Gramsci, Financial Insecurity and the Sanders Campaign

By Bill Barclay

Gramsci Monument Bronx NY/ Flickr

By Bill Barclay

Why do many people in the U.S. “vote against their interests?” Why do many people not vote at all?

There have been a variety of answers suggested to these questions but not many have thought about these questions in the framework of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci’s analysis of common sense and good sense. A recent report, “The Politics of Financial Insecurity,” provides some important insights when interpreted in Gramscian terms.

The report confirms a pattern common to U.S. voting and politics: there is a fairly strong relationship between economic well-being and choice of party. The economic well-being measure is more complex than simply income, however. It is based on a series of questions about whether a household has a checking account; savings account; credit cards; retirement account(s); or troubles financing mortgage or rent, medical or food costs. Taken together, these questions measure financial security/insecurity.

Source: Gramsci, Financial Insecurity and the Sanders Campaign