Humanity, both the word, or concept, and the reality, can be perceived statically and relegated to a transhistorical stasis; alternatively, it can be perceived as a dynamic process, an ongoing struggle to become more fully human. In his "Prison Notebooks," Antonio Gramsci encapsulated the dynamic perception when he reflected on the question of humanity as follows: "in putting the question "what is [humanity]?" what we mean is: what can [humanity] become? … can [human beings] dominate [their] own destiny, can [they] "make [themselves]," can [they] create [their] own life?" In response to these questions, Gramsci maintains that human beings are "a process' or more precisely "a process of [their] … active relationships." Moreover, he stresses that human beings should be conceived of as an "ensemble of these relations"—the individuality of each and every human being is an "ensemble of these relations," and this is also true for our collective being—our humanity (Gramsci, 1971: 351–352). If we are to be the active creators of our own individualities and of the present stage of the entirety of humanity's development, we must become conscious of these relations. It is only with a critical consciousness of the relations that have shaped and formed us that we acquire a basis from which transformation can begin—we can modify ourselves and our humanity only by modifying these relations (352). In other words, democratically and collectively we can become critically and creatively engaged in the project for humanity's progressive development—in the process of humanization.