Operaism

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As workerism ( Italian operaismo ) refers to both a neo-Marxist flow as well as a social movement , which in the early 1960s in the industrial northern Italy arose. The term is derived from the Italian word operaio (for "worker"). In German publications, the translation of workers' science was used for the neo-Marxist current.

term

In clear demarcation from the Italian Communist Party , whose political strategy was aimed entirely at conquering the state apparatus, the operaists were strictly anti-state and propagated the fight against factory work. The focus of the considerations is always the subjectivity of the workers, whose struggle against work , which is not always obvious, is understood as the driving force behind history. The movements of the capitalist side and of capitalist society are to be understood as reactions to this struggle of the workers, not the other way around.

The operaists attracted international attention from the beginning of the 1970s with large-scale and often long-lasting strikes of automobile factories; sometimes spectacular and brutal methods up to the kidnapping of managers were used. As a consequence of their rejection of factory work, there was an intensive turn to socio-political issues (especially housing and nursing). In addition, a diverse and correspondingly confusing media production emerged (especially magazines and radio broadcasts). Of the numerous centri sociali that were set up as meeting points in the height of the movement, some have survived in large Italian cities to this day.

Important representatives of operaismus are Romano Alquati , Antonio Negri , Raniero Panzieri and Mario Tronti . Other representatives are: Aris Accornero, Franco Berardi , Sergio Bologna, Rita Di Leo and Alberto Asor Rosa.

Theoretical starting point

The theoretical starting point was the magazine Quaderni Rossi (Rote Hefte), founded by Raniero Panzieri in the early 1960s, and its split-off, Classe operaia . The development of the productive forces does not automatically follow a historical law ( historical determinism ), but must be flanked by a constant discipline and preparation of the people involved in the work process. At this point, struggles to overcome capitalism could start. Refusal to work, "celebrating sick leave", sabotage at the workplace etc. would undermine the necessary discipline and disrupt the development of the productive forces. This could lead to crises and a revolution. The operaism thus criticized the work . As a means of raising awareness and agitation, the operatives also used the “ Questionnaire for Workers ” developed by Marx . The specific starting point of effective struggles of the workers should be developed through the participating analysis of the “class composition” in so-called militant studies .

Historical starting point

The rise of operaismus in Italy coincided with a crisis in the Communist Party and the trade unions . Many, especially young, workers felt that they were no longer represented by them, as the explosive nature of the problem of factory discipline was not recognized. This led to wildcat strikes, which resulted in Autonomia , a broad social movement. Against the background of the “hot autumn” (1969), new groups were formed (see Potere operaio ). In the theoretical discussion, the figure of the “mass worker” was replaced by the conception of the “operaio sociale” (social worker) based on Marx's idea of general intellect .

The autonomists acted in a decentralized and militant manner. Not least through criminalization (a direct connection between armed groups such as the Brigate Rosse and the Autonomen was constructed by the state and the media), after the renewed flare-up of social struggles in 1977, the Italian state persecuted the movement of Autonomia on a massive scale and ultimately smashed it. Thousands have been arrested on charges of terrorism or even sympathy for terrorists, including political theorist Antonio Negri .

Postoperaism

Postoperaism is in the tradition of Italian operaism, but combines its approaches with aspects of French poststructuralism . Central concepts of postoperaism are: Empire , bio-power and bio-politics , immaterial labor , multitude and sovereignty .

Well-known representatives besides Antonio Negri are Michael Hardt and Maurizio Lazzarato . There is also a closeness to the philosopher Giorgio Agamben .

literature

History of operaismus

  • Left company intervention, wildcat strikes and operaist politics 1968 to 1988 , special issue of the journal Work - Movement - History . Journal for Historical Studies, Issue I / 2016; ISBN 978-3-86331-281-7 .
  • Wolfgang Rieland (Ed.): Fiat Strikes: Mass Struggle and Organizational Issues [Fiat, 1969], Writings on Class Struggle , No. 16, Trikont, Munich, 1970.
  • Hellmut G. Haasis : Fiat - legend and reality. Humanization as a technical instrument against workers' struggles. In: Kursbuch, Karl-Markus Michel u. Harald Wieser (ed.), No. 43 (March 1976), work organization: Ende des Taylorismus, Berlin 1976, 102–117.
  • Wolfgang Rieland: Organization and Autonomy: The Renewal of the Italian Labor Movement , New Critique Verlag, Frankfurt, 1977.
  • Steve Wright: Storming Heaven: Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism . 2002, ISBN 0-7453-1606-9
  • Primo Moroni, Nanni Balestrini: The Golden Horde (workers' autonomy, youth revolts and armed struggle in Italy). Association A, Berlin 2002.
  • Nanni Balestrini : We want everything. Fiat fights novel . Trikont, Munich, 1972. New edition, Association A, Berlin, 2003.
  • Steve Wright: Storming the skies. A theoretical history of operaism . Association A, 2005.
  • Martin Birkner, Robert Foltin : (Post) Operaismus. From workers' autonomy to multitude , Schmetterling-Verlag, ( theorie.org ), Stuttgart 2006.
  • L'operaismo degli anni Sessanta da “Quaderni rossi” a “classe operaia” . A cura di Giuseppe Trotta e Fabio Milana (ed.). Saggio introduttivo di Mario Tronti . DeriveApprodi, Roma, 2008.
  • Thore Prien (ed.): The state in the Empire. On the state theory of postoperaism . Nomos, Baden-Baden 2016, ISBN 978-3-8487-0225-1 .

Contemporary operaist texts

  • Libertini, Panzieri, Touraine: 7 theses on workers' control , undated (Karin Kramer Verlag, Berlin), undated (1970?).
  • Claudio Pozzoli (Ed.): Late Capitalism and Class Struggle; A selection from the 'Quaderni Rossi' , Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt a. M., 1972.
  • Romano Alquati : Class Analysis as Class Struggle: Workers Investigations at FIAT and OLLIVETTI ; Edited and introduced by Wolfgang Rieland. Athäneum Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. Frankfurt a. M., 1974.
  • Mario Tronti: Workers and Capital , New Critique Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1974.
  • Quaderni Rossi : Workers Investigation and Capitalist Organization of Production , Writings on the Class Struggle , No. 24, Trikont Verlag, Munich, 1972.

Operaismus in Germany

  • Geronimo: Fire and Flame from page 51: “We want everything” business project groups , ID Verlag, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-89408-004-3
  • Group worker thing: What we need we have to take . Multinational operational and regional work of the Arbeitersache München group, writings on class struggle , No. 33, Trikont, Munich 1973, 179 pages
  • Ford factory cell of the workers' struggle group: Strike at Ford Cologne , Rosa Luxemburg publishing collective, Cologne 1973, 235 pages
  • Proletarian Front , formerly TRIKONT Hamburg.
  • Karl Heinz Roth : Company intervention and internationalism in the early 1970s. Interview with Karl-Heinz Roth, in: Work - Movement - History. Journal for Historical Studies, Issue I / 2016.
  • Karl Heinz Roth: The 'other' labor movement and the development of capitalist repression from 1880 to the present. A contribution to the new understanding of class history in Germany. With detailed documentation on counterinsurgency, factory security and the like. a. , Trikont Verlag, Munich, 1974. ISBN 3-920385-55-1
  • Detlef Hartmann: Life as sabotage . On the crisis of technological violence, Berlin 1988, first Tübingen 1981, ISBN 3-924737-03-7
  • Bernd Hüttner: The return of proletarity. New class-analytical approach or economistic mirage? in: Z. Journal Marxistische Renewal No. 21 (March 1995)

Postoperaism and the Empire Debate

  • Wandering producers. Intangible labor and subversion . Berlin 1998
  • Michael Hardt / Antonio Negri: The Work of Dionysus. Materialist State Criticism in Postmodernism. Berlin 1997
  • Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt: Empire - the new world order . Campus, Frankfurt / M. u. a. 2000, ISBN 3-593-37230-4 .
  • Intangible labor . In: Das Argument Heft 235, Hamburg 2000
  • Introductory text to the Empire debate from the magazine grundrisse
  • Kerstin Stakemeier: The precarious will to revolution. About some writings and objects of precarious life. In: testcard # 16, pp. 169–178.
  • Robert Zion: On the Ethos of a Human Being in Development (Episteme. Online magazine for a philosophy of practice, November 2008).
  • Philipp Metzger: The Value Theory of Postoperaism: Representation, Critique and Approach Marburg, Tectum. ISBN 978-3-8288-2573-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see Ulrich Heidt, Elisabeth Mangeng: Kapitalismustheorien , section 10, "Die Arbeiterwwissenschaft", in: Handbuch Politischer Theorien und Ideologen , Ed. Franz Neumann , Rowohlt 1977. Heidt and Mangeng name the work of Mario Tronti , Raniero Panzieri , Antonio Negri , Romano Alquati and Massimo Cacciari as "focal points" of this direction.
  2. ↑ For an early example from 1969 cf. Davide Serafino, The fight against unhealthy working conditions using the example of "Chicago Bridge" in Sestri Ponente (Genoa) 1968/1969 , in: Work - Movement - History . Journal for Historical Studies, Issue I / 2016; ISBN 978-3-86331-281-7 .