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Gramsci is Dead

Gramsci is Dead

Anarchist Currents in the Newest Social Movements

by Richard J. F. Day

'Brilliant.' Nick Dyer-WitherfordA radical re-working of revolutionary theory and its role in politics today.
"Inspired to contribute to the symbiotic relationship between the academic and activist worlds, Day has decided to pick up the pen instead of the Molotov cocktail. The result is this brilliant book."
Ann Hansen
Ann was sentenced to life imprisonment for blowing up a cruise-missile component factory, and is the author of Direct Action: The Memoirs of an Urban Guerilla

"If revolutionary politics are to be reconstituted for the twenty-first century, all previously existing radical traditions must not only be remade but placed in new relationships with one another. The anarchism of Richard Day’s brilliant Gramsci is Dead is not only an explosive break-out from the demoralizing horizons of contemporary social democracy, but also an exuberant intellectual dance-invitation extended to all mutant Marxists, autonomists and species-being activists eager to catch the strains of a new tune: Red Emma would be proud."
Nick Dyer-Witheford, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario and author of Cyber-Marx (1999)

Gramsci and the concept of hegemony cast a long shadow over radical political theory. Yet how far has this theory got us? Is it still central to feminism, anti-capitalism, anti-racism, anarchism, and other radical social movements today?

Unlike previous revolutionary movements, Day argues, most contemporary radical social movements do not strive to take control of the state. Instead, they attempt to develop new forms of self-organisation that can run in parallel with -- or as alternatives to -- existing forms of social, political, and economic organization. This is to say that they follow a logic of affinity rather than one of hegemony.

This book draws together a variety of different strands in political theory to weave together an
innovative new approach to politics today. Rigorous and wide-ranging, Day introduces and interrogates key concepts. From Hegel's concept of recognition, through theories of hegemony and affinity to Hardt and Negri's reflections on Empire, Day maps academia's theoretical and philosophical concerns onto today's politics of the street.

Ideal for all students of political theory, Day's fresh approach combines Marxist, Anarchist and
Post-structuralist theory to shed new light on the politics and practice of contemporary social
movements.

Richard J. F. Day is Professor in the Department of Global Development at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. He is a founder of the Critical U. community education project in Vancouver and has participated in food, housing and financial co-operatives. He is the author of Gramsci is Dead (Pluto, 2005).

'Not only an explosive break out from the demoralising horizons of contemporary social democracy, but also an exuberant intellectual dance-invitation extended to all mutant Marxists, autonomists and species-being activists eager to catch the strains of a new tune' - Nick Dyer-Witheford, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario and author of Cyber-Marx: Cyclesand Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism (University of Illinois, 1999) 'Inspired to contribute to the symbiotic relationship between the academic and activist worlds, Day has decided to pick up the pen instead of the Molotov cocktail. The result is this brilliant book' - Ann Hansen -sentenced to life imprisonment for blowing up a cruise-missile component factory, and is the author of Direct Action: The Memoirs of an Urban Guerilla. 'Reassesses from an anarchist perspective the 'logic of hegemony' that unites classical Marxism and liberalism, and declares that this logic has been 'exhausted' by recent social movements' - Roger Farr, The Rain Review of Books 'A bold and quite convincing statement, one that offers exceptional insight into contemporary political activism' - Shane Mulligan, Political Studies Review
List Of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Doing It Yourself: Direct Action Currents In Contemporary Radical Activism
2. Tracking The Hegemony Of Hegemony: Classical Marxism And Liberalism
3. Tracking The Hegemony Of Hegemony: Postmarxism And The New Social Movements
4. Utopian Socialism Then …
5. … And Now
6. Ethics, Affinity, And The Coming Communities
7. Conclusion: Utopian Socialism Again And Again
Notes
References
Published by Pluto Press in Sep 2005
Paperback ISBN: 9780745321127
eBook ISBN: 9781783716531

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