Political stances must be judged by whether they stand alone or answer other forces

Evidence

A prime criterion for judging either conceptions of the world or, especially, practical stances is the following: can the conception of the world or the practical action in question be conceived of as “isolated”, “independent”, bearing entire responsibility for the collective life? Or is that impossible, and must it be conceived of as “integration” or perfecting of—or counterweight to—another conception of the world or practical attitude? Upon reflection, it can be seen that this criterion is decisive for an ideal judgement on both ideal and practical changes, and it can also be seen that it has no small practical implications. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 692

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is a core heuristic for Gramsci’s method — a criterion all stances and worldviews can be judged by.
• XREF: May be useful later in Islamophobia readings for evaluating whether Islamophobic discourse functions as isolated doctrine or as counterweight/integration to other hegemonic positions. — connects to: Refusal to take a stance on one’s identity is itself a stance. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1238; Membership questions structure all other political judgments and resist analytical resolution. — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 461