STATE, POLITICAL POWER AND LAW IN AN AGE OF CHANGE: WHY READ GRAMSCI?

The present article takes as its starting point the question about the relevance of Antonio Gramsci's thought in dealing with classical and still current problems in the theory of the State. The notion of hegemony in Gramscian thought is adopted as an analytical framework, starting from the premise that, through this category, Gramsci examined sensitive issues for the theory of State, such as unity, power and collective will. In section 1, the article seeks to situate Gramscian thought within the Marxist tradition in order to highlight its originality, which encompasses its conception of the State. In section 2, the article examines, based on the historicization of Gramscian thought, how the discovery of the theme of hegemony in the terrain of Bolshevism and the subsequent effort to 'translate' that notion into the Italian context unveiled unique perspectives on the State and the relations between unity, formation of collective will and consensus. Section 3 seeks to clarify how, in prison writings, the concept of hegemony is reformulated and deepened and combined with the notion of passive revolution, tries to understand the radical transformations that the State in the West was going through among the first post-war and the 1930s. In its conclusion, the article argues that Gramscian reflection, through the application of the above mentioned categories to the study of the emergence of the politically programmed economy, left us an important contribution to the construction of a critical theory of social and political change, in which the State and the law are reserved relevant places.