Abstract
Those who believe in the revolutionary potential of education, broadly defined, will find Nicola Pizzolato and John D Holst’s edited book Antonio Gramsci: A pedagogy to change the world invaluable. More specifically, scholars looking for a critical and contemporary review of Gramsci, power and education will be delighted. Weighing in a tad over 200 pages, the relatively small size of this book is almost directly inversely proportional to its ability to detail and unpack Gramsci’s complex and nuanced approach. While the theoretical account of Gramsci work represents approximately two-thirds of this book, the remaining third applies Gramsci’s approach to what might be referred to as new social subjects, such as social movements and non-governmental organizations. Each chapter demonstrates a deep engagement with Gramsci’s writing.
Pizzolato and Holst position this edited book as an ‘international assessment of Gramsci’s revolutionary pedagogy’ of the ‘low wage and landless workers, the poor, the dispossessed and other social subjects reflecting the precariousness of growing sectors of humanity across the planet’ (28). Yet, with a mere four empirical chapters, this book does not quite live up to its ambitious and far-reaching aim. This book certainly attends to the significant gap in the literature revolving new social subjects and it augments the burgeoning literature on the international precariat or those who find themselves on the margins of society because of increasing insecurity in the job market (Standing, 2011). Yet, this book is at its strongest and most insightful when unpacking the more theoretical aspects of Gramsci’s oeuvre. One aspect that I found insightful was the overview of the recent Gramsci Italian-language scholarship. Indeed, this book has opened my eyes to reams of Italian-language scholarship that does justice to specific Gramscian ideas, including, but in no way limited to: hegemony, organic intellectuals and the Southern Question.
Perhaps the enduring and underpinning themes of this edit book are: what is education outside of traditional institutions for? To what extent do such educational programmes further the interests of the precariat? And: how might the revolutionary potential of the precariat be further flamed? Rather than providing a series of banal or prescriptive solutions, this book furnishes a number of provocations that impel the reader to think both with and through Gramsci. The contribution by Mayo is especially relevant. Mayo authoritatively argues that ‘any attempt at a critical education must entail critical educators teaching thoroughly and correctly that knowledge which can provide access to power’ (46). However, it is something of a shame that such lines of thought are not put into dialogue with other authorities who have identified the need for learners to acquire educational content and glean a degree or expertise or cultural literacy (e.g. Hirsch, 2010). It is also a disappointment that the opportunity to critique from a Gramscian perspective recent curriculum reforms that valorize certain claims towards expertise or reify specific narratives about cultural literacy is missed. This is especially a shame because Gramsci’s theory offers a productive lens through which to evaluate many recent curriculum reforms, such as those engineered by Michael Gove in Great Britain. Nonetheless, the sheer mass of ideas permeating from almost every chapter makes this book relevant to not just education studies, but also to other related fields, such as politics, sociology and human geography.
The concluding chapter by Holst and Brookfield brings together the theoretical argument under-pinning this book: ‘Gramsci’s revolutionary pedagogical practice is increasingly relevant for development of the subjective conditions for revolutionary practice by the growing masses of dispossessed’ (200). Given the complexity of the material at hand, more work tying together the conceptual loose ends as well as the similarities and differences between the different chapters would have been greatly appreciated. Regardless, those who immerse themselves in this book will be richly rewarded.
Antonio Gramsci: A pedagogy to change the world offers a critical review of recent developments around Gramsci’s revolutionary pedagogy. This book furthers the current developments in educational studies that examine newer forms of institutions which are focused on the coal-face of education. It still strikes me as curious that despite Gramsci being perhaps the most relevant theorist to the predicaments facing contemporary society, such as the re-emergence of nationalism and the increasing levels of inequality that are entrenching social divisions, that this thinker remains if not a persona non grata in the academy then certainly all too frequently overlooked. This book demonstrates Gramsci’s impressive intellectual armoury and the need for scholars to study or inquire about education beyond the confines of its traditional institutions. It is worthy of note that it appears to be at the forefront of the authors’ minds when writing this book that Gramsci was first and foremost a revolutionary, although someone of a more critical ilk might muse over the contradiction of such a theorist’s work being lauded in a book with such a relatively expensive price.
I would highly recommend anyone with an interest in the revolutionary potential of education to get ahold of a copy of this book. There is still much work to be done with Gramsci and education. Hopefully, this book will reignite an interest in the work of Gramsci as a particularly useful theorist.