Gramsci and Contemporary Politics: Beyond Pessimism of the Intellect

Description

Front Cover -- Gramsci and Contemporary Politics -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- 1. Facing the Future, Evaluating the Past -- Part 1: Theoretical foundations -- 2. The Challenge to Traditional Intellectuals: specialisation, organisation, leadership -- 3. The Politics of the organic Intellectuals: passion, understanding, knowledge -- 4. Gramsci's subversion of the language of politics -- Part 2: Political interventions -- 5. Equality and difference: the emergence of a new concept of citizenship -- 6. Back to the future: the resurrection of civil society -- 7. Beyond pessimism of the intellect: agendas for social justice and change -- 8. From realism to creativity: Gramsci, Blair and us -- Part 3: Reflections and explorations -- 9. Rethinking socialism: new processes, new insights -- 10. Dear parent -- 11. Subjective authenticity, cultural specificity, individual and collective projects -- Notes -- Index.;Can politics now be both radical and realistic? Gramsci and Contemporary Politics is a collection of Anne Showstack Sassoon's writing which spans the major transitions from Thatcher and Reagan to Clinton and Blair; the collapse of communism to the regeneration of social democracy. Applying original interpretations of Antonio Gramsci's ideas on the intellectuals, political language, civil society and political leadership, she argues that drawing from the past, and broadening contemporary sources of political and academic knowledge can contribute to a grounded, radical hegemonic politics which can bring about change.