Passive revolution is the thesis absorbing the antithesis to avoid being transcended.

Evidence

The thesis alone in fact develops to the full its potential for struggle, up to the point where it absorbs even the so-called representatives of the antithesis: it is precisely in this that the passive revolution or revolution/restoration consists. The problem of the political struggle’s transition from a “war of manoeuvre” to a “war of position” certainly needs to be considered at this juncture. In Europe this transition took place after 1848, and was not understood by Mazzini and his followers, as it was on the contrary by certain others: the same transition took place after 1871, etc. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 562

Categorization

• XREF: The passive revolution and war of manoeuvre to war of position transition are key Gramsci concepts carried into the reader’s scaffolding toolkit; war of position connects to modern hegemony analysis.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: what are the ‘certain others’ who understood the post-1848 transition that Mazzini missed? Gramsci leaves them unnamed.