Gramsci in China: Past, Present, and Future of a Still Open Encounter

Abstract

AbstractAssessments of the nature and trajectory of China’s political economy polarise into a highly controversial debate. The present paper aims to introduce Antonio Gramsci as a powerful ally in making sense of the specificities of the Chinese case by shedding light on the past, present, and future of the Gramsci‐China encounter. Starting from an in‐depth assessment of the reception of Gramsci’s textual legacy in Mainland China and of the main related problems, the paper promotes a philologically sound, diachronic approach to the potential of a Gramscian perspective in analysing China’s peculiar trajectory, such as the ability to focus on: (1) the constructed nature of Chinese hegemony; (2) the terrain of China’s integral state; (3) adopted strategies of passive revolution; (4) the materiality of Chinese hegemony; (5) its processual and contested nature across different times and scales; as well as (6) key links between intellectuals and the production of common sense.