John Schwarzmantel - The Routledge Guidebook to Gramscis Prison Notebooks

Routledge Guides to the Great Books

The Routledge Guidebook to Gramscis Prison Notebooks

Gramscis Prison Notebooks are one of the most important and original sources of modern political philosophy, but they present great difficulties to the reader. Not originally intended for publication, their fragmentary character and their often cryptic language can mystify readers, leading to misinterpretation of the text. The Routledge Guidebook to Gramscis Prison Notebooks provides readers with the historical background, textual analysis and other relevant information needed for a greater understanding and appreciation of this classic text. This guidebook:

Explains the arguments presented by Gramsci in a clear and straightforward way, analysing the key concepts of the notebooks

Situates Gramscis ideas in the context of his own time, and in the history of political thought, demonstrating the innovation and originality of the Prison Notebooks

Provides critique and analysis of Gramscis conceptualization of politics and history (and culture in general), with reference to contemporary (i.e. present-day) examples where relevant

Examines the relevance of Gramsci in the modern world and discusses why his ideas have such resonance in academic discourse.

Featuring historical and political examples to illustrate Gramscis arguments, along with suggestions for further reading, this is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to engage more fully with the Prison Notebooks.

John Schwarzmantel is Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds.

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Routledge Guides to the Great Books

The Routledge Guidebook to Gramscis Prison Notebooks

John Schwarzmantel

First published 2015

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2015 John Schwarzmantel

The right of John Schwarzmantel to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Schwarzmantel, J. J. (John J.), 1947

The Routledge guidebook to Gramscis Prison notebooks / John Schwarzmantel.

pages cm. -- (The Routledge guides to the great books)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Gramsci, Antonio, 1891-1937. Quaderni del carcere. 2. Political science--Philosophy. I. Title. II. Title: Guidebook to Gramscis Prison notebooks.

HX288.G7S357 2015

335.43092--dc23

2014027726

ISBN: 978-0-415-71416-7 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-415-71417-4 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-73385-2 (ebk)

The past is a foreign country, wrote a British novelist, L. P. Hartley: they do things differently there. The greatest books in the canon of the humanities and sciences can be foreign territory, too. This series is a set of excursions written by expert guides who know how to make such places become more familiar.

All the books covered in this series, however long ago they were written, have much to say to us now, or help to explain the ways in which we have come to think about the world. Each volume is designed not only to describe a set of ideas, and how they developed, but also to evaluate them. This requires what one might call a bifocal approach. To engage fully with an author, one has to pretend that he or she is speaking to us; but to understand a texts meaning, it is often necessary to remember its original audience, too. It is all too easy to mistake the intentions of an old argument by treating it as a contemporary one.

The Routledge Guides to the Great Books are aimed at students in the broadest sense, not only those engaged in formal study. The intended audience of the series is all those who want to understand the books that have had the largest effects.

Anthony Gottlieb

Series editor Anthony Gottlieb is the author of
The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy
from the Greeks to the Renaissance.

Like many others, I first came across the name and ideas of Antonio Gramsci when I was a student in the 1960s, and read with interest and excitement the path-breaking study by John Cammett on Antonio Gramsci and the Origins of Italian Communism, which introduced me to some of the fundamental ideas of Gramscis Prison Notebooks and to Gramscis political activity and the historical context of his life and work. But it was only many years later, in the post-communist epoch of the 2000s, that I was able to engage more closely with Gramscis thought in the course of preparing and teaching a final-year undergraduate module at the University of Leeds on Antonio Gramsci and the Theory of Modern Politics. I enjoyed teaching that course and remain grateful to those students who took it, for lively discussion and stimulating exchanges which helped me (and, I hope, them) to understand Gramsci, as well as helping to convince me of the continuing relevance of his theories to our contemporary world.

Gramscis Prison Notebooks