Further Readings
Goldman, Emma. Living My Life.New York: Dover Publications,
1970.
———. My Further Disillusionment in Russia,being a continua-
tion of Goldman’s experiences in Russia as given in My dis-
illusionment in Russia.Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1924.
Drinnon, Richard. Rebel in Paradise: A Biography of Emma Gold-
man.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Gramsci, Antonio (1891–1937) Italian com-
munist
Born in the province of Cagliari in Sardinia, Gramsci
was educated at the University of Turin. While a stu-
dent at the University, Gramsci became involved in the
Socialist Youth Federation and, in 1914, joined the Ital-
ian Socialist Party (PSI). Gramsci also began to work as
a journalist during World War I. He had started an
intensive study of the work of Karl MARX, and he was a
frequent speaker at workers’ study circles on historical
and political topics. Gramsci became convinced during
the latter stages of the war, during which the Bolshevik
revolution occurred in Russia in October 1917, that
CAPITALISMmust be assailed by the forces and strategies
of revolutionary SOCIALISM. Gramsci utilized his jour-
nalistic skills to promote the cause of radical social
transformation. In 1919, he established with several
colleagues a new periodical called L’ Or dine nuovo(The
New Order), which published critical reviews of cul-
tural and political ideas and events throughout Europe,
the Soviet Union, and the United States.
In 1921, while attending the Italian Socialist Party
Congress at Livorno, Gramsci participated in a walkout
by the communist minority within the PSI. He then
played an instrumental role in helping to found the
Italian Communist Party (PCI), becoming a member of
its central committee. A strong supporter of Soviet
communism at this time, Gramsci spent 1922 and
1923 living in Moscow as an Italian delegate to the
Communist International. After his return to Italy, he
was elected to the chamber of deputies and soon
became the general secretary of the PCI. In the interim,
Benito Mussolini, the leader of the Italian Fascist Party,
had assumed control of the Italian government. In con-
solidating his DICTATORSHIP, Mussolini outlawed politi-
cal opposition, including the Italian Communist Party.
Because of his position and activities with the PCI,
Gramsci was arrested and imprisoned by the fascists in- He spent the next 11 years in various prisons,
suffering from poor conditions and failing health. He
died from a cerebral hemorrhage in Rome a week after
being released from prison.
Gramsci made several important contributions to
Marxist theory. Much of his significant writing is con-
tained in the notebooks and letters he wrote while
confined to prison. Probably the most notable of
Gramsci’s ideas is his concept of hegemony.According
to Gramsci, hegemonyrefers to the process whereby a
ruling class solidifies its political, intellectual, and
moral authority or leadership over the rest of society.
Hegemony can be established through consent or coer-
cion. Under capitalism, the dominated masses come to
adopt the ideology and values imposed on society by
the dominant economic ruling CLASS. For Gramsci, the
communist revolution requires that the proletariat
achieve hegemony. Indeed, the success of hegemony
consists of the dominated perceiving the instruments
of domination as being in their best interests, thereby
reinforcing the AUTHORITYand control of the dominat-
ing class. In essence, then, the concept of hegemony
develops the Marxist insight that the ideas of a culture
are the ideas of its ruling class. For this reason, Gram-
sci also advanced the notion that culture, in addition
to politics and the economy, is a fundamental element
of social change that deserves not only increased theo-
retical analysis, but also an enhanced role in political
Gramsci, Antonio 125Emma Goldman, 1934.(LIBRARY OFCONGRESS)