Prison Notebooks (Vol. 5)

In the fifth volume of Prison Notebooks, Gramsci dedicates himself to the historical and social study of Italy in the mid-nineteenth century and especially of subaltern and marginalized social groups throughout the centuries.

This Brazilian edition of the Prison Notebooks was organized by Carlos Nelson Coutinho — internationally recognized as one of the greatest experts on Gramsci's thought —, with the collaboration of Luiz Sérgio Henriques, essayist, translator and editor of the online magazine Gramsci e o Brasil, and Marco Aurélio Nogueira, associate professor at the São Paulo State University.

The six volumes of the Prison Notebooks are divided, according to Gramsci's own instructions, into "special notebooks" and "miscellaneous notebooks." In the former, Gramsci grouped notes on specific topics; in the latter, he gathered notes on diverse subjects. In addition to reproducing the "special notebooks" as they were bequeathed to us by the Italian thinker, this edition includes the notes contained in the "miscellaneous notebooks," relating to the basic content of each of the "special notebooks."

Volume 5 contains two of these "special notebooks": one dedicated to the Risorgimento, that is, the processes that led to the unification of Italy in the mid-19th century; and another dedicated to the history of subaltern social groups, which essentially deals with themes related to Italian history. This is followed by a section entitled "Of the Miscellaneous Notebooks," which brings together the various notes devoted not only to the themes addressed in the special notebooks but also to Italian history in general, from the medieval period to Gramsci's contemporary period.

"In this volume of the Prison Notebooks, Gramsci reflects on the Risorgimento, the formation of the Italian nation-state, and other topics. Therein lie some fundamental arguments on 'passive revolution,' the 'organic intellectual,' and the 'traditional,' as well as important suggestions on 'uneven and combined development' and 'non-contemporaneity.' It should be noted that these reflections contribute decisively to the explanation of the 'national question' in other countries; and they can contribute to the debate on the intellectual and technocracy, uneven and combined development, and non-contemporaneity on a global scale, as he himself occasionally suggests." — Octavio Ianni

“In his reflections, Gramsci insists on making it clear that the theory of passive revolution should not be considered as a 'program', but rather as a criterion for historiographical interpretation.” — Valentino Gerratana