Antonio Gramsci on religion

Abstract

This article provides an introduction to Antonio Gramsci’s understanding and analysis of religion. It shows that Gramsci’s conceptual constellation and key terms – from hegemony to organic intellectuals, from moral and intellectual reform to common sense – were formulated precisely in his critique to religion, and specifically to Catholicism in Italy. Rejecting the determinism and reductionism of orthodox Marxism, Gramsci saw religion as an active mode of experiencing social and historical reality, and came to conceptualize Marxism (the philosophy of praxis) as a new secular religion. The article demonstrates how Gramsci subtly and deftly problematized the relationship between religion, power, and politics in society. It will in particular foreground his astute reading of religion in practices and in common sense. Gramsci’s views on religion, this article argues, offer insightful theoretical tools that could be of considerable benefit for scholars (sociologists, anthropologists, and historians) examining religious phenomena in a global post-modern world.