Antonio Gramsci, a leader of the Italian Communist Party who died in 1937 after spending more than a decade ina fascist prison, is today one of the most cited, but least understood Marxists from the 20th century. Today, many use Gramscian concepts like “hegemony” and the “war of position” to justify a strategy of parliamentary socialism or reforming the state “from the inside”. This talk will consider whether this reading of Gramsci is really true to his ideas and practice.