Gramsci, the Southern question and the Mediterranean

Abstract

My paper focuses on Gramsci’s discussions of the Southern Question to derive insights for an understanding of some current dynamics in politics and culture in the Mediterranean region and to explore appropriate educational strategies in this context. I start by providing some general considerations regarding different conceptions of the Mediterranean that is viewed in the context of a broader conception of the South. Drawing on Gramsci’s own reflections, I attempt to avoid romanticising the Mediterranean and the South in general, and to capture some sense of the region’s complexity. I give important consideration, in this context, to the issue of dominant belief systems, referring, in the process, to Gramsci’s own views on religion. This leads to questions concerning ethnicity and religious beliefs in Southern Europe, the geographical area that constituted the focus of Gramsci’s attention. The paper foregrounds one of the major challenges for social solidarity facing people of this region, namely the challenge posed by massive migration from the South to the North in the context of the intensification of globalisation. I take up the Gramscian theme of regional solidarity, for a revolutionary socialist politics based on knowledge and understanding, and the related themes of misplaced alliances and internal colonialism. The paper draws on Gramsci’s discussion on North-South solidarity (proletariat and peasantry), in the context of a nation state, to explore possibilities for a broader and trans-national form of North-South solidarity, rooted in political economy and an understanding of colonialism, connected with the issues of migration and inter-ethnic solidarity. Educational strategies, for this purpose, are identified.