On Saturday 19 September, starting at 6:30 pm, “Rock X Gramsci” returns to Ales, the musical event organised by the Antonio Gramsci Birthplace Cultural Association of Ales, now in its 23rd edition.
As per tradition, the festival intertwines music and thought, bringing center stage to the figure and relevance of Antonio Gramsci, the communist intellectual born in Ales on January 22, 1891.
The title chosen for the 2026 edition is "The Sovereignty of the Law," taken from an article published by Gramsci in the Piedmontese edition of Avanti! on June 1, 1919. In this text, the author reflects on the meaning of freedom and the law and on the relationship between the individual, the state, and society, questioning the idea that the Albertine Statute had guaranteed Italians a true "sovereignty of the law."
Behind the apparent legal equality, Gramsci observes, profound social inequalities persist. Added to the contradiction between theory and reality is the criticism of a state that, in the postwar period, returned to exerting ever-tighter control over society, to the point of becoming a "barracks state."
The reflection also addresses the supposed neutrality of the law: according to Gramsci, it reflects the power relations present in society and ultimately protects the interests of the ruling class. Also central is the critique of the figure of the "individual-citizen" in bourgeois society, embedded in a system based on competition and opposition between individuals.
A reflection written over a century ago, but which still retains a surprising ability to interrogate the present and raise questions about the relationship between freedom, rights, the state, and inequalities.
Monica Mureddu will read the text from the Rock X Gramsci stage, accompanied by music by composer Stefano Guzzetti.
From interviews to concerts
The evening will kick off at 6:30 pm at the Dalton Music Association, with the usual interview with the bands featured in Rock X Gramsci, curated by Claudio Loi, editor of the online newspaper Sa Scena and a long-time friend of the association.
