Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 23:03:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alex Trotter <uburoi-AT-panix.com>
Subject: Re: Autonomia



Autonomia Operaia ("Workers' Autonomy") was a radical movement that 
started in Italy in the early 1970s. It had roots in the "hot autumn" of 
1969, when students and workers rose up much as their counterparts in 
France had done the previous year. But the movement in Italy 
proved to have more staying power than the French May/June '68. A number 
of revolutionary groups arose outside the control of the unions and the 
Communist Party. These included autonomous workers' groups but also 
students, feminists, radical ecologists, free radio stations, etc. A 
salient feature of this movement was the refusal of work and the 
rejection of parties, unions, and mediation/representation in general. 
	There were also intellectual figures associated with the 
autonomous movement, chief among them Antonio Negri, who now lives in 
Paris after fleeing from Italy around 1983. The Italian state had 
arrested him and several others on flimsy evidence that they were the 
secret masterminds behind the Red Brigades. While in prison, he was 
elected to the Italian parliament in a campaign organized by the Radical 
Party. Because of some legal ambiguity concerning prosecutorial immunity 
for members of parliament, he was freed but then decided not to take any 
further chances with the law in Italy.
	The heyday of Autonomia was in the 1970s; thereafter the social 
war in Italy simmered down. But as far as I know, the movement as a 
formal organization or groups of organizations still exists, and thereby 
is a problem, because, having outlasted the living movement, it has 
become "reified," to use a favorite Marxist term, and is now perhaps not 
such a liberatory phenomenon as it once was. Also, one should be
wary of conferring a 'star' or leader status on people like Negri. 
	Well, I hope that answers your question adequately.

--AT

	Tad, why not introduce yourself and add something here. Maybe you 
could talk about some of the negative judgments your Italian friend 
Francesco has of Autonomia Operaia.




On Tue, 19 Jul 1994, Flannon wrote:

> 
> Jon, or anyone else who knows
> 
> I'm unfamilar with Autonomia and I was hoping you could say a little bit 
> about it.
> 
> Thanks
> Flannon
> 


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