Antonio Gramsci, Anarchism, Syndicalism and Sovversivismo For Proposed book R. Kinna and A. Prichard (eds.

), Is Black and Red Dead? (Ideas in Conte t! C"P) #r. Carl $e%y #epartment o& Politics Goldsmiths, "ni%ersity o& $ondon c.le%y'(old.ac.)k Abstract Throughout his career Antonio Gramsci forged a complex relationship with strands of libertarian socialism. This chapter will disentangle this relationship. First it sets out an overview of Gramscis unique form of socialism (Sorel Gentile Antonio !abriola" before and during the Biennio Rosso and the factor# council movement. $is earl# flirtation with s#ndicalism and %ussolinianism left mar&s which positivel# and negativel# affected a later engagement with the libertarian !eft. Thus the &e# term sovversivismo found in the Quaderni is crucial to his discussions. 'n the conclusion this paper examines the effects of Gramscis assessment of the anarchists and s#ndicalists on 'talian historiograph# in the post(war decades.

*. Introd)ction The #oung Gramscis unorthodox %arxism had man# elective affinities with the libertarian socialist tradition. Gramscis concept of industrial democrac# during the era of the factor# councils in Turin ()*)*()*+," was shaped through his encounters with anarchists who were self(educated wor&ers and formall# educated technicians emplo#ed b# Fiat and other industries. This practical alliance in the campaign for factor# councils championed b# LOrdine Nuovo has been noted elsewhere (!ev# )***". -ut the relationship is far deeper than a tactical political plo# which !enin indulged in his anarchist(sounding pronouncements in revolutionar# .ussia during the spring and earl# summer of )*)/. Three aspects of the pre(!eninist Gramscis %arxism serve as benchmar&s to evaluate the interaction of libertarian thought and action with Gramscis social

thought before )*)0()*)*1 voluntarism pre(figuration and hegemon#. The theoretical foundations of Gramscis voluntarism are in sharp contrast to the determinism of !enins social thought. !enins political activism was informed b# the problem of power how to sei2e and conserve it (Service +,,,". -ut his social thought never left the strait3ac&et of the most rule(bound 4scientific socialism. 'ndeed !enin spent an inordinate amount of time throughout his life stamping out a bewildering variet# of 4heresies that threatened his love affair with 4scientific socialism1 monists 4God( builders and infantile communists were all chosen targets (.ead )*/*5 6illiams )*07". 8northodox and ruthless in sei2ing and holding power his political thought was perhaps even more rule(bound and orthodox than his fallen idol 9arl 9auts&#. 't should be remembered that in )*)7 and )*)/ !enin (and -u&harin" argued that time could be sped up precisel# because of a new stage of histor#1 world war that flowed from the imperialist capitalist stage of historical development sanctioned his anarchist(li&e heretical political behaviour. -ut it did not sanction a rethin&ing of the orthodox %arxism he had mentall# ingested before )*):. 9arl 9auts&# was a 4social traitor because he had betra#ed his political principles not because his theor# was incorrect. Gramscis introduction to %arxism could not be more different. %arxism was filtered through a political culture of voluntarism that permeated the 'talian universities of antebellum 'tal#. The theme of voluntarism is directl# connected to Gramscis concept of pre(figuration (-oggs )*/;". Simpl# put pre(figuration implies that the institutions of the future socialist societ# should be foreshadowed in the democratic institutions of the wor&ing class in civil societ# under capitalism. <ot onl# does this solve the dilemma of how one gets from the capitalist to socialist stage of histor# it also implies the libertarian potential of wor&ing(class self(organisation

present in the #oung Gramscis social theor# as well as his political practice. 'n other words unli&e !enin who saw Soviets as 4useful idiots to undermine the .ussian state in )*)/ for Gramsci theoretical %arxist voluntarism is embodied in self(organisation in civil societ#. This explains wh# when Gramsci first encounters !enin in )*)/ and earl# )*)0 he presents him as a charismatic leader(champion of organs of self( government in civil societ#. Gramsci read !enin through his own s#nthesis of 'talian neo(idealist voluntarism which owes more to Giovanni Gentile and Georges Sorel than 9auts&#ite %arxism. Gramsci repudiated the theoretical %arxism of the Second 'nternational in order to embrace %arxism in the first place when he was still a student at the 8niversit# of Turin. 'f we imagine counterfactual histor# in which Gramsci had encountered !enins theoretical %arxist orthodox# before he successfull# had piloted the -olshevi&s to state power he would have certainl# had a dim if not sarcastic reaction to it. Therefore in )*)/ and )*)0 !enin became the s#mbolic and political embodiment of Gramsci mista&en pro3ections from unique coc&tail of libertarian voluntarism and %arxism. The dis3unction between his political thought and the model that proved successful in actuall# gaining power in the Soviet 8nion would threaten the coherence of his pro3ect for the rest of his life. -ut Gramsci was no anarchist or s#ndicalist1 anarchism and s#ndicalism served as foils to forge Gramscian social thought and political action. 'n his arguments with the libertarians before his encounters with !enin and what become &nown as !eninism Gramsci had alread# opened his thought to a read# acceptance of the authoritarian solutions proposed in .ussia. The authoritarian aspects of the #oung Gramsci however paradoxicall# are derived from the voluntarism of his political thought.

As ' have shown elsewhere the origins of Gramscis pre(figuration and his most famous term hegemon# is illustrated nicel# in a series of articles on the cooperative movement in Turin and 'tal# written in )*)7 (!ev# )*075 !ev# )***". These ideas were being developed as he simultaneousl# developed his evaluation of the role of Antonio !abriola in %arxism. The notions of pre(figuration and the conception of hegemon# found in the articles on cooperatives as well his engagement with !abriola are tied to his attitude about the proper evaluation of anarchism and the limits of alliances with anti(war anarchists and s#ndicalists. -ut it is his form of pedagogical socialism drenched in Gentilean assumptions which demonstrate the theoretical gulf separating his apparent libertarian socialism from the positivist culture of the anarchists and s#ndicalists. +. Pre,&i()ration and the -$ibertarian Gramsci.! Gramsci, Antonio $abriola and the Anarchists 't has often been claimed that Gramscis concept of hegemon# arose from encounters with !eninism. Thus in a famous article >err# Anderson argued that the term and the concept were suggested to Gramsci during his so3ourn in the Soviet 8nion in the earl# )*+,s (Anderson )*//". 't has also been advanced that hegemon# derives from his thin&ing about the Southern ?uestion and this onl# emerges 3ust previous to his arrest and imprisonment in the middle )*+,s (8rbinati )**0" or that hegemon# emerges from the hierarchical relationship of nationall# dominant languages and .eceived >ronunciation and minorit# languages or demotic pronunciation (!o >iparo )*/*5 'ves +,,:". @thers have argued that the concept of hegemon# should be paired with the Gramscian 4passive revolution and his

rethin&ing of the %arxist tradition in his prison cell in the )*=,s (-uci(Gluc&smann )*/*". As ' have shown elsewhere Gramsci emplo#ed the dail# concerns of Turins labour and cooperative movements as laboratories to develop and illustrate his more complex theoretical conceptions ver# earl# in his career. .ediscovered articles demonstrate how man# of the themes of LOrdine Nuovo which highlight the (admittedl# exaggerated" pre(figurative power of the factor# council were originall# developed during a discussion of that reformist institution the cooperative in )*)75 one or two #ears before Gramsci began to promote the 4sovietist 6est Auropean or incipient Turinese versions of council communism (!ev#)*075 !ev# )***". 't was precisel# during his discussion of cooperative that Gramsci carries out a sustained anal#sis of Antonio !abriola. Gramscis discussion of !abriola grew from his initial re(evaluation of the Risorgimento. And if an# of the deceased are given decent eulogies the# are surel# the intellectuals of the 4destra storica (4the historic right" (>iccone )*//"5 whose emphasis on the pedagogical nature of the modern states parliamentar# s#stem and its honest and efficient civil service stimulating the active participation of citi2ens in its affairs is assimilated into socialist theor#. For Gramsci !abriola was the intellectual lin& between the thin&ers and writers of the 4historic right Spaventa and Be Sanctis and the modern socialist movement. !abriolas %arxism has four aspects to it which Gramsci found naturall# congenial (Bal >ane )*/;5 Cacobitti )*0)5 -ellam# )*0/ pp. ;:(/)5 -ellam# and Schecter )**=". First politics was conceived as culture and therefore intellectuals acted as maestri the brains if not the public leadership behind socialist strateg#. Secondl# %arxism promoted a universali2ing philosoph# that lent coherence to culture. Finall# political organi2ation helped reali2e this philosoph#. And it has been

suggested b# several writers that !abriolas ideas helped Gramsci transform his earlier Gentilean philosoph# into his more materialist %arxism of the war #ears and of the postwar earl# the biennio rosso ()*)*(+," (Tronti )*;*5 Garin )*7/ pp. ))*( ==5 Asor .osa )*/; p. ),:,5 >iccone )*//(0 pp. =(:0 Datone )**:". Aven though a generation separated the two men the similarities between !abriolas and Gramscis %arxism and their relationships with the anarchists are stri&ing. Gramsci argued that cultural hegemon# preceded ever# ma3or revolution. 't had been the inabilit# and the unwillingness of 'talian intellectuals to abandon their elitist cosmopolitanism which left the masses so to spea& headless. !abriola and Gramsci relied on wor&ing(class institutions immersed in dail# life not directl# controlled b# the socialist part# to raise popular beliefs to a universal scientific world(view. !abriolas support of the Fasci Siciliani (a social movement in Sicil# in the )0*,s" bears significant similarities with Gramscis endorsement of ran&(and(file movements in Turinese industr# during and 3ust after the First 6orld 6ar (>rocacci )*7, pp. =+)(05 -erti )**= pp. =:=(;:". -oth were able to wor& with proletarian anarchists. Cust as Gramsci !abriola differentiated between Cacobinical 4capi the spostati della borghesia (bourgeois dropouts" the intellectual proletariat and the anarchist wor&ers whom !abriola had helped during the .oman builders stri&e in the earl# )0*,s. Although !abriola was capable of differentiating between the 4reasonable anarchism of Arrico %alatesta and terrorist bombers and assassins he never too& the intellectual premises of anarchism ver# seriousl#. Gramscis and !abriolas %arxism can be considered unorthodox because of their novel interpretation of praxis1 both men based the superiorit# of %arxism over other forms of socialism on its abilit# to forge a world view that required little borrowing from other s#stems of philosophical thought. 'f this caused !abriola and

Gramsci to fight against the marriage of positivism and %arxism and thereb# earn the accolades of the late twentieth centur# universit# %arxists both thin&ers tended to den# the intellectual validit# of other s#stems of socialism particularl# anarchism. /. Cooperation and Pre,&i()ration! Gramsci, Sorel and the Anarchists 't is commonl# assumed that the #oung Gramsci was hostile or indifferent to the traditional institutions of the wor&ing(class movement. For example most accounts emphasi2e his sharp differentiation between the trade union a reformist institution immersed in the logic of the capitalist mar&etplace and the factor# council representative of the ran& and file as well as reflecting the productivist and functionalist prerequisites of future sociali2ed industr#. -ut man# of the Ordinovisti articles promoting the pre(figurative powers of the factor# councils were developed earl# than thought. These earl# articles reveal Gramsci in the process of also developing &e# concepts such as hegemon# and passive revolution and in the context of references to international theoretical s#ndicalism (Sorel" and debates with 'talian s#ndicalists (Schecter )**,". -ut the entire discussion is pitched at several levels1 &e# theoretical brea&throughs arise within the context of the local concerns of the Turinese labour movement. Gramscis intervention in the debate on cooperatives reached its climax in an article 4Socialism and Dooperation (=, @ctober )*)7 published in the ADTs 3ournal LAlleanza Cooperativa" (Gramsci )**: pp. );()7". Gramsci ma&es it abundantl# clear that socialism must be productivist. Donsumer cooperatives were not nor could the# be central to these politics. Socialism he wrote 4is not simpl# to solve the problem of distribution of finished products. @n the contrar# the moral 3ustification of our struggle and for the revolution this struggle will bring about comes from the conviction acquired b# the

proletariat through its critique of the existing means of production that collectivism will serve to accelerate the rh#thm of production itself b# eliminating all those artificial factors to productivit# (Gramsci )**: p. );". Socialist cooperatives must he wrote arise from the free activit# of the proletariat outside the meddlesome and corrupting influences of bourgeois legislation or the state will blunt their purpose. Socialist cooperatives were sociall# useful to the lower classes otherwise the# were Gramsci wrote protectionist cooperatives parasitical organi2ations that gave rise to a group of privileged wor&ers who were successful at freeing themselves partiall# from capitalist exploitation but whose actions were harmful to their class and costl# to production generall# (Gramsci )*0+ p. 7//". 'n much the same wa# that s#ndicalists in -ritain and diasporic anarchists such as Arrico %alatesta adapted $. -ellocs concept of the 4Servile State to statist or forms of cron#(statist(capitalism 3ust before the outbrea& of hostilities in )*): (!ev# )*0)5 !ev# forthcoming". Thus Gramscis general tenor of discussion is lin&ed to his earlier connections with free(trade socialists and s#ndicalists in Sardinia and Turin. >reviousl# Gaetano Salvemini had been a ma3or influence and during the war Gramsci organi2ed an issue of l !rido del "opolo devoted to free trade and socialism. Free trade Gramsci believed would help to lessen the <orthESouth divide but it was also central to the definition of his form of socialism. At the ver# end of the war Gramsci explained his free(tradism in rather defensive tones. Domparing his programme to >resident 6ilsons (Tobia )*/: pp. +/;(=,=5 .ossini +,,0" he explained that free trade was part of socialisms minimal programme and his argument betra#ed these 4-ellocian echoes. Socialists are toda# free(traders because their doctrine recogni2es that in the free development of capitalist societ# free trade as a revolutionar# force

against the outmoded form of production and exchange and that it establishes political structures more suitable for the development of its potential1 without economic libert# political libert# is a Giolittian swindle (Gramsci )*0: p. :),". This explains Gramscis attraction to the Anglish radical liberals who founded the 8nion for Bemocratic Dontrol and particularl# <orman Angell whose wartime writings Gramsci claimed showed that protectionist state socialism or state capitalism were universal evils arising from the inherent demands of the conflict itself. This pervasive 4>russianism (a Germanic Servile State" Gramsci felt threatened democratic liberties won before the war (Gramsci )*0: pp. +=7(/". Free trade was not onl# the guarantor of civil rights free trade also served as a metaphor for Gramscis ma#imalist programme. Doncurrentl# !enin who appreciated the mechanics of power and production was praising the wartime >russian state as being a step closer to socialism1 cartels trusts and indeed state(assisted cartels and trusts preparing the wa# for socialism these did not corrupt the wor&ers but trained them for the future socialist industrial societ#. The previousl# mentioned 4Socialism and Dooperation is one of the finer examples of Gramscis 4free trade anti(statism. Throughout the war #ears Gramscis fears of >russianism made him caution socialists against all#ing themselves with the interventionist war(time state this became especiall# pronounced during the debate over whether or not socialists should 3oin the governments Dommission on >ostwar .econstruction established b# >rime %inister @rlando (Gramsci )*0: pp. )7*(/,". $e believed that 4reform from above or 4state socialism had too long been uncriticall# accepted within prewar socialism and even within %arxist theor# itself. This became evident in an article written on 0 April )*)/ when Gramsci argued1

%an# of our comrades are still imbued with doctrines concerning the state that were fashionable in the writings of socialists twent# #ears ago. These doctrines were constructed in German# and perhaps in German# might still have their 3ustification. 't is certain that in 'tal# a countr# even less parliamentar# than German# due to the prevailing political corruption and the lac& of parliamentar# consciousness the state is the greatest enem# of citi2ens (of the ma3orit# of citi2ens" and ever# growth of its powers of its activit# of its functions alwa#s equals a growth of corruption of miser# for citi2ens of a general lowering of the level of public economic and moral life (Gramsci )*0+ p. ))0". Gramscis anti(statism is explained through his appropriation of Georges Sorels notion of a schism a separation of the wor&ing class from bourgeois culture and lifest#les without full# accepting the Frenchmans entire message even if Gramscian language is drenched with Sorelian &e# words (-racco )*/:5 -adaloni )*/;5 Giosis )*/*5 .oth )*0,5 %alatesta )*0)5 Schecter )**,". Such similarities and differences with Sorel are evident in 4Socialism and Dooperation. Similarities in their shared belief in a non(Cacobinical transition to socialism based upon the dail# experiences of wor&ers in their own trade unions and cooperatives with Gramsci alluding to Sorels highl# influential boo& lAvenir socialiste des s$ndicats circulated b# 'talian left(wing socialist and s#ndicalist activists before the war (Furio22i )*/7 pp. ;,(+ 7: /*(0, *;(75 @nufrio )*/* pp. 0*(*/ ))=(+) )+/ )=* ):/ );: )*/5 .oth )*0, p. ),". This boo& is significant too because it predates Sorels departure into m#th(ma&ing and the celebration of violence and is firml# grounded in his encounters with Aduard -ernstein Antonio !abriola and the former anarchist Francesco Saverio %erlino during the so(called

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revisionist debate at the turn of the centur# (Santarelli )*7:5 Fagara )*/;5 %orabito )*/* pp. /::(;;". All three thin&ers were searching for institutions within civil societ# which might temper or suppress state socialism. And to complete a ver# interesting circle of reciprocal influences Gramsci was an enthusiastic reader of S#dne# and -eatrice 6ebbs %istor$ o& 'rades (nions and their other wor&s1 the ver# examples Sorel used to buttress his arguments in LAvenir socialiste des s$ndicats (Gramsci )*/7 p. )=0". And the ver# boo&s that !enin from his Siberian exiles read with some guarded interest ($arrison" Gramscis 4Sorel was perhaps different from the ma3orit# of prewar 'talian s#ndicalists. The Gramscian transition to socialism relied upon the conscious reasoned intervention of social actors rather than m#ths5 and Gramsci needless to sa# appreciated the role of education and self(education even though as we shall see he had little time for the efforts of the (niversit) "opolare (-roccoli )*/+5 .osada )*/;5 Antwistle )*/*". $e did not share some of the s#ndicalist intellectuals fascination with the imager# of the rude uneducated wor&ers as intellectual(bashers. Gramsci wrote a famous article in )*)7( 4Socialism and Dulture( in direct response to Anrico !eone in which the s#ndicalist professor is ta&en to tas& and in this context explains the role of ideas in historical development and concurrentl# edges towards a concept of hegemon# (For details see Gramsci )*0, **(),=". . The fact is that onl# b# degrees one stage at a time has humanit# acquired consciousness of it own value and won for itself the right to throw off the pattern of organi2ation imposed on it b# minorities at a previous period in histor#. And this consciousness was formed not under the brutal goad of ph#siological necessit# but as a result of intelligent reflection at first b# 3ust a few people and later b# a whole class and wh# certain conditions exist and

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how best to convert the facts of vassalage into the signals of rebellion and social reconstruction. This means that ever# revolution has been preceded b# an intense labour of criticism b# the diffusion of culture and the spread of culture and the spread of ideas amongst the masses of men who are first resistant thin& onl# of solving their own immediate economic and political problems for themselves who have not ties of solidarit# with others in the same conditions (Gramsci )*// pp. ))()+". Thus a series of articles about cooperation the role of intellectuals in the socialist movement and other nods to Sorel >roudhon !abriola and the lessons of the French .evolution the importance of pre(figuration and an anal#sis stressing the tensions between state and civil societ# rather than the political econom# of capitalism will see Gramsci develop the master themes (hegemon# passive revolution etc" which will accompan# him throughout his life. 'n an extraordinar# passage a critique of %arxist determinism which should have found &indred spirits amongst the more critical anarchists Gramsci seems to question even Angels formulation that the base determines dialectical historical development in the last instance. Thus the transition from feudalism to capitalism is not a neat process of the capitalist mode of production displacing enervated feudalism. Avents in the superstructure and political civil societ# (the societ# of law#ers and intellectuals" pla# an extraordinaril# important role in this process in pre(revolutionar# and revolutionar# France. -esides not even capitalism in its historical essence is bourgeois1 in realit# it is a bourgeois superstructure it is the concrete form ta&en b# economic development some time after the affirmation of the political power of the new

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class so that this class planted its roots even more solidl# in the world (Gramsci )**: p. )/". ?uestions of theor# and interpretation are pla#ed out and spar&ed b# the influence of s#ndicalist or anarchist themes representatives of anarchism and s#ndicalism or the tactical imperative to find common cause with anarchists and s#ndicalists. -ut later of course in the Noteboo*s this novel interpretation of the %arxist historical framewor& more full# developed and is cast in more pessimistic and Cacobinical light seems to have led Gramsci to qualified support or at least s#mpathetic appreciation for the Stalinist revolution from above. -ut in )*)7 however his targets were those positivist socialists and anarchists or s#ndicalists who were enslaved to a determinist evolutionar# vision of histor# and the historical process. Thus Gramscian praxis revolted against a passive acceptance of 4positivist facts or the notion 4that what is customaril# called external realit# is something so finite so rigid so completel# separate and independent from the idea5 economic and political institutions are not outside of our will and influence (Gramsci )*0: p. =,,". The conscious socialist should not behave as if he or she possessed a scientific formula which passive followers need merel# learn and obe#. 'n this respect Gramscis earl# libertarianism is not merel# found in his 4free(trade socialism as discussed previousl# but also an interpretation of %arxist praxis that undermined the Second 'nternationalist concept of scientific socialism embraced b# social democrats and -olshevi&s or equall# the alternative positivist determinism of 9ropot&inite anarcho(communism. This led Gramsci to passionate denunciations of the division of socialism between a leadership caste imbued with the correct formulae and followers who were easil# manipulated b# their scientific magic tric&s. So as he imbibed the

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ideas of the positivist %ichaels with caution but with some effect Gramsci sometimes could appear to advance anarchist(li&e critiques of the socialist part# machine. 8nli&e 9auts&# or !enin who separated &nowledge from dail# &now(how the #oung Gramsci even if his political practice re3ected a full(fledged socialist pluralism could not easil# stomach a dogmatic or dictatorial social movement. The proletariat is not an arm#5 it does not have officers subalterns corporals and soldiers. Socialists are not officers of the proletarian arm# the# are part of the proletariat itself perhaps the# are its consciousness but as the consciousness cannot be divided from an individual so socialists are not placed in dualit# with the proletariat. The# are one alwa#s one and the# do not command but live with the proletariat 3ust as blood circulates and moves in the veins of a bod# and it is not possible for it to live and move inside rubber tubes wrapped around a corpse. The# live within the proletariat their force is in the proletariats and their power la# in this perfect adhesion (Gramsci )*0+ p. ==+". 6e have seen how libertarian themes permeated Gramscis earl# thought. $is socialist is anti(statist. $e is suspicious and on guard against the creation of a socialist hierarch#1 he is against Cacobincal socialism. $e promotes socialism grounded in civil societ# and pre(figuration. -ut he is also ill at ease with s#ndicalist arguments that undermine the importance of education and learning for the socialist and wor&ing( class movements. The socialist leadership should not patroni2e or order about the ran& and file flaunting their well(developed consciousness over the less well read ran& and file. $owever that does not mean that conscious socialists do not have a dut# to educate the movement. And it is over the question of education and the anarchist

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concept of 4free thought and the 4free thin&er which Gramsci engages in his most extended theoretical debate with the anarchists. And in this debate he develops the themes and theoretical tools he will use to critici2e anarchism in political debate but also as devices emplo#ed in supposedl# cooler historiographical arguments presented in the <oteboo&s. 0. Free 1ho)(ht and 2d)cated 1ho)(ht! the 3ri(ins o& the Gramscian concepts Senso Comune and Senso Buono (the $imits o& Gramscian $ibertarianism) -# second nature Gramsci thought of socialist politics as an extension of cultural enlightenment. Buring the war he made his mar& and generated deep animosities within the Socialist >art# through his unorthodox editorship of l !rido del "opolo. -ut even before his assumption of a ma3or responsibilit# his one(off broadsheet La Citt) Futura had been aimed at a specific audience of highl# s&illed and motivated wor&ers who were ambitious enough to attend night school to further their fortunes (Gramsci )*0+ p. ),;(,7". -ut Turin he argued lac&ed a cultural organi2ation controlled b# and acting on behalf of wor&ers. The (niversit) "opolare was he felt a purel# bourgeois humanitarian venture. @n the contrar# his proposed an Association of Dulture would have the extra added advantaged of suppl#ing trained intellectuals suitabl# sociali2ed for adequate tas&s within the socialist movement. Although he did not quote .obert %ichels directl# he was certainl# thin&ing of the Germans prewar stud# of 'talian socialism particularl# %ichelss description of the wa#s in which rootless intellectuals became the ob3ect of an unhealth# hero worship within the movement (Gramsci )*0+ pp. :*05 !ev# )**0 pp. +,;(05 !ev# forthcoming ". Gramsci equated the authoritarianism of the movement with the

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generall# low level of education en3o#ed b# the ran& and file of the 'talian socialist movement. An 'talian socialist part# filled with educated comrades would be more democratic and libertarian because it would function through the spontaneous rationalit# he detected in micro(institutions he was involved with in these first #ears of socialist activism. Gramscis presence within the Turinese labour movement during wartime is found on three levels1 firstl# his 3ournalistic impact alread# mentioned5 secondl# his lectures5 finall# his curious 4Dlub of %oral !ife. 'n all three cases Gramsci stresses a Socratic approach to politics1 he was ma&ing socialists one b# one not addressing oceanic crowds. The 4Dlubs of %oral !ife were in fact another incarnation of the third pillar of the socialist movement which would supplement the trade unionEcooperative and the part#. l !rido del "opolo and later LOrdine Nuovo were considered the organs of this third institution of the socialist movement. And it is in the opening rounds of his long debate over an association of wor&ers culture that we discover some of the intellectual prerequisites of Gramscis %arxism that separated it from mainstream socialism and anarchism. Gramscis conception of socialist education and culture was democratic participator# and libertarian but it had little in common with the rationalist free thought that dominated socialist and anarchist political culture in !iberal 'tal# (For overviews see Begl'nnocenti )*0=5 >ivato )*075 Audenino )**) Turi )**=". Buring the debate over the founding of an Association of Dulture in Turin Gramscis chief targets of criticism were anarchist and socialist pie(in(the(s&# utopianism. Fu22#(minded rationalist free thought pla#ed into the hands of the fic&le and bombastic leadership of the prewar 'talian Socialist >art# because it denied the ran& and file critical faculties to control this leadership. An educated part# would be more

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democratic and libertarian because it would function through a spontaneous 4Socratic rationalit# acquired in such micro(institutions as the 4Dlubs of %oral !ife. The educated middle classes and the intellectuals would have a specific role as specialists rather than a stump orators and demagogues. Thus if the educational needs of the wor&ing classes would be satisfied and channeled through micro(cultural institutions the formall# educated classes might find their vocation through an 'talian version of the Fabian Societ#. A particularl# well(&nown example in Angland is the Fabian Societ# which is a member of the Second 'nternational. The tas& of the Societ# is that of debating exhaustivel# and in depth all economic and moral problems which the proletariat has encountered or will encounter in the course of its life and it has succeeded in recruiting a ver# significant segment of the Anglish intellectual and academic world to this tas& of civili2ation of liberating minds (Gramsci )**: p. =0". For Gramsci however the prewar leaders of the socialist movement G Anrico Ferri Filippo Turati or Dlaudio Treves G were corrupted b# positivist social thought and shared with wor&ing(class popular culture the misleading assumptions of 4free( thought. Buring the war Gramsci drew these concerns together in his vitriolic attac&s on the favourite shibboleth of prewar anarchism and socialism1 Asperanto. Asperanto was prominent course at the (niversit) "opolare and amongst the anarchists. $is attac&s on Asperanto also of course highlight another aspect of Gramsci training as a ver# promising student of linguistics at the 8niversit# of Turin ('ves +,,:". Gramsci thought that Asperanto was stuff and nonsense. Aven after he left the 8niversit# for full(time 3ournalism Gramsci retained a deep fascination for linguistics

)/

and the stud# of dialects and he remained in close contact with his linguistics professor 8mberto Dosmo. Dosmo has taught him that languages were the unique representation of a national or regional culture (Fiori )*/, pp. /:(; *= ),: ))=5 -ergami )*// pp. /, *+". Attempts therefore to create artificial world languages such as Asperanto were less than pathetic5 the# were pernicious because the# evinced an abstract cosmopolitanism characteristic of man# socialist and anarchist militants. 'talian socialism could onl# be grounded in 'talian conditions5 artificial cosmopolitanism retarded the emergence of a true and realistic socialist internationalism. As a marginal Sardinian student Gramsci had developed an appreciation for the power and dignit# that nation(building languages could suppl# to oppressed groups and he was therefore a &een critic and historian of the linguistic histor# and pedagogical controversies surrounding the 'talian language. $e was sensitive to the tensions created between metropolitan languages and their countr# bump&in dialect cousins. !anguage held the &e# to codes and these codes translated into power. As a socialist and revolutionar# he was exercised about how the ordinar# people of 'tal# might come to share in or totall# displace the oligarch#s monopol# on it. Gramsci savaged Asperanto but Asperanto was 3ust part and parcel of the broader s#ndrome &nown as 4free thought his chief target. As a follower of both Droce and Sorel who were well &nown for their attac&s on %asonic free thought it is not surprising that Gramsci would be extremel# hostile to one of the 'talian lefts most long(cherished beliefs (Furio22i )*/;5 -ellam# +,,+ pp +::(:+". 'n %arch )*)0 Gramscis ideal(t#pical free(thin&er happened to be the anarchist editor of %ilans L(niversit) "opolare !uigi %olinari who had published in pamphlet form a lecture he gave in )*)/ on the >aris Dommune ( l dramma della

)0

Comune". Gramsci dismissed %olinaris pamphlet as lac&ing an# historical anal#sis of being an historical romance a mere p#rotechnical entertainment. %olinari had left his audience without an# critical sense of cause and effect without an# educational value whatsoever. %olinaris lecture was a particularl# depressing example of the intellectual wea&ness of 4free thought (Gramsci )*0+ /;)(+". Cust before his death %olinari responded personall# to Gramsci and Gramsci also received a general drubbing in the anarchist press. 'n Cune )*)0 Gramsci responded to the ongoing debate but tried to lift the argument above mere personalities. $e summari2ed his criticism of free thought in an article entitled 4!ibero >ensiero and >ensiero !ibero in which Drocean and Gentilean themes on the sub3ect dominated (Gramsci )*0: pp. ))=()/". $e directed the thrust of his article at the assumptions he believed la# behind %olinaris pamphlet. %olinaris 44world( view was 44libero pensiero (free thought" which was a philistine bourgeois expression and was caused b# Cacobin individualism1 that is wh# we find grouped around it Freemasons .adicals andHlibertarians. Free thought was therefore the mindset of old(fashioned prewar bloccardismo (the front that included the Socialists and the free thought radicals liberals and libertarians". -ut his %arxist 4pensiero libero instead was a form of libertarian historicism that had little in common with this tradition and loo&ed to Droce and Antonio !abriola as we have cause to remar& for its inspiration. 'ndeed Gramsci advanced the opinion that the anarchists or at least their leaders and theoreticians were less libertarian than the %arxist socialists of the historicist stamp. As there socialists were able to thin& 4freel# and 4historisticall# the# were able to ta&e on contradictor# arguments and enrich their own thought b# overcoming them. @n the other hand 4in as much as the libertarians are intolerant

)*

dogmatists slaves to their own particular opinions the# 4sterili2e debate with their pett# arguments as Gramsci claimed the controvers# over %olinari had demonstrated (Gramsci )*0: pp. ))=():". 't is also important to point out that 3ust as the &e# Gramscian concept if not the actual term hegemon# was alread# being emplo#ed b# )*)7 in his articles about pre(figuration and cooperation the &e# binomial G senso comune (common sense as naIve sense" and senso buono (educated and critical sense" is alread# present in the contrast between pensiero libero and libero pensiero (For an anal#sis of these terms see Direse )*0+". Thus to repeat much of the mental apparatus of the Quarderni is alread# fleshed out in the #oung Gramsci. Gramscis encounters with the free thin&ers helped more clearl# to define his unique position within 'talian socialist political culture. 'n most respects he was outside its accepted boundaries. Gramsci was never prepared to accept the force( feeding of culture ideolog# or language to the wor&ing class. <or for that matter did he accept a naIve populist celebration of the parochialism of the province or the vanishing small(scale communit#. $e did not praise the 4childli&e simplicit# of the common people as he believed the more fortunate classes in 'tal# had for too long possessed a monopol# on 4real 'talian and its humanist code which controlled secondar# and tertiar# education. $e was critical of %olinaris efforts at vulgari2ation precisel# because it the# did not suppl# the lower classes with the mental equipment with which the# could use to combat the dominance of the humanist middle(classes not onl# in societ# generall# but within the >S' itself (!ev# +,,)". To assure that in a future socialist commonwealth the ran& and file governed therefore educational reform was necessar#. 'n a series of articles during the war Gramsci anal#2ed the failure of the 'talian education s#stem1 the dilution of the

+,

original meritocratic intent of the )0;* Dasati !aw and the ensuing dominance of the government b# humanist graduates from the South (An excellent example is Gramsci )*0+ pp. ),;(,7". This in turn had led to an incompetent and anti(democratic corps of civil servants. !oo&ing ahead Gramscis form of universal education would reinstate the meritocratic promise of Dasati through consensual discipline that the highl# trained and autonomous minds embraced. The products of free thought were incapable of this consensual discipline that underwrote Gramscis 4libertarian historicism. $aving said this there is also more than a dose of authoritarian condescension in Gramscis remedies. Gramsci dismissed %olinaris efforts at vulgari2ation but his efforts in the fields of science and histor# for over twent# #ears had been enormousl# influential amongst the less educated socialists and trade unionists (%asini". 't is true that Gramsci won a lo#al following of amongst self(educated wor&ers in confabs at the editorial offices of l !rido del "opolo and from his tal&s in the suburbs on 'bsen or .omain .olland. There is much oral testimon# to suggest he could earn the respect of wor&ers who were more than little suspicious of former universit# students (!ev# )*** pp. *:(*/". 6itnesses concur that Gramsci was not a spellbinder and was therefore considered b# conventional standards a poor spea&er. -ut he in fact bro&e those conventions of socialist orator# in order to elicit discussion from his audience. $is respect for his audiences intelligence appealed to small groups of s&illed andEor self(educated wor&ers. The# appreciated his respect for their technical terms and their practical industrial &nowledge5 and the# were particularl# attracted to his productivist rhetoric and prose to his identification of themselves as the producers. $owever on the other hand it is difficult to see how the# digested the digressions into Gentile or Droce found in his &e# texts such as the La Citt) Futura. %an# of the self(educated

+)

veterans of the cooperative and labour movements such as %aria Giudice and Francesco -arberis found him a tiresome pedant (!ev# )*** p. **". And it should be recalled that the Schools of %oral !ife seemed to impl# a pec&ing order of consciousness with the assumption that the lower middle class comrades were more prepared to imbibe in intellectual discussion than the suburban wor&ers. >erhaps Gramscis Gentilean socialism was more libertarian than !enins t#pe of scientific socialism but it too assumed that an intellectual elite of trained socialists was needed to set the tone and parameters for effective politics. Furthermore although Gramsci was prepared to wor& with and argue against the anarchists and s#ndicalists in more tolerant and engaging manner than !enin had done his attitude towards them did have some similarities with !enins vigilant guardianship of orthodox#. !enins orthodox# was his version of Second 'nternationalist gospel. Gramscis odd mixture of Gentile Droce Sorel and Antonio !abriola ma# have made him appear wildl# unorthodox to other 'talian socialists but this did not prevent Gramsci himself invo&ing orthodox# when he discussed the potential for the formation of political alliances with the libertarians. 'n fact in order to expose the muddleheaded nature of 'talian positivist socialism he argued that his approach was more %arxist and therefore more rigid in its conditions for accepting alliances with the libertarians. As we have seen Gramsci argued that the culture of free thought had included the prewar socialists and the libertarians and his form of socialism he argued transcended this mur&# embrace. 4. Gramsci and the Anarchists! the 5arriers to Alliances Buring the war a new international left arose from a fortuitous combination of mutuall# hostile groups1 some were pacifist5 some social democrat5 some anarchists or s#ndicalist (For overviews see !indemann )*/:5 -ertrand )*//5 Agosti )*0,

++

Sirianni )*0+ pp. =,/(;75 9irb# )*075 !ev# +,,:". A networ& of reciprocal influences developed in which intellectuals and 3ournalists such as $enri -arbusse .omain .olland. Cacques %esnil or %ax Aastman transmitted ideas from one pole of the networ& to another. Gramsci is an excellent example of how observant radicals could tap into a networ& that was at once magnified and than rapidl# diminished b# the effects of the -olshevi& .evolution and the founding of the Third 'nternational. Buring the war this networ& was sustained b# reportage in Avanti+ L%umanit, the Liberator or the -or*ers .readnought5 b# private correspondence but above all b# the imager# and m#ths surrounding international conferences at Fimmerwald and 9ienthal as well as over the controversies stirred b# the never convened Stoc&holm Dongress called b# the >etrograd Soviet in )*)/. 6hile politicians and intellectuals attempted to mould mass movements from the initial radicali2ation of )*)7()*)0 differences quic&l# reappeared. Gramscis debate with the anarchists and s#ndicalists is s#mptomatic of a broader stor# pla#ed out in the bac&drop of the unfolding .ussian events. -ut his peculiar theoretical bac&ground presents an interesting variation on a continental indeed global theme. 6hen Gramsci visited the suburbs he discovered the essence of what he understood to be proletarian unit# (!ev# )*** pp. *:(*". @r rather when he saw the suburbs march on the cit# in Cune )*): during the .ed 6ee& (For this see !otti )*/+" which witnessed socialists anarchists s#ndicalists and republicans on the same side of the barricades he understood what an alliance through common action might mean. An earl# article written in Canuar# )*)7 3ust when he was honing his concept of pre(figuration through his articles on cooperation recalls the .ed 6ee& which deepl# impressed him when he was still an uncertain universit# student (Gramsci )*0, pp. /7(/". The prose is purple and Sorelian5 the message is unit#

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through direct action. Gramsci recalled the death of three demonstrators in the anarchist stronghold of Ancona on a da# 4moc&ingl# consecrated to constitutional libert# (it was the holida# that celebrated the constitution which the $ouse of Savo# had given >iedmont in )0:0 and formed the basis of the constitution of the 9ingdom of 'tal#". 'n Turin the reaction was immediate1 4our cit# made through militar# order and tradition a cit# centre of looming piles of aristocratic townhouses arra#ed 4li&e a regiment of the arm# of their old Savo#ard Bu&es witnessed the march past of well(ordered proletarian ran&s. 4Doarse men descended on the cit# boulevards and marched in front of the closed shop shutters past the pale little men of the cit# police who were consumed b# anger and fear. Dontinuall# these Sorelian images of the gruff productive wor&ing class marching from its suburban strongholds to the challenge clerical or parasitical cafJ societ# are present in Gramscis writings. The examples include the banned %a# Ba# demonstrations of )*)7 anti(clerical demonstrations at an unpopular priests church in one of the suburbs the anti(war demonstrations of #oung anarchists and socialists from September to <ovember of )*)7 and the national campaign to save the 'tal( American anarcho(s#ndicalist (6obbl#" Darlo Tresca from the American electric chair. -ut Gramsci opposed politicall# inspired united fronts of socialists and anarchists in Turin or nationall#. -etween )*)7 and earl# )*)0 Gramsci too& part in a debate in the 'talian socialist press on this sub3ect spar&ed off b# the private and public exchanges of the anarchist !uigi Fabbri and the leading maximalist socialist Serrati (See summar# in !ev# )*** pp. ),+(,=". 'ndeed another maximalist socialist Spartaco !avagnini proposed a s#ndicalist(st#le Third 'nternational to replace the discredited Second 'nternational. The railwa# wor&er !avagnini was on ver# good

+:

terms with the anarchist leaders of the s#ndicalist (nione Sindacale taliana and its newspaper !uerra di Classe where it should be recalled Anrico !eone had published an article that spar&ed off Gramsci discussion of cultural enlightenment and an earl# theoretical discussion of hegemon#. The s#ndicalists newspaper was published in Florence in )*)/()0. !avagnini and the legal counsel for the anarchist( tinged railwa# wor&ers union %ario Tro22i both wrote for !uerra di Classe. Tro22is legal stud# was used for a meeting of socialist 4rigids in <ovember )*)/ at which Gramsci was a participant. !avagninis intervention is a good example of the international networ& of anti(war radicals at wor&. 'nspired b# a letter from Arrico %alatesta the greatest 'talian anarchist and chief organi2er of the .ed 6ee& from his exile in !ondon to Armando -orghi !avagnini endorsed %alatestas proposal for a new international (La /ondiale" that would include anti(war socialist anarchists and s#ndicalists. 't would heal the schism caused b# the expulsion of the libertarians from the Second 'nternational in )0*7 but an# case would have had little in common with the militari2ed disciplined organi2ation that !enin would found in )*)*. Gramscis intervention in the debate was pitched at two levels. First Gramsci wanted to contest the commonl# held opinion in the 'talian socialist left that anarchists or s#ndicalists were more revolutionar# and 4purer socialists than the socialist themselves. .ecalling an earlier debate with Anrico !eone revolutionar# politics he wrote should not be equated with gladiatorial posturing or with 4violent language as the chequered histor# of 'talian s#ndicalism had demonstrated the pitfalls of this approach (Gramsci )*0, pp. =7,()". Gramsci also wanted to distance his socialism from !avagninis heterodox#. <ot onl# did the antiparliamentarianism of %alatesta and the anarchists pose an obstacle to formal unit# their mentalit#

+;

recalling his arguments against free thought was ahistorical and doctrinaire. 'nternational organi2ations such as %alatestas La %ondiale undermined Gramscis conception of socialist politics. The concept of pre(figuration ma# have evolved in Gramscis theor# b# )*)/ before he encountered the Soviet model but his t#pe of pre(figuration while not !eninist was still lin&ed to the well(organi2ed and distinctive socialist part#. And external discipline through umbrella organi2ations such as %alatestas La /ondiale undermined this &e# tenet of Gramscis conception of politics. @nl# an internal discipline would fuse en masse the members of the part# and that was the result of agreement between 4thought and action and b# the coherence between 4general principles and the interpretations of particular contingencies (Gramsci )*0+ pp. :7/(/". -ut this was a part# not founded on the culture of free thought or positivist socialism1 rather the consensual discipline of a part# founded on the educational principles of Gramscis 4clubs of moral life lin&ed to the creativit# of pre(figurative institutions such as the cooperatives would produce a distinctive socialist politics. Coint agreements with the anarchists and s#ndicalists were based on the exigencies of the moment and the# were in short the t#pe of wor&ing(class action expressed in the .ed 6ee& of )*): that touchstone of Gramscis radicalism before the Turinese rising of )*)/ and the -olshevi& .evolution supplanted it. 6. 1he 2arly Gramsci and the Gramsci o& the Biennio Rosso ' have argued that 3ust as Gramscis &e# conceptions were alread# operating in his mind before )*)0 his attitudes towards the anarchists and s#ndicalists were alread# operationalised before he wor&ed closel# with them on LOrdine nuovo. Thus as ' have shown elsewhere anarchist 4organic intellectuals were cultivated but

+7

anarchist 4traditional intellectuals the friends and colleagues of %olinari were denounced as muddled pernicious demagogues. Cust as the Sorelian and productivist legac# were so important to catal#2e Gramsci pre(figurative and civil(societ# based t#pe of socialism of pre()*)/E)0 his council communism of )*)*()*+, was merel# a variation on this theme reinforced b# international examples. The libertarian productivist Ta#lorism of the anarchist engineer >ietro %osso was the l#nchpin which held together the council communism of )*)*()*+, and anarchist metalwor&ers in F'@% were absolutel# essential to propagate the ideas of LOrdine Nuovo throughout the movement in its Turinese industrial heartland. 6hen Gramsci fell out with his colleagues Tasca and then Togliatti in )*+, over the boundaries between union and factor# council his onl# remaining allies were the anarchists (Dlar& )*//". The arguments Gramsci advanced in the earl# war #ears were merel# repeated and placed in a more super(charged and propitious atmosphere the vehicle of pre(figuration the factor# council came into its own even if the theor# was fleshed out in his discussion of cooperatives in )*)7. @ne benchmar& did change however and is a clue to his uncritical acceptance of !enins wa# even after his earlier misinterpretation of !enin (temporar# necessar# charismatic capo of a s#stem of Soviets and wor&ers councils" rather than the dictator of a monopol# part#(state. And this is lin&ed to his criticism of %asonic Free Thought which reformist socialists most maximalist socialists and the anarchists all suffered from. Gramscis evaluation of Cacobinism changed drasticall# from the war #ears to )*+,. Cacobinism is a &e# conceptual benchmar& which measures how Gramscis politics grew increasingl# authoritarian in the #ears following the -olshevi& .evolution (Galli". -ut at first Cacobinism was not used in the context of .ussian politics but that of prewar 'talian political culture. $e used it in the same

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breath as his invocation of Sorels and Droces attac&s on the culture of %asonic free thought. Cacobinism 4is a messianic vision of histor#1 it alwa#s responds in abstractions evil good oppression libert# light shade which exist absolutel# genericall# and not in historical forms (Gramsci )*0: p.):*". 'n other words li&e free thought Cacobinism lac&ed grounding in historicism. -ut b# )*+, Cacobinism was associated with revolutionar# >aris heroicall# seeing off the internal and external enemies of the .evolution 3ust as the -olshevi&s fought a civil and external war against the m#riad enemies of their new state (Tognarini )*/7". Cacobinism too& on a different valence when Gramsci approached the question of cit# and the countr#side in 'tal# (in various and indeed contradictor# forms appearing in his essa# on the /ezzogiorno or his approach to the <A> and even war communism and later forced collectivi2ation". Cacobins were therefore pitiless against the enemies of the .evolution but also strengthened b# forming alliances with those elements in the countr#side open to accepting the political hegemon# of the -olshevi&s as the representatives of the urban wor&ing class. Similarl# Gramsci argued for the hegemon# of the >Dd' over peasant s#ndicalist or autonomist movements in the South not for an open(ended support for competitors in the rural !eft1 he was not a pluralist. $is earl# mista&en praise of Dernov is replaced b# venomous attac&s on the S.s and %a&hnos 4anarchist experiment in Divil(6ar 8&raine. $e endorsed -u&harins <A> and as a manifestation of alliance of cit# and countr#side based on the hegemon# of the Soviet Dommunist part# and as far we can tell Stalins war on the countr#side using these same first premises (>aggi5 !ev# forthcoming". The anti(Cacobinical socialism of pre()*)0 the negative interpretation of the Cacobins he learnt from Droce Salvemini or Sorel is replaced b# a praise of their rigour and their successful lin&age to the 4health# forces in the countr#side. <o

+0

longer sociall# divorced pedants arid ideological fanatics or the imbibers of shallow anti(clerical positivist nostrums Cacobins represent the creative but implacable -olshevi& elite which Gramsci never abandoned even if he probabl# agreed that Stalin has become a cruel t#rant a Genghis 9han with a telephone as his former all# in the )*+,s -u&harin described him. As Gramsci endorsed all things -olshevi& particularl# the '0ent$1One "oints he became increasingl# militantl# anti(anarchist. $owever throughout the earl# )*+,s he was placed in a dilemma tacticall#. -efore the suppression of the 9ronstadt rebellion the suppression of all factions in the .ussian Dommunist >art# and the failure of negotiations between various s#ndicalist trade unions and the Domintern Gramsci had to tread carefull#. 6hile he mercilessl# critici2ed the leadership of (nione Sindacle taliana he could not burn all his bridges since the .ussians saw merit in cultivating the 'talian anarchists and s#ndicalists especiall# when a pro(Domintern faction was formed in the 8S' itself. 'n Turin his anarchist allies were marginali2ed in F'@% after the occupation of the factories and some were murdered b# the Fascists in late )*++ but before the %arch on .ome and indeed until )*+;E)*+7 Gramsci saw merit in &eeping feelers open to the social interventionist !eft BAnnun2io and even briefl# with the suspiciousl# libertarian Arditi del >opolo the onl# anti(fascist militia in these #ears which caused %ussolini and the Fascists some concern (!ev# )***". -ut while Gramsci and his comrades maintained a none( stop tirade against the 4child(li&e antics of %alatesta and -orghi Finoviev and even !enin recogni2ed in %alatesta a revolutionar# and in -orghi a man to be wooed in %oscow (Antonioli and other references on anarchists and .ussia". Gramsci reverted to the same twin(trac& approach he used in )*)71 organic intellectual anarchists good1

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4traditional intellectual anarchists bad and chose to finesse the tactical cunning of the .ussians as much as possible. 7. Anarchism as the 8i(hest Form o& Sovversivismo ($e%y, +997) 'n the <oteboo&s Gramsci engages in historical and comparative sociological examination of the modern world and particularl# the collapse of !iberal 'tal# and the destruction of the !eft within it. Thus the nature of 'talian Fascism and its enduring success is the red thread which runs throughout his notes. The failure of the !eft and the triumph of Fascism and its transformation of the 'talian State are understood through the term sovversivismo. This term ma# be ta&en as a tool of historical and sociological anal#sis but it is drenched with highl# partisan political first premises that assume that the Gramscis historicist %arxism offers a master(&e# for unloc&ing the secrets of the past as well as the solutions for the !eft in the future. $e ma# have been writing the notes for eternit# and it is unli&el# he would have sanctioned their publication in the form the# were produced but he certainl# had not left his politics at the cell door. Aven if there was good deal of frustration and perhaps 3ustifiable paranoia about part# comrades and the murderous wa#s of the Georgian t#rant he was still a militant %arxist who wrote in such a spirit. The troubling aspect of Gramscis historici2ing %arxism is that mere empiricism and 4information is loo&ed upon as the greatest of mortal sins. 'n short unli&e the rather inelegant plodding notes of Angelo Tasca on utopian socialism and anarchism that are deposited in %ilans Biblioteca Feltrinelli for example Gramsci did not #et facts get in the wa# of theor# (For Angelo Tasca". The "rison Noteboo*s contain startling recollections of entire passages or their essence from 3ournalism of twent# #ears previousl#. <aturall# these recollections were reinforced b# his universit# training and his prison reading which

=,

was on the one hand rather rigorous but on the other due naturall# to the obvious constraints hit and miss. For instance there has been much written about Gramscis anal#sis of the Southern ?uestion. -ut this essa# is a brilliant revisiting of Salveminis arguments (ver# little new empirical evidence is presented to bac& it up" laced with a part# political message and coupled with a lament for 'tal#s missed revolution (s". Similarl# when he addressed the histor# of 'talian anarchism and

s#ndicalism he had to rel# on the dubious %ichels and 'talian positivists and some echoes of the sounder <ello .osselli (Gramsci citations in ?". Gramsci was less concerned with an in(depth account of the anarchists and s#ndicalists so much to use them in his construction of the all(purpose anal#tical term sovvervisimo. -ut this had been honed from his debates with the anarchists and s#ndicalists before )*+) and bore all the traces of a political term of art or possibl# an artifice of historicist metaph#sics. Cust as detailed &nowledge of the factor# councils and Soviets and the -olshevi&s did not prevent Gramsci from creating a fantasticall# libertarian !enin in the earl# #ears of the .ussian regime lac& of detailed anal#sis of the anarchists and s#ndicalists before )*+7 in 'tal# did not prevent him from shoe(horning them in his neat and political charged term sovverisivismo. This is frustrating because the term certainl# has its uses as a tool to interrogate that anarchist past but as a provisional probe an ideal(t#pe not as a form of political abuse. An interest in the histor# of anarchism is apparent in the pages of LOrdine nuovo however the 3ournals chief historian was not Gramsci but Angelo Tasca who demonstrated an in(depth if rather uns#mpathetic understanding of the utopian socialists and the anarchists. A series of pedantic debates over the interpretation of the histor# of schools of libertarian socialism saw Tasca ta&e on a variet# of anarchists in

=)

the pages of the 3ournal (!ev# )***". Gramscis interest throughout his life was to contrast the political and intellectual povert# of anarchism to that of historicist %arxism not dig deepl# into its histor#. 'n this respect both Gramsci and the #oung Togliatti had less grounding and 4feel for the culture or the social movement in which Tasca and his self(educated anarchist adversaries were born into. 6hereas Tasca was the son of a railwa# wor&er who cut his teeth within the positivism socialist free(thin&ing sub(culture of ante(bellum <orthern 'tal# Gramsci and Togliatti hailed from the vast and variegated lower to middle(middle classes (See biographies of Tasca cited above". There was a certain inherent snobbishness in Gramscis criticism of the (niversit) "opolare or Togliatti dismissal of the 4red baronies of the >o Kalle# (ironic indeed because those plodding baronies would be inherited b# the >D' after )*:; and retain a presence as a pale after(glow in the post( post communist left toda#" (Agosti". Gramsci and Togliatti were impatient and embarrassed b# the socialist and anarchist culture of free(thought and self(education. @f course there were man# wea&nesses in this culture and Gramsci made acute and painfull# accurate sarcastic remar&s about these throughout his career but he lac&ed empath# for this culture which ma&es him a hostile witness when he reflects on the failure of the !eft in general and the 4subversive !eft in particular in the Noteboo*s. 8nli&e Adward Thompson Gramsci did not want to save the anarchists and s#ndicalists from the condescension of historiansL !ater Togliatti thin&ing of formidable anarchist competition in the newl# born Spanish Second .epublic reali2ed that the anarchists were close to the heart and soul of pre(Fascist socialism so when %alatesta died in )*=+ Togliattis obituar# during the height of Stalinist Third >eriod sectarianism was balanced and thoughtful (@bit". And the communists cultivated the next li&el# generation of anarchists from their heartlands of Tuscan#

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!iguria .ome etc when Fascism undermined the continuit# of anarchism and victories of the .ed Arm# in the Aast lent the .ussian model great prestige (!ev# )*0*". For Gramsci the 'talian concept of the subversive and sovversivismo were based on a populist positioning of the people pitched against an ill(defined signori. This sovversivismo was a product of 'tal#s bastard modernit#. Subversives could come from the !eft and .ight and there even was a sovversivismo from above and subversives could be reversible as was the case of the social interventionists who interested Gramsci when he was an editor in Turin. Thus a lac& of modern political institutions a wea& ethical political culture and an incorrect reading of %arxism or social theor# especiall# amongst the anarchist and s#ndicalist subversives characteri2ed these currents. The touchstone of his earl# radicalism the .ed 6ee& of )*): and %alatesta became s#mbolic of this t#pe of 'talian radicalism. -ut the ghost at this banquet was his gaoler and Gramsci felt this personall# for had been drawn into politics partiall# b# the socialist and Stirnerite %ussolini and as is well &nown almost spoiled his cop# boo& b# his torturous flirtations with %ussolinis war interventionism. Sovversivismo Gramsci argued fed off the role of volunteers since Garibaldi toppled the -ourbon 9ingdom and set in train the >iedmont conquest of the peninsula. The anarchists were merel# one variation on this theme which included the republicans but also of course the fascist militia of the earl# )*+,s. The state was nourished b# reformed sovversivi from Drispi to %ussolini. The dependence on charismatic politics reflected in the anarchist and socialist leaders of pre(Fascist 'tal# demonstrated the low level of education of the 'talian people and wea&l# constructed institutions of the socialist and labour movement.

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-ut anarchists such as Arrico %alatesta were well aware of the dangers of hero worship (!ev# )**05 !ev# forthcoming". %alatesta preached organi2ation organi2ation and more organi2ation. Anarchism %alatesta argued was not about the lac& of organi2ation which was essential if anarchists were serious about dealing with the exigencies of the modern industrial cit#. $e ma# have been naIve but %alatesta pleaded with the factor# occupiers in )*+, to recommence trade with other factories without the capitalist state. For the Gramsci the lesson one learnt from the factor# occupations was that 4the spontaneit# in the factor# council movement was not neglected even less despised. 't was educated directed purged of extraneous contamination5 the aim was to bring it into line with modern theor#. (?" -ut nowhere in Gramsci do we find an open ac&nowledgement of the authoritarianism of Dommunism and possibilit# that socialism had failed to ta&e another more libertarian path in the wa# the tarnished Tasca did in the preface to his post(war edition of his wonderful histor# of the rise of Fascism where he invo&ed the libertarian potential of the pre(Fascist Dhambers of !abour ()*;, 'talian edition of boo&". 6hen Gramsci recalled another exemplar of 'talian grassroots socialism the factor# councils their most important contribution was not their inherent democrac# but their contribution to 4modern theor#. @ne can reconstruct a Gramscian critique of the Stalinist Soviet 8nion but he never questioned the %arxist monopol# on thought and action and he never granted the anarchists the title of gadflies of the revolution their warnings about the untrammeled powers of the new Soviet state were never accepted b# Gramsci even in his deepest pessimistic moments because their wa# of thin&ing was alien to his ver# being (>ons". :. A&ter *;04

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There is an epilogue to this stor#. 't is the man# seasons of Gramsci which followed the defrosting of the 'talian left after Stalins death and it is mainl# centred on the increasingl# open(minded nature of 'talian communist labour and socialist historiograph# (cite overviews". -ut there is another stor# which needs more evacuation. This involves dissident socialists engaging Togliatti in the wa&e of 9hrushchevs revelations and the $ungarian .evolution where the factor# councils of )*)*()*+, were rediscovered and their libertarian nature reevaluated. This had followed the anarchist historian >ier Darlo %asinis short pamphlet on the role of the anarchists in the Turinese movement of )*)*()*+, and the pioneering stud# of the historiograph# of 'talian anarchism and s#ndicalism b# the veteran Azionista2 !eo Kaliani (Dite %asini and Kaliani". %uch of this debate was forgotten in )*70(7* as fort#(nine varieties of %arxism Trots&#ism %aoism and Operaismo (which was densel# %arxist and involved few if an# wor&ers in its intellectual leadership" (6right" and m# review of it" critici2ed the >D' for its timid reformism and its remnant Stalinism but certainl# did not repudiate %arxist(!eninist core values. The Dommunists ma# have been too timid or too national populist but the# shared a common authoritarian and sectarian inheritance with these #oungsters. 't was onl# in the )*/,s and )*0,s with the emergence of new generation of historians not directl# lin&ed to the Dommunists or Dhristian Bemocrats or traditional liberal area that anarchists and s#ndicalists received their own historians in the shape of %auri2io Antonioli and the contributors to Rivista storica dellanarchismo and later in the )**,s and to the present an even more recent generation which has embraced a much less politici2ed form of social histor#. -ut it is interesting to note that one can detect a change in tone amongst the chief Dommunist experts on anarchism as the part# traveled towards it more liberal

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Aurocommunist public persona. An instructive essa# could be written for instance on the transformation of An2o Santarelli a Dommunist historian of the %arches and of Arrico %alatesta and the author of a small but influential histor# of anarchism that was the Dommunist alternative to the wor&s of >ier Darlo %asini. 6hereas %asini was Tasca reborn ver# empirical and rather tolerant of the pre(war positivist free thin&ing culture Santarellis impressive archival wor& in the )*;,s and )*7,s was alwa#s distorted b# conclusions dictated b# Gramscian !eninist orthodox#. Although for instance he clearl# demonstrated the popularit# and dexterit# of %alatesta in Ancona in )0*/()0*0 he could not end his account without a ritual dismissal of the child(li&e 4subversiveness of the anarchists politics (Dite his article on %alatesta". -ut this approach changes in the )*/= edition of his histor# of 'talian anarchism originall# published in )*;* where a levelheaded evaluation prevails (Dite two editions of Santarelli". -# the )*/,s leading Dommunist historians (notabl# Giovanni >rocacci" were prepared to agree that Gramscis characteri2ation of 'talian s#ndicalism as largel# a Southern movement was empiricall# misleading and distorted b# political considerations. 'ndeed two conferences under the auspices of part# historians were important turning points for a balanced stud# of 'talian s#ndicalism (!ev# +,,,". 'f the era of the compromesso storico left little of tangible benefit it certainl# did free 'talian historians from the constraints imposed b# a ritual acceptance of Gramscis formulaic term sovversivismo.

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5iblio(raphy Agosti A. 4!e correnti constitutive del comunismo interna2ionale in A. C. $obsbawm (ed." Storia del mar#ismo Turin vol. = pt. ) pp. ==,(=7,. Agosti A. "almiro 'ogliatti Turin )**7 and Anglish edition "almiro 'ogliatti3 A Biograph$ !ondon +,,0. Anderson >. 4The Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci Ne0 Le&t Revie0 no. ),, )*/7()*// pp. ;(/0. Asor .osa 4!a Dultura in .. .omano and D. Kivanti (eds." Storia d talia2 vol .: pt.ii Turin )*/;. Audenino >. 4<on piM eternal iloti1 valori e modelli della pedogogia socialista in !. .ossi (ed." Cultura2 istruzione e socialismo nellet) giolittiana %ilan )**) pp. =/( ;:. -adaloni <. l mar#ismo di !ramsci Turin )*/;. -ellam# .. /odern talian Social 'heor$4 deolog$ and "olitics &rom "areto to the "resent Dambridge )*0/. -ellam# . and Schecter B. !ramsci and the talian State %anchester )**= -ergami G. l giovane !ramsci e il mar#ismo4 565515657 %ilan )*//. -erta G. 4The 'nterregnum1 Turin Fiat and 'ndustrial Donflict between 6ar and Fascism in D. 6rigle# (ed." Challenges i& Labour2 Central and -estern 8urope 5659156:; !ondon )**= pp. ),;()+:. -erti G. (ed." >roblemi del movimento operaio. Scritti critici e storici inediti di Angelo Tasca Annali della Biblioteca !iangiacomo Feltrinelli vol. ), )*70. -ertrand. D.(ed." Revolutionar$ Situations in 8urope2 5659156::4 !erman$2 tal$2 Austria1%ungar$ %ontreal )*//. -oggs !ramscis /ar#ism !ondon )*/7.

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-oggs 'he '0o Revolutions4 !ramsci and the .ilemmas o& -estern /ar#ism -oston )*0:. -racco F. 4'l giovane Gramsci e Sorel in K. Domparato (ed." !eorges Sorel3 Studi e recherch, Florence )*/: pp. )//()*;. -roccoli Antonio !ramsci e leducazione come egemonia Florence )*/+. -uci(Gluc&sman D. 4State Transition and >assive .evolution in D. %ouffe (ed." !ramsci and /ar#ist 'heor$ !ondon )*/*. Datone A. 4Gramsci la tradi2ione socialista e il problema della mnacata rice2ione del marxismo in . Giacomini B !osurdo and % %artelli (eds." !ramsci el talia 8rbino )**: pp. +:=(+/7. Dlar& %. Antonio !ramsci and the Revolution that Failed <ew $aven Donn )*//. Bal >ane !. Antonio Labriola nella politica e nella cultura italiana Turin )*/; +nd edition. Begli 'nnocenti %. !eogra&ia e istituzioni del socialismo italiano 576:1565< <aples )*0=. Be Grand A. C. n Stalins Shado04 Angelo 'asca and the Crisis o& the Le&t in tal$ and France2 565;156<= Be 9alb 'll. )*07. Antwistle $. Antonio !ramsci3 Conservative Schooling &or Radical "olitics !ondon )*/*. Fiori G. Antonio !ramsci4 Li&e o& a Revolutionar$ !ondon )*/,. Furio22i Sorel e L talia FlorenceE%essina )*/7. Galli Garin A. )*7/.

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Goisis G. !. 4Gramsci e Sorel K. %elchiorre D. Kigna and G. Be .osa (eds" Antonio !ramsci e il pensiero teorico e politico4 la >uestione leninista .ome )*/* pp. /,(*,. Gramsci A. Quaderni del carcere (edited b# Kalentino Gerratana" Kols. )(: Turin )*/;. Gramsci A. Scritti 565=156:5 (edited b# Sergio Daprioglio" %ilan )*/7. Gramsci A. Selections &rom "olitical -ritings 565;156:; (selected and edited b# ?uintin $oare translated b# Cohn %atthews" !ondon )*//. Gramsci A. Cronache torinesi (edited b# Sergio Daprioglio" Turin )*0,. Gramsci A. La citt) &uture4 565915657 (edited b# Sergio Daprioglio" Turin )*0+. Gramsci A. l nostro /ar#4 565715656 (edited b# Sergio Daprioglio" Turin )*0:. Gramsci A. "re1"rison -ritings (edited b# .ichard -ellam# and translated b# Kiriginia Dox" Dambridge )**:. $arrison .. 'he Li&e and 'imes o& Sidne$ and Beatrice -ebb4 57=7156;= -asingsto&e +,,,. 'ves Laguage and %egemon$ in !ramsci2 !ondon +,,:. Cacobitti A. A. Revolutionar$ %umanism and %istoricism in /odern tal$ <ew $aven Donn. )*0). 9irb# B. -ar2 "eace and Revolution3 nternational Socialism at the Crossroads 5656<15657 !ondon )*07. !indemann A. !ev# D. 4%alatesta in Axile Annali della Fondazione Luigi 8inaudi2 vol. ); )*0) pp. +:;(+/,. !ev# D. 4A <ew !oo& at the Noung Gramsci Boundar$ :2 vol. ): no. = )*07 pp. =)(:0.

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!ev# D. 4'talian Anarchism )0/,()*+7 in B. Goodwa# (ed." For Anarchism4 %istorical and 'heoretical Approaches !ondon )*0* pp. +:(/0. !ev# D. 4Dharisma and Social %ovements1 Arrico %alatesta and 'talian Anarchism /odern tal$ Kol. = no. + )**0 pp. +,;(+)/. !ev# D. !ramsci and the Anarchists @xford )***. !ev# D 4Durrents of 'talian S#ndicalism before )*+7 nternational Revie0 o& Social %istor$ vol. :; + +,,, pp. +,*(+;,. !ev# D. 4The >eople and the >rofessors1 Socialism and the Aducated %iddle Dlasses in 'tal# )0/,()*): ?ournal o& /odern talian Studies Kol. 7 <o. + +,,) pp. )*=( +,0. !ev# D. 4Anarchism 'nternationalism and <ationalism in Aurope )07,()*=* Australian ?ournal o& "olitics and %istor$2Kol. ;, <o. + +,,: pp. ==,(=:+. !ev#. D. 4Sovversivismo1 The .adical >olitical Dulture of @therness in !iberal 'tal# ?ournal o& "olitical deologies Kol. )+ <o. + +,,/ pp. ):/()7). !ev# D. Antonio !ramsci3 /ar#2 /achiavelli and /odernit$ Dambridge forthcoming. !ev# D. 'he Rooted Cosmopolitan4 8rrico /alatesta2 the Li&e and 'imes o& an talian Anarchist in 8#ile forthcoming. !indemann A. S. @'he Red Aears4 8uropean Socialism and Bolshevism2 5656156:5 -er&ele# Dalif. )*/:. !o >iparo F. Lingua intelletuali egemonia in !ramsci -ari )*/*. !otti !. La settimana rossa Florence )*/+. %alatesta %. 4Gramsci e il sindacalismo rivolutiionario. .eflessioni sul rapporto tra analisi storiografica e giudi2io di valore Richerche Storiche Kol. ), <o ) )*0) pp. =+/(=;/.

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%asini >(D Anarchici e comunisti nel movimento dei consigli a 'orinp B"rimo dopoguerra 5656156:;C Turin )*;) %asini >(D Antonio !ramsci e lOrdine Nuovo vista da un libertario %ilan )*;7. %asini >(D Storia degli anarchici italiani dal Ba*unin a /alatesta B57D:1576:C %ilan )*/:. %asini >(D Storia degli anarchici italiani nellepoca degli attentati %ilan )*0). %orabito G. 4Antonio Gramsci e lidealismo guridico italiano. Bue tesi a confronto Storia e "olitica vol. 7 no. : )*/* pp. /::(/;;. >iccone >. 4From Spaventa to Gramsci 'elos no. =) )*// pp. =;(77. >ivato S /ovimento operaio e istruzione popolare nell talia liberale2 %ilan )*07. >ons S. 4 >rocacci G. 4Antonio !abriola e la revisione del marxismo attraverso lepistolario con -ernstein e con 9auts&# )0*;()*,: Annali della Biblioteca !iangiacomo Feltrinelli col. = )*7, pp. +7:(=:). .ead D. Religion2 Revolution and the Russian ntelligentsia 56;;1565: !ondon )*/*. .iosa A.. Angelo 'asca socialista Kenice )*/*. .osada %. G. Le universit) popolari .ome )*/;. .ossini B. -oodro0 -ilson and the American /$th in tal$3 Culture2 .iplomac$ and -ar "ropaganda Dambridge %ass +,,0. .oth C. C. 'he Cult o& Eiolence3 Sorel and the Sorelians -er&ele# )*0,. Santarelli A 4!a2ione di Arrico %alatesta e ' moti do )0*0 ad Ancona /ovimento Operaio Kol. 7 )*;: pp. +:0(+/+. Santarelli A l socialismo anarchico in talia %ilan )*;* and )*/= editions. Santarelli A. La revisione del mar#ismo in talia %ilan )*7:.

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Schecter B. 4Two Kiews of .evolution1 Gramsci and Sorel )*)7()*+, %istor$ o& 8uropean deas vol. )+ no. ; )**, pp. 7=7(7;=. Schecter B. !ramsci and the 'heor$ o& ndustrial .emocrac$ Aldershot )**). Service .. Lenin. !ondon +,,,. Sirianni D. -or*ers Control and Socialist .emocrac$3 'he Soviet 8#perience !ondon )*0+. Tasca A. Nascita e avvento del &ascismo4 L talia dal 5657 a 56:: Florence )*;,. Tobia -. 4'l partito socialista e la politica di 6. 6ilson ()*)7()*)*" Storia Contemporanea Kol. 7 )*/: pp. +/;(=,=. Togliatti >. )*=+. Tognarini '. 4Giacobinismo e bolschevismo1 Albert %athie2 e LOrdine Nuovo Richerche Storiche2 Kol. 7 )*/7 pp. ;+=(:*. Tronti % )*;*. 8rbinati <. 4The South of Antonio Gramsci and the Doncept of $egemon# in C. Schneider (ed." tal$s @Southern Question4 Orientalism in One Countr$ @xford )**0 pp. )=;();7. Kaliani !. 6illiams .. D. 'he Other Bolshevi*s -loomington 'nd. )*07. Turi G. 4'ntellettuali e propaganda nel movimento socialista in S. Soldani and G. Turi (eds." Fare gli italiani3 Scuola e cultura nell talia contemporanea3 La nascita dello Stato nazionale vol.. ) -ologna )**= pp. :;*(;,). Fagaria A. /ar#ismo e revisionismo3 Bernstein Sorel !raziadei Leone <aples )*/;.

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