Gramsci’s status as a canonical figure within the tradition of Western Marxism often has led to an overly schematic reading of his work. Gramsci has been credited with the formulation of a strategy for communist parties operating within the developed States of the West that was both revolutionary and democratic. As such, his ideas have appeared to offer a radical alternative to social democracy on the one hand and the autocratic party bureaucracies of the countries of “actually existing socialism” on the other. This chapter offers an introduction to the life of Gramsci and his early writings, tracing his intellectual and educational progress from his origin in the marginalized south of Italy through the industrialized north.
