Antonio Gramsci is not a Marxist? Response to Joel McDurmon

 

There’s been a lot of debate among Christians these days about Critical Race Theory.  Voddie Baucham has written a book titled Fault Lines.[1]  Author and law student Joel McDurmon has done a series of videos criticizing Voddie’s book.  Over at Youtube, McDurmon’s first video can be found titled “Review of Voddie Baucham, Fault Lines – Definitions and Meanings – Part One” and I want to address something he said in minute 19:30-21:29.  Specifically my post will examine Joel’s claim that Italian pre-World War Two Marxist Antonio Gramsci is not a Marxist. 

The reason why McDurmon is talking about Gramsci is because McDurmon points out Bauchman has written about how some of the ideological influences of Critical Race Theory are Marxists. While I have not read Bauchman’s book I have seen online how Voddie has referenced Gramsci before, during his talk about cultural Marxism.[2]  I do think from the literature of Critical Race, Theorists themselves acknowledge that among their many influences that does include Antonio Gramsci.  In the third edition of the book Critical Race Theory: An Introduction under a paragraph titled “Relationship to Previous Movements” the authors wrote “critical race theory builds on the insights of two previous movements, critical legal studies and radical feminism, to both of which it owes a large debt. It also draws from certain European philosophers and theorists, such as Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida…”[3]   How much and what kind of influence Gramsci has on Critical Race Theory is an issue of debate but in this post I will focus more narrowly on McDurmon’s challenge against Voddie that Gramsci wasn’t a Marxist. 

Here’s the video:

Here’s the transcript of the video:

Antonio Gramsci is not some great hero that we all need to follow. We would critique him, we critique him on many points. But he was not a Marxist. And in fact this is a story that needs to be told more widely. He didn’t just tweak Marxism. He literally turned Marxism upside down on its head. And he was a hated man. Who hated him the most? Marxists. Who hates Antonio Gramsci the most? Marxists. Who hated Antonio Gramscianism the most? Marx. Think about this for a minute. What is Antonio Gramsci’s most, ummm . . . prominent contribution? Literally? Literarily? It’s his prison notebooks, correct? His prison notebooks is what he is known for. It’s where he wrote most of this controversial stuff. Why were they written in prison? The reason they were written in prison is because, because he was a radical in terms of changing society. His, his home nation, Italy, wanted to, wanted to get rid of him. What was going on in Italy at the time? Fascism. Mussolini. He was an intense critic of fascism. But he couldn’t escape to the East. Or to the North. Or to some other places. Because if he did it was all communist blocked controlled country. And guess what they would have done there? You think they would have put him in prison? No. They wanted to kill him. So in the end, Antonio Gramsci had a decision between being killed or being put in prison. In the homeland he chose prison.

Here are the claims that I find problematic that McDurmon made:

1. Claim: He’s not a Marxist: “But he was not a Marxist.”
2. Claim: Marxists hated Gramsci the most: “And he was a hated man. Who hated him the most? Marxists. Who hates Antonio Gramsci the most? Marxists. Who hated Antonio Gramscianism the most? Marx”
3. Claim: Communist Countries wanted to kill him: “But he couldn’t escape to the East. Or to the North. Or to some other places. Because if he did it was all communist blocked controlled country. And guess what they would have done there? You think they would have put him in prison? No. They wanted to kill him.”
4. Claim: Gramsci chose prison instead of being killed by Communist countries: “So in the end, Antonio Gramsci had a decision between being killed or being put in prison. In the homeland he chose prison.”
5. Claim: Gramsci turned Marxism on its head: “He didn’t just tweak Marxism. He literally turned Marxism upside down on its head.”

Part of the reason why I’m responding to these claims is because McDurmon said “in fact this is a story that needs to be told more widely.”  I also have seen these kinds of claims and those similar to the ones listed above, so this might be helpful for some Christians.

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