Gramsci and Trotsky in the Shadow of Stalinism

This book examines the legacy of Antonio Gramsci and Leon Trotsky in the shadow of Stalinism in order to reassess the very different and distorted academic reception of the two figures, as well as to contribute to the revitalization of Marxism for our time. While Gramsci and Trotsky lived and died in a similar fashion, as revolutionary Marxist leaders and theoreticians, their reception in academia could not be more different. Gramsci has become tremendously popular, becoming a central figure in many disciplines, while Trotsky remains largely ignored. Saccarelli argues that not only is Gramsci popular for the wrong reasons--being routinely distorted and depoliticized--even when rescued from his contemporary users, Gramsci remains inadequate. Conversely, the fact that Trotsky remains beyond the pale of "theory" is a terrible indictment of the current state of academic thinking.

Emanuele Saccarelli graduated from the University of Minnesota with a doctorate in Political Science and is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at San Diego State University. His publications include Empire, Rifondazione Comunista, and the Politics of Spontaneity and Alone in the World: The Existential Socrates in the Apology and Crito.

Acknowledgments Chapter One: Introduction: Enter Stage Left, Gramsci and Trotsky Part I: The Mummy, the Professor, and the Cannibal: The Contemporary Uses and the Marxist Reclamation of Antonio Gramsci Chapter Two: Out of the Wrappings: Gramsciology and the Embalming of Political Theory Chapter Three: A Man of Modest Appetite: Gramsci and Political Cannibalism Part II: The Fortune-Teller and the High-Wire Act: Leon Trotsky, Stalinism, and Political Theory Chapter Four: Telling Fortunes to the Doomed: Trotsky from Clairvoyance to Theory Chapter Five: The Balance of Criticism: Trotsky's High-Wire Act Chapter Six: Conclusion Notes Bibliography