1st Edition
Antonio Gramsci and the Question of Religion Ideology, Ethics, and Hegemony
Antonio Gramsci and the Question of Religion provides a new introduction to the thought of Gramsci through the prisms of religious studies and comparative ethics. Bruce Grelle shows that Gramsci’s key ideas – on hegemony, ideology, moral reformation, "traditional" and "organic" intellectuals – were formulated with simultaneous considerations of religion and politics. Identifying Gramsci’s particular brand of Marxism, Grelle offers an overview of Gramsci’s approach to religion and applies it to contemporary debates over the role of religion and morality in social order and social change. This book is ideal for students and scholars interested in Gramsci, religion, and comparative ethics.
Introduction
1. Religious Ethics, Ideology, and Culture
2. Antonio Gramsci and "The Question of Religion or Worldview"
3. Myth, Religion, and the Intellectuals
4. World Order in a Global Age
5. Religion, Ethics, and the Discourses of Social Change
6. Religion, Ethics, and Ideology
Biography
Bruce Grelle is Professor and Director of the Religion and Public Education Project in the Department of Comparative Religion and Humanities at California State University, Chico, USA.
Bruce Grelle’s excellent new study of Gramsci’s thought shows just how much Gramsci's revisionist Marxist ideas (of hegemony, culture, and religion itself, among others) can contribute to contemporary studies of religious ethics. Thinking with and beyond Gramsci, Grelle articulates powerful theoretical tools to analyze the multifaceted political and social influence of religious practices and discourses. - Aaron Stalnaker, Indiana University, USA
This is a highly original and creative study of an often-ignored figure whose thought has much to offer to contemporary work in the study of religious ethics. Grelle’s book is grounded in solid scholarship; it is persuasive in its interpretations of Gramsci; it is creative and courageous in its own constructive argumentation; and, most importantly, it is written in highly accessible and lucid prose. - Sumner B. Twiss, Florida State University and Brown University, USA
