Autonomism, also known as Autonomist Marxism, is an

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economi ...

social movement and Marxist-based theoretical current that first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later,

post-Marxist Post-Marxism is a trend in political philosophy and social theory which deconstructs Karl Marx's writings and Marxism itself, bypassing orthodox Marxism. The term "post-Marxism" first appeared in Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's theoretica ...

and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

tendencies became significant after influence from the

Situationists The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

, the failure of Italian

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

movements in the 1970s, and the emergence of a number of important theorists including Antonio Negri, who had contributed to the 1969 founding of as well as Mario Tronti,

Paolo Virno Paolo Virno (; ; born 1952) is an Italian philosopher, Semiotics, semiologist and a figurehead for the Italian Marxism, Marxist movement. Implicated in belonging to illegal social movements during the 1960s and 1970s, Virno was arrested and jail ...

and Franco "Bifo" Berardi. George Katsiaficas summarizes the forms of autonomous movements saying that "In contrast to the centralized decisions and

hierarchical A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...

structures of modern institutions, autonomous social movements involve people directly in decisions affecting their everyday lives, seeking to expand democracy and help individuals break free of political structures and behavior patterns imposed from the outside". This has involved a call for the independence of social movements from political parties in a revolutionary perspective which seeks to create a practical political alternative to both

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

/ state socialism and contemporary representative democracy. Autonomism influenced the German and Dutch /, the worldwide social centre movement and today is influential in Italy, France and to a lesser extent the English-speaking countries. Those who describe themselves as autonomists now vary from Marxists to anarchists.

Theory

Early theorists such as Mario Tronti, Antonio Negri,

Sergio Bologna Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

and

developed notions of "immaterial" and "social labour" that extended the Marxist concept of labour to all society. They suggested that modern society's wealth was produced by unaccountable

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

work, and that only a little of this was redistributed to the workers in the form of wages. Other Italian autonomists—particularly feminists, such as

Mariarosa Dalla Costa Mariarosa Dalla Costa (born 1943 in Treviso) is an Italian autonomist feminist and co-author of the classic ''The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community'', with Selma James. This text launched the "domestic labour debate" by re-defining ...

and Silvia Federici—emphasised the importance of feminism and the value of unpaid female labour to capitalist society. Michael Ryan, a scholar of the movement, writes: Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt argue that network power constructs are the most effective methods of organization against the neoliberal regime of accumulation and predict a massive shift in the dynamics of capital into a 21st century empire.

Thinkers

* Franco "Bifo" Berardi *

George Caffentzis __NOTOC__ George Caffentzis (born 1945) is an American political philosopher and an autonomist Marxist. He founded the Midnight Notes Collective, is a founder member of the co-ordinator of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa and a professo ...

* Harry Cleaver * Silvia Federici * Michael Hardt * John Holloway * Maurizio Lazzarato * Antonio Negri *

Gáspár Miklós Tamás Gáspár Miklós Tamás (''G. M. Tamás''; hu, Tamás Gáspár Miklós; born 28 November 1948), often referred to in the media as TGM, is a Hungarian marxism, marxist-Anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalist philosopher and public intellectual ...

* Mario Tronti *

* Nick Dyer-Witheford

By country

West Germany

In West Germany, was used during the late 1970s to depict the most radical part of the political left.

Italy

On 11 March 1977, riots took place in Bologna following the killing of student

Francesco Lorusso Pierfrancesco Lorusso (Bologna, 7 October 1952 – Bologna, 11 March 1977), generally known as Francesco Lorusso, was an Italian militant of the far-left organization Lotta Continua who was shot dead by carabinieri in Bologna on 11 March 1977 durin ...

by police. Beginning in 1979, the state effectively prosecuted the autonomist movement, accusing it of protecting the Red Brigades, which had kidnapped and assassinated Aldo Moro. 12,000 far-left activists were detained; 600 fled the country, including 300 to France and 200 to South America.

Criticism

Other Marxists have criticised Autonomist Marxism or post-operaismo of having a theoretically weak understanding of

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...

in capitalist economies. It has also been criticised by other Marxists for being

anti-humanist In social theory and philosophy, antihumanism or anti-humanism is a theory that is critical of traditional humanism, traditional ideas about humanity and the human condition. Central to antihumanism is the view that philosophical anthropology an ...

/ anti-hegelian.

Influence

The autonomist Marxist and movements provided inspiration to some on the revolutionary left in English-speaking countries, particularly among anarchists, many of whom have adopted autonomist tactics. The Italian movement also influenced Marxist academics such as Harry Cleaver, John Holloway, Steve Wright and Nick Dyer-Witheford. In Denmark and Sweden, the word is used as a catch-all phrase for anarchists and the extra-parliamentary left in general, as was seen in the media coverage of the eviction of the squat in Copenhagen in March 2007.

Movements and organizations

* Abahlali baseMjondolo, Shack dweller's movement in South Africa * Blitz (Norway) *

Disobbedienti Tute Bianche was a militant Italian social movement, active from 1994 to 2001. Activists covered their bodies with padding so as to resist the blows of police, to push through police lines, and to march together in large blocks for mutual protectio ...

(ex

Tute Bianche Tute Bianche was a militant Italian social movement, active from 1994 to 2001. Activists covered their bodies with padding so as to resist the blows of police, to push through police lines, and to march together in large blocks for mutual protectio ...

) *

Homeless Workers' Movement The Homeless Workers Movement ( pt, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto. MTST) is a social movement in Brazil. It originated from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra ( en, Landless Rural Workers' Movement). Although the MTST can ...

MTST * Kämpa tillsammans!, a communist group in Malmö and

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. *

London Autonomists Wapping Autonomy Centre (also known as The Anarchist Centre) was a self-managed social centre in the London Docklands from late 1981 to 1982. The project was initially funded by money raised by the benefit single ''Persons Unknown''/''Bloody Re ...

* Plan C, a British anti-authoritarian communist group inspired by autonomism. *

Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation The Swedish Anarcho-Syndicalist Youth Federation, (Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet) (SUF) is a youth-based group in Sweden that supports independent working class struggle. The federation was founded in 1993, in part rooted in the militant au ...

Ungdomshuset Ungdomshuset (literally "the Youth House") was the popular name of the building formally named Folkets Hus ("House of the People") located on Jagtvej 69 in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendez ...

, Danish autonomist squat * Zapatista Army of National Liberation

Publications

''Aufheben''
* '' Collegamenti-Wobbly'' * ''Multitudes'' magazine * ''

ROAR Magazine ''ROAR Magazine'' was an independent publication that described itself as a “journal of the radical imagination.” Its stated aim was to “provide grassroots perspectives from the front-lines of the global struggle for real democracy.” Foun ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Texts on autonomism
from

Libcom.org libcom.org is an online platform featuring a variety of libertarian communist essays, blog posts, and archives, primarily in English. It was founded in 2005 by editors in the United States and the United Kingdom. Libcom.org also has a forum and ...

{{authority control Criticism of work Economic ideologies Far-left politics Far-left politics in Italy History of political thought History of socialism History of social movements Labour movement Libertarian socialism Marxism Marxist theory Types of socialism Modern history of Italy