Pessimism of reason and optimism of will: socio-environmental collapse and revolution in the decisive decade

Abstract

The aphorism referred to in the title of this review became widely known in Brazil and other regions of the world through the writings of Antônio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist from the first half of the 20th century, who He used the argument a few times in his work. In what is considered its first use, an article of newspaper of 1920, unsigned and addressed to Italian anarchists, the young Gramsci stated that the “conception socialism of the revolutionary process is characterized by two fundamental notes that Romain Rolland summarized from the watchword — the ‘Pessimism of Reason’ and the ‘Optimism of Will’.” (Della Santa, 2016, p. 32). Luiz Marques’ excellent book “The decisive decade: proposals for a survival policy”, published in 2023 by the publisher Elefante, can be read as a call to action permeated by the values that the aphorism represents.