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Gramsci in Context
This is a revised and 50%-expanded edition of the 2012 booklet Antonio working-class revolutionary, summarising Gramsci's life and thought. It includes a 'Gramsci glossary', critically reviewing concepts and terms from Gramsci now widely used or misused in political discourse. It presents the major ideas from, and engages in debate with, Peter Thomas's big study, The Gramscian Moment; disputes the 'post-Marxist'; readings of Gramsci; discusses the relation between Gramsci's ideas and Trotsky's.
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October 20, 2025
Gramsci in Context by Martin Thomas is an incisive and intellectually rigorous exploration of one of the 20th century’s most enduring political theorists. Far from being a detached academic summary, Thomas’s work restores Gramsci’s thought to its revolutionary urgency, cutting through decades of misinterpretation and theoretical distortion.
This book does more than summarize Gramsci’s life and ideas it reclaims them. From the contested terrain of cultural hegemony to the strategic nuances of revolutionary leadership, Thomas situates Gramsci within both his historical moment and our own, showing how his insights remain startlingly relevant in an age of ideological confusion.
The inclusion of Peter Thomas’s presentation of The Gramscian Moment and the extended interview enrich the volume further a rare intellectual dialogue between two major interpreters of Marxist thought. The “Gramsci glossary” is an invaluable tool for readers navigating the dense, often co-opted terminology surrounding Gramscian analysis today.
Gramsci in Context is both a scholarly contribution and a political intervention, challenging the “post-Marxist” readings that have depoliticized Gramsci’s radical edge. For serious readers of political philosophy, it offers not only clarity but confrontation.
Meticulous, thought-provoking, and fiercely relevant, Martin Thomas’s work reminds us that Gramsci’s prison notebooks were not relics they were blueprints.
This book does more than summarize Gramsci’s life and ideas it reclaims them. From the contested terrain of cultural hegemony to the strategic nuances of revolutionary leadership, Thomas situates Gramsci within both his historical moment and our own, showing how his insights remain startlingly relevant in an age of ideological confusion.
The inclusion of Peter Thomas’s presentation of The Gramscian Moment and the extended interview enrich the volume further a rare intellectual dialogue between two major interpreters of Marxist thought. The “Gramsci glossary” is an invaluable tool for readers navigating the dense, often co-opted terminology surrounding Gramscian analysis today.
Gramsci in Context is both a scholarly contribution and a political intervention, challenging the “post-Marxist” readings that have depoliticized Gramsci’s radical edge. For serious readers of political philosophy, it offers not only clarity but confrontation.
Meticulous, thought-provoking, and fiercely relevant, Martin Thomas’s work reminds us that Gramsci’s prison notebooks were not relics they were blueprints.
Displaying 1 of 1 review