Antonio Gramsci's Anti‐Fascism

Not Your Average Fascist's Cultural Marxism

Bibliographic Data

ID24212975
AuthorsStefan Kipfer (0000-0003-2919-2758, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change York University Toronto Ontario Canada)
Year2026
Volume58
Issue6
Publication date2026-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAntipode (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0066-4812 • E-ISSN: 1467-8330
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/anti.70211
OpenAlexW7214175976
LanguageEN
References cited39

This paper discusses the form and content of Gramsci's Marxism in light of long debates about anti‐fascism. Through twists and turns, Gramsci came to understand fascism as a new form of politics, as a movement, ideology or regime. No mere bourgeois reaction, fascism is a sui generis form of mass politics that translates the roots of modern authoritarianism in particular ways. In Gramsci's writing, fascism is not an ideal type but a moving force. The specific threat fascism poses must thus be assessed not in the abstract but through dynamics of transformation. Open‐ended, Gramsci's approach intervened in crisis‐ridden conjunctures shaped by multiple temporalities and geographies; it also proposed a multi‐scalar internationalist response to international fascism. Finally, Gramsci's non‐sectarian anti‐fascism became a core element of hegemonic praxis. While forced to operate on the hegemonic terrain of fascism, it was an infinitely more ambitious project and should not be confused with the Gramsci far‐right authors have vilified or claimed under the rubric of cultural Marxism.

anti-fascism · Antonio Gramsci · Authoritarianism · cultural Marxism · Far right · Fascism · Gramscian political thought · Hegemony · Internationalism · Marxism · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Political theory and Gramsci · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics

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