Post #2221228
2026-05-07 14:02 UTC
Monbiot's arguement that listening to and conversing with people with empathy and without judgement is key to building trust and changing opinion is similar to one of Gramsci’s strategies. Gramsci advocated speaking with people to identify where their ideas already reflect good sense, and working with these ideas as the foundation for building support and wider political understanding. /6
Replies (1)
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@RuthSalter@mastodon.scot 2026-05-07 14:05
What more can we learn from Gramsci? While Monbiot might be advocating ‘radical listening’, the listening he suggests seems in some ways a bit flat. He contrasts it with conventional party wisdom to ‘use focus groups to find out what they want, and give it to them. Follow, don’t lead’. Monbiot’s radical listening seemingly functions by hearing people’s concerns, discussing their causes, and showing how the left can address them. That’s good; but it may be missing something we find in Gramsci /7