Abstract

Gramsci's thought has acquired a widespread international appreciation in the last decades, while in Italy it seemed to be doomed to a definitive oblivion. Since the recent Italian Gramsci renaissance has been nourished by the international debate, this review essay aims at focussing on some aspects of this debate, particularly in Latin America and the United States. Even the American right wing has identified Gramscian Marxism as the most dangerous enemy since the end of the cold war had vanished the ghost of international communism. Among the most successful Gramscian concepts are the hegemony/subalternity relation and the «passive revolution». They have been employed in order to analyse some fundamental turning point in the history of Latin America, to interpret «postmodern culture» and its hegemonic function as well as the redefinition of the international order after the end of the cold war.