Hegemony and Class Struggle: Trotsky, Gramsci and Marxism

Description

Leon Trotsky and Antonio Gramsci are two of the most important Marxist thinkers of the 20th century. This book explores the similarities and the differences between their philosophical and political theories. The first and second chapters deal with a still under-investigated aspect of Trotsky’s thought, i.e. his reflections on the issue of hegemony. The third chapter focuses on Gramsci’s critique of Trotsky in his Prison Notebooks, analysing Gramsci’s knowledge of Trotsky’s positions as well as the scope and limits of Gramsci’s critique. The fourth chapter consists of a critical rereading of Perry Anderson's essay Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci, originally published in 1976 and republished in 2017 and an analysis of the book Gramsci and Trotsky in the Shadow of Stalinism by Emanuele Saccarelli. The result is an investigation that offers new insight into both Trotsky’s and Gramsci’s thought, while proposing a new point of view from which to interpret revolutionary theory and strategy in the contemporary scenario. One of the main topics addressed throughout the three essays is the specific position of the problem of hegemony in a theory of permanent revolution, demonstrating that Trotsky had a particular understanding of the question of hegemony and that Gramsci, in turn, introduced a concept of hegemony that is closely associated with an idea of permanent revolution, such that the dynamics of the relationship between democratic struggles and socialist struggles presented in both theories are very similar. Series Editor’s Foreword Titles Published Titles Forthcoming Foreword Contents Hegemony in Trotsky’s Thought: From Hegemonic Power to Theory of Revolution Hegemony in the Analysis of World Domination Crisis of the British Empire and the Rise of US Hegemony Versailles and Frances Unstable Hegemony The Law of Productivity and the Theoretical Model of Hegemonic Power Hegemony in the Theory of Revolution Lenin: Hegemony as a Political Dynamic Trotsky: Hegemony as a Political-Social Dynamic The Question of Hegemony in the Conclusions on 1905 Soviets and Hegemony Subsequent Recapitulations: Lenin According to Trotsky The Chinese Revolution of 1925–1927 and the Theory of Permanent Revolution History of the Russian Revolution: A Critical Rethinking of the Problem of Hegemony Hegemony and Revolution in the West Hegemony and Dual Power Coutinho, Zavaleta Mercado and Bensaïd: Debates on Dual Power Popular Front vs. Hegemony Bibliography Hegemony in Trotsky’s Thought: The Problem of Hegemony in the Transition NEP, Smychka, Hegemony Lenin’s Last Struggle From the Truce of the 12th Congress to the Emergence of the Opposition The Scissors Crisis Bukharin, Zinoviev and Stalin: The Re-emergence of Old Controversies Critique of Harmonicism and Bureaucratic Methods Stalin’s USSR: Predominance of the Bureaucracy, Hegemony of the Proletariat? Conclusion: Hegemony and Permanent Revolution Appendix—The Last Controversy on Hegemony: Debate with Marceu Pivert Bibliography Trotsky in the Prison Notebooks ‘Trotsky’s Books Published After His Expulsion from the USSR’ Revolutionary Practice and ‘Intellectualised’ Theory Antonio Labriola and the Tasks of the Workers’ State Trotsky and Industrialism: Debate on the Transition Between Cossacks and Syndicalists The ‘Frontal Attack’ in Times of Siege The Soviet Five-Year Plan: From Fatalism to Activism The Economic-Corporate Phase of the USSR: ‘Petty Minds’ to ‘Residues of Mechanism’ Trotsky Returns … and Bears a Greater Resemblance to Lenin Bronstein, the German Bessarione and Davidovich Reaffirmations Black Parliamentarism: ‘The Liquidation of Leon Davidovich’ An Ending to Begin with Bibliography Once Again on Trotsky and Gramsci Perry Anderson: Whose Antinomies? The Problem of West Democracy and State Hegemony and Culture War of Position and the Problem of Strategy Emanuelle Saccarelli: Against the Legacy of Stalinism in Political Theory Gramsci for Academics: Distortions and Depoliticisation The Devil Is Called Trotsky Towards a Strategic Approach of Hegemony Bibliography Epilogue Bibliography Note on the Text Name Index Arguments Index