Gramsci read Americanism as a symptom of a major historical shift in production relations.

Evidence

The basic question Gramsci asks himself in Americanism and Fordism is this: were the changes taking place within the world of production at the time he was writing of such importance as to constitute the beginnings of a new historical epoch, or were they merely a conjunction of events of no lasting significance? No definitive answer is offered, nor could one be demanded, but it is clear from the way he approaches the question, linking together features of the superstructures such as prohibition or the regulation of sexuality with changes in the socio-economic base, projecting each trend into the future as well as examining its roots in the past, that he regarded “Americanism” as a symptom of an historical development within the relations of production of the utmost importance, from which there could be no turning back. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1026

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the book’s core question and Gramsci’s method of linking superstructure changes to base changes.
• XREF: connects to: Anti-Semitic nationalism emerged from wartime 100 per cent Americanism. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1683