Rethinking War of Maneuver/War of Position

One of the most important components of Antonio Gramsci's social theory is his discussion of political strategy, particularly his distinction between 'war of maneuver' and 'war of position'. For Gramsci, the classical model of revolution through military insurrection (war of maneuver) has been supplanted within advanced capitalism by a cultural struggle of much longer duration and complexity (war of position). Despite the significance of Gramsci's analysis of war of maneuver/war of position for contemporary Marxism, it is striking that so little attention has been paid to these terms. These terms have a history, both in military theory and in Marxism, which predates Gramsci's prison notebooks. An examination of the military writings of Engels, Lenin and Trotsky, which are grounded more directly on military theory, leads to different conclusions about the nature of political strategy and the relationship between war of maneuver and war of position.

A more recent version of this article was published on 06-10-2014