In the age of austerity, the world has witnessed a wide range of social movements fighting back. The 2014 Historical Materialism conference, taking place this weekend at Toronto’s York University, aims to contribute to a discussion on both austerity and resistance, and how to extend and revitalize Left critique and praxis.

Peter D. Thomas is a lecturer in the history of political thought at Brunel University, London. He is the author of The Gramscian Moment: Philosophy, Hegemony and Marxism. He is a member of the editorial board of Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory, and co-editor of the Historical Materialism Book Series.

In this interview, we discuss the trajectory of the Historical Materialism initiative, his view on Western Marxism and its legacy, and the importance of Antonio Gramsci for the wide range of movements that have emerged in the last decade all around the world. The interview was conducted by George Souvlis, a PhD candidate in history at the European University Institute, Florence.