Some Notes on Gramsci's Theory of the Intellectuals
| Date | 01 April 1981 |
| Published date | 01 April 1981 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9256.1981.tb00043.x |
| Author | Anne Showstack Sassoon |
| Subject Matter | Article |
On
'The
Right
to
Associate'
13
excluded nor included by existing associates; he could resign at will, but not
be excluded by the others. This obviously produces a conflict of rights, for
the existing members' right not to associate cannot be respected if the
individual has a right to join, and
so
on.
One familiar move is
to
suggest that the right
to
associate must mean only
the right to associate with like-minded individuals. Hence the right not to
associate merely reflects the residual freedom of the individual when the like-
minded condition fails: hence an individual has the freedom to join, and a right
not to join; he has the right to resign, and others can throw him out. But
he has no right
to
join as such, and no right
to
continued association.
The problem with this move is that it stresses the negative aspect of the right,
The right to associate with like-minded individuals becomes &he right to avoid
those who are not like-minded. The right to associate becomes a sort of right
to privacy. Clearly, this is compatible with the freedom to associate which
is
presumably the main aim of enshrining a right
to
associate amongst
'fundamental' rights. But the problem remains of specifying who is to bear
the costs
of
the failure
of
like-mindedness. Under the 'like-mindedness'
interpretation, the individual who wants
to
join can be legitimately excluded,
or, when he has no wish to leave, thrown out.
The like-minded condition might fail for two reasons. First, there may be
disagreement about who are the true 'bearers' of the association's purposes,
the sort of problem which attracted Figgis's attention, Secondly, there may
be individuals who have a motive for joining because their objectives are
different from that of the association. In either of these cases, an inability
to exclude those who were not like-minded would clearly hamper the effectiveness
of the association. In addition, however, the like-minded condition may be
used as
a
measure
of
the voluntariness of the association,
as
the European
Commission apparently held in the case of the closed shop.
It
appears that voluntary associations could be effective and voluntary only
by establishing a right not
to
associate
-
so
others can be excluded, and no
one is involuntarily brought
in.
The right to associate becomes compossible
only when it is interpreted
to
mean the right not to associate. Hence it is not
that the right to associate includes
or
entails the right not to associate,
but that the right to associate can be made compatible with the objectives
of
voluntary association only if it is taken to imply
a
freedom to associate and
a right not to associate, whether that (i) of potential members who are not
to
be brought in; (ii) of potential members who may be excluded by existing
associates; (iii) of existing associates
to
exclude an individual who is no
longer like-minded; or (iv) of an individual
to
resign in those circumstances.
........................
SOME
NOTES
ON
GRAMSC
I
'S
THEORY
OF
THE
I
NTELLECTUALS
ANNE
SHOWSTACK
SASSOON
It is fairly widely known that
an
interest in intellectuals and culture, the
so-called superstrucCure, is a major aspect of the work of the Italian Barxist
Antonio Gramsci. Perhaps less well appreciated are the specific problems he
was addressing
and
the way in which his ideas on the intellectuals are the
foundation for a theory of socialism as a democratic transformation of politics.
His
approach gives new meaning to the traditional Marxist notions of the
withering away of the State and the overcoming of the split between mental and
manual labour. His work on the intellectuals and his theory of socialism also
provides a basis for the argument that his ideas constitute a critique
of
the
experience
09
the first socialist State.
considering the role of intellectuals in advanced industrial societies.
Ptloreover they furnish useful tooh for
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