Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 17:55:46 -0500
From: hugh bone <hbone-AT-optonline.net>
Subject: Re: Public Intellectuals


Steve and Don,

I was responding to Don's post on Gramsci.  Most seemed
reasonable, Part of it I read as basic Marxism.  The revolutionary part made
Russian peasants into an educated people who defeated Hitler, became the
second atomic power and accumulated more man-hours in Space than the U.S -
without becoming famous for democracy.

If there's something Gramsci said that can be used to benefit
those who want more democracy, why not?

Also am interested in what Silvano has to say from U. of Paris.

Wasn't Lyotard at Universite' Paris VIII?

Cheers,
Hugh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


> Hugh
>
> An inaccurate rendition of Gramsci - check out work of Chantal Mouffe,
Ernesto
> Laclau for more direct and acceptable rendition of the Gramscian position.
The
> very notion of 'hegemony' is contrary to the notion of 'violence and
> revolution', Gramsci was deeply democratic...
>
> regards
>
> sdv
>
> hugh bone wrote:
>
> > Don,
> >
> > Thanks for the quote.  I think the general statements about
intellectuals
> > are substantially accurate.  There is always the question:  What are the
> > beliefs and motives of the one who speaks?
> >
> > When Gramsci goes into Marxist mode, he may speak truly, but
> > the language, intent, and meaning, of Marx was violence and revolution
which
> > might have led to "Social Democracy", and some (not me) would claim it
was
> > achieved in the USSR, China and Cuba.
> >
> > Hugh
> >
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> > > In a message dated 2/14/01 5:41:21 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> > > hbone-AT-optonline.net writes:
> > >
> > > << 1) Who are the public intellectuals?  Maybe they're like the
> > >  Abominable Snowman, roaming the forest in theory, but never seen in
the
> > >  flesh.
> > >   >>
> > >
> > > Hue and others, I thought you might like to know what Antonio Gramsci
> > thought
> > > about intellectuals. He divided intellectuals into two groups: those
> > directly
> > > involved in "directing the ideas and aspirations of their class"
through
> > > hegemony, known as organic intellectuals and the rest, known as
> > traditional
> > > intellectuals.
> > >
> > > Don Smith
> > >
> > > Following is a rather long quote from "Selections from the Prison
> > Notebooks -
> > > Antonio Gramsci".
> > >
> > > The central argument of Gramsci's essay on the formation of the
> > intellectuals
> > > is simple. The notion of "the intellectuals" as a distinct social
category
> > > independent of class is a myth. All men are potentially intellectuals
in
> > the
> > > sense of having an intellect and using it, but not all are
intellectuals
> > by
> > > social function Intellectuals in the fimctional sense fall into two
> > groups.
> > > In the first place there are the "traditional" professional
intellectuals,
> > > literary, scientific and so on, whose position in the interstices of
> > society
> > > has a certain inter-class aura about it but derives ultimately from
past
> > and
> > > present class relations and conceals an attachment to various
historical
> > > class formations. Secondly, there are the "organic" intellectuals, the
> > > thinking and organising element of a particular fundamental social
class.
> > > These organic intellectuals are distinguished less by their
profession,
> > which
> > > may be any job characteristic of their class, than by their function
in
> > > directing the ideas and aspirations of the class to which they
organically
> > > belong.
> > > The implications of this highly original schema bear on all aspects of
> > > Gramsci's thought. Philosophically they connect with the proposition
> > (p.323)
> > > that "all men are philosophers" and with Gramsci's whole discussion
"of
> > the
> > > dissemination of philosophical ideas and of ideology within a given
> > culture.
> > > They relate to Gramsci's ideas on Education (pp. hrt) in their stress
on
> > the
> > > democratic character of the intellectual function, but also on the
class
> > > character of the formation of intellectuals through school. They also
> > > underlie his study of history and particularly of the Risorgimento, in
> > that
> > > the intellectuals, in the wide sense of the word, are seen by Gramsci
as
> > > performing an essential mediating function in the struggle of class
> > forces.
> > > Most important of all, perhaps, are the implications for the political
> > > struggle. Social Democracy, following Kautsky, has tended to see the
> > > relationship between workers and intellectuals in the Socialist
movement
> > in
> > > formal and mechanistic terms, with the intellectuals-refugees from the
> > > bourgeois class-providing theory and ideology (and often leadership)
for a
> > > mass base of non-intellectuals, i.e. workers. This division of labour
> > within
> > > the movement was vigorously contested by Lenin, who declares, in What
is
> > to
> > > be Done, that in the revolutionary party "all distinctions as between
> > workers
> > > and intellectuals... must be obliterated". Lenin's attitude to the
problem
> > of
> > > the intellectuals is closely connected with his theory of the vanguard
> > party,
> > > and when he writes about the need for socialist consciousness to be
> > brought
> > > to the working class from outside, the agency he foresees for carrying
> > this
> > > out is not the traditional intelligentsia but the revolutionary party
> > itself,
> > > in which former workers and former professional intellectuals of
bourgeois
> > > origin have been fused into a single cohesive unit. Gramsci develops
this
> > > Leninist schema in a new way, relating it to the problems of the
working
> > > class as a whole. The working class, like the bourgeoisie before it,
is
> > > capable of developing from within its ranks its own organic
intellectuals,
> > > and the function of the political party, whether mass or vanguard, is
that
> > of
> > > channeling the activity of these organic intellectuals and providing a
> > link
> > > between the class and certain sections of the traditional
intelligentsia.
> > The
> > > organic intellectuals of the working class are defined on the one hand
by
> > > their role in production and in the organisation of work and on the
other
> > by
> > > their "directive" political role, focused on the Party. It is through
this
> > > assumption of conscious responsibility, aided by absorption of ideas
and
> > > personnel from the more advanced bourgeois intellectual strata, that
the
> > > proletariat can escape from defensive corporatism and economism and
> > advance
> > > towards hegemony.
> > >
>
>