Human beings are processes of their own actions, not fixed essences

Evidence

Reflecting on it, we can see that in putting the question “what is man?” what we mean is: what can man become? That is, can man dominate his own destiny, can he “make himself”, can he create his own life? We maintain therefore that man is a process, and, more exactly, the process of his actions. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1256

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core Gramscian definition of man-as-process; foundational vocabulary for the toolkit.
• XREF: Connects to existentialist becoming, and to later readings on how colonial subjects are constructed as fixed essences rather than processes. — connects to: The human race is constituted by free individual choices, not vice versa — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1222; Character is not a fixed trait but a freely chosen project the self maintains. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1284; Every human act expresses the whole person, not a fragment — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1334 (+10 more)