Gramsci’s censorship forced a coded vocabulary for Marxist class concepts

Evidence

The Italian word here is “ceti” which does not carry quite the same connotations as “strata”, but which we have been forced to translate in that way for lack of alternatives. It should be noted that Gramsci tends, for reasons of censorship, to avoid using the word class in contexts where its Marxist overtones would be apparent, preferring (as for example in this sentence) the more neutral “social group”. The word “group”, however, is not always a euphemism for “class”, and to avoid ambiguity Gramsci uses the phrase “fundamental social group” when he wishes to emphasise the fact that he is referring to one or other of the major social classes (bourgeoisie, proletariat) defined in strict Marxist terms by its position in the fundamental relations of production. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1796

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes Gramsci’s terms: ‘social group’, ‘fundamental social group’, ‘caste’, ‘category’ — essential apparatus for reading any Gramscian text.
• XREF: This censorship-forced terminology parallels how critical-theory vocabulary gets coded across the anti-Islamophobia readings that build on hegemony theory. — connects to: Obscure jargon functions as academic gatekeeping that prevents theory from educating the public