Autonomism

Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism, is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism. Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendencies became significant after influence from the Situationists, the failure of Italian far-left 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 and Franco "Bifo" Berardi.
George Katsiaficas summarizes the forms of autonomous movements saying that "In contrast to the centralized decisions and hierarchical authority 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/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 and Paolo Virno 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 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 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.
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 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.
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.
Thinkers
Franco "Bifo" Berardi
George Caffentzis
Harry Cleaver
Silvia Federici
Michael Hardt
John Holloway
Antonio Negri
Mario Tronti
Paolo Virno
Nick Dyer-Witheford
Maurizio Lazzarato
Movements and organizations
Abahlali baseMjondolo, Shack dweller's movement in South Africa
Blitz (Norway)
Disobbedienti (ex Tute Bianche)
Homeless Workers' Movement MTST
Kämpa tillsammans!, a communist group in Malmö and Gothenburg.
London Autonomists
Plan C, a British anti-authoritarian communist group inspired by autonomism.
Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation
Ungdomshuset, Danish autonomist squat
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Publications
Aufheben
Collegamenti-Wobbly
Multitudes magazine
ROAR Magazine
See also
Syndicalism
21st-century communist theorists
Affective labor
Autonome Nationalisten
Autonomy
Direct democracy
Horizontalidad
Kommune 1
Leaderless resistance
Libertarian Marxism
Open Marxism
Popular assembly
Post-Marxism
Revolutionary spontaneity
Sovereign citizen movement
Sui iuris
Temporary Autonomous Zone
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Federation of Neighborhood Councils-El Alto
References
Bibliography
Further reading
L’Autonomie. Le mouvement autonome en France et en Italie, éditions Spartacus 1978
Autonomes, Jan Bucquoy and Jacques Santi, ANSALDI 1985
Action Directe. Du terrorisme français à l'euroterrorisme, Alain Hamon and Jean-Charles Marchand, SEUIL 1986
Paroles Directes. Légitimité, révolte et révolution : autour d'Action Directe, Loïc Debray, Jean-Pierre Duteuil, Philippe Godard, Henri Lefebvre, Catherine Régulier, Anne Sveva, Jacques Wajnsztejn, ACRATIE 1990
Un Traître chez les totos, Guy Dardel, ACTES SUD 1999 (novel)
Bac + 2 + crime : l'affaire Florence Rey, Frédéric Couderc, CASTELLS 1998
Italie 77. Le « Mouvement », les intellectuels, Fabrizio Calvi, Seuil 1977
L'operaismo degli anni Sessanta. Da 'Quaderni rossi' a 'classe operaia''', Giuseppe Trotta e Fabio Milana edd., Deriveapprod I 2008
Una sparatoria tranquilla. Per una storia orale del '77, Ordadek 1997
Die Autonomen, Thomas Schultze et Almut Gross, Konkret Literatur 1997
Autonome in Bewegung, AG Grauwacke aus den ersten 23 Jahren, Association A 2003
Negativity and Revolution: Adorno and Political Activism London: Pluto Press, 2009 John Holloway ed. with Fernando Matamoros & Sergio Tischler
Os Cangaceiros A Crime Called Freedom: The Writings of Os Cangaceiros (Volume One) Eberhardt Press 2006
Νοέμβρης 73. Αυτοί οι αγώνες συνεχίζονται, δεν εξαγοράζονται, δεν δικαιώθηκαν, ed. Αυτόνομη Πρωτοβουλία Πολιτών. Athens 1983.
Αναμνήσεις, Άγης Στίνας, υψιλον, Αθήνα 1985
Το επαναστατικό πρόβλημα σήμερα, Κορνήλιος Καστοριάδης, υψιλον, Αθήνα 2000
(In English) The city is ours: Squatting and autonomous movements from the 1970s to the present.'' Ed. Bart van der Steen, Ask Katzeff, Leendert van Hoogenhuijze. PM press, 2014.
External links
Texts on autonomism from Libcom.org
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