Italian Theory. From operaismo to post-operaismo and back again 3501-ITO-S-OG

For decades the discourse and theory that stood behind famous Italian workers’ struggles and revolts in the 1960’s and 1970’s remained almost completely unknown outside of Italy. By the beginning of the 21th century, however, the so called Italian Theory, a direct successor of operaismo, became one of the most popular and powerful intellectual currents. Despite severe criticisms it has received from Anglo-Saxon Marxists as well as from proponents of more orthodox workerist approach, the post-operaismo contributed to a significant come-back of Marxian concepts in the contemporary intellectual production. It provided ideas and justifications to GMI movement and re-politicised the cultural sector. The goal of our seminar will be to trace the political origins and to reconstruct the theoretical basis of operaismo as a specific form of Marxism and/or original social theory. We will try to examine the crucial concepts such as ‘mass worker’ and ‘autonomia’ and their transformation into concepts such as ‘social worker’, ‘constituent power’ or ‘multitude’, characteristic for the post-workerist approach. What are the consequences of these shifts? In our reading we would like to stay close to the social and political context in which the workerist ideas were conceived. We consider it necessary, since operaismo, unlike many contemporary critical social theories, was basically forged as direct intervention in particular struggles and conflicts. On the other hand, our objective will be to estimate, to what extent the conceptual frames of operaismo and post-operaismo may help to understand the logic and the current crisis of capitalism.

Type of course

elective seminars
general courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

Basic knowledge of the contemporary philosophy and social sciences. Reading and speaking in English.

Learning outcomes

Acquired knowledge:
- Student knows the basic English terminology of the Italian operaismo and post-operaismo
- Has understanding of the historical nature of the process of forging of philosophical ideas
Acquired skills
- Student is able to read and interpret philosophical texts in English
- Applies the philosophical vocabulary of operaismo and postoperaismo in a correct manner
Acquired social competence
- Student is aware of the limits of his/her knowledge and skills and understands the need of its constant extending
- Remains open to new ideas and ready to change his/her opinions in the light of facts and arguments he/she is confronted with

Assessment criteria

Students will be assessed on the basis of their participation in discussions

Bibliography

- Raniero Panzieri, Lucio Libertini, Seven theses on workers' control (1958)
- Raniero Panzieri, Surplus value and planning (1961)
- Romano Alquati, Struggles at Fiat (1964)
- Mario Tronti, Lenin in England (1964)
- Mario Tronti, The strategy of refusal (1965)
- Sergio Bologna, The tribe of moles, (1977)
- Gilles Deleuze, Open letter to Negri’s judges (1979)
- Gilles Deleuze, This book is literal proof of innocence (1979)
- Harry Cleaver, Reading the capital politically (1979)
- Antonio Negri, Marx beyond Marx (1979)
- Felix Guattari, Antonio Negri, Communists like us (1985)
- Gilles Deleuze, Postscript on the societies of control (1990)
- Sergio Bologna, Nazism and the working class (1993)
- Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt, Empire (2000)
- Paolo Virno, A Grammar of the multitude (2003)
- Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt, Multitude: war and democracy in the age of empire (2004)
- Silvia Federici, Caliban and the Which (2004)
- Roberto Esposito, Bios. Biopolitcs and philosophy (2004)
- Maurizio Lazzarato, Making of the indebted man (2007)
- Antonio Negri / Michael Hardt, Commonwealth (2009)
- Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi, The soul at work: from alienation to autonomy (2009)
- Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi, Precarious rhapsody. Semio-capitalism and the pathologies of the post-alpha generation (2009)

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

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Description of 3501-ITO-S-OG in USOSweb