Gramsci, Culture and Anthropology. University of California Press.
- ↑ Žižek, Slavoj, The Sublime Object of Ideology. London: Verso.
- ↑ Laclau, Ernesto, New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time. London: Verso.
- ↑ Žižek, Slavoj, Mapping Ideology. London: Verso.