From: "Marcus Strom" <MSTROM-AT-nswtf.org.au>
Date:          Fri, 16 Feb 1996 14:08:47 GMT+10
Subject:       Re: Negri's Marxism


On Negri and Autonomia

I have some sort of romantic attachment to the autonomia groups that 
sprang out of the 60s and 70s. Everyone goes on and on about Paris in 
1968, well, the way I look at it, '68 lasted most of the 70s in 
Italy.

The founding works of the italian autonomia movement are a breath of 
fresh air from the 70s which were full of 'newLeft' bollocks - their entire 
orientation is to working class independent organisation and overthrow 
of the capitalist state. Negri was one of the main activist/theoreticians 
of this movement and they are worth studying.

Much of this work has been 'postmodernised' in the 1990s. However, 
the ongoing thread of analysis on class composition is still useful.

On "Communist Like Us". When I first saw it, I couldn't help but 
laugh. It is one of the funniest books I have ever read; I got my own 
copy from the comedy section of my local bookstore. I advise every 
one else to look in their comedy sections for it.

As a piece of revolutionary text it has to be one of the most 
obfuscating, ridiculous, self-indulgent pieces of twadle I have 
*ever* read. It is the sort of book you read and keep laughing, 
underlying the funniest/ridiculous pieces and then reading them to 
your mates for a good laugh.

> On Wed, 14 Feb 1996, Bryan A. Alexander wrote:
> 
> > COMMUNISTS LIKE US is a hybrid polemic, a rush of feeling and an 
> > exortation to thought and action.  It is not theoretically-based; it 
> > tries instead to recover communism from its abysmal position in many areas.
> > 	For Negri's theory - which reads like a different author 
> > entirely - go to MARX BEYOND MARX, probably his best.

Well Bryan. If you advocate this text (CLU), I think you are a fool. 
It is theoretically based, but alas, makes no sense.

> > 
> 
> Louis: OK, OK. I give up. If you and McInerney stick up for Negri, then 
> I'll withdraw my guilty verdict for the time being. MARX BEYOND MARX? Is 
> there lots of pages in small print? Are the paragraphs real long? Does it 
> use words like "problematize"? I guess I'll have to find out for myself....


On "Marx Beyond Marx".

This is Negri's reading of the Grundrisse. I have never read 
Grundrisse. However, I think that THE ENTIRE BASIS OF NEGRI'S 
ANALYSIS IS INCORRECT. This flows on to the entire school that follws 
Negri - the Zerowork people, the Autopsy list and other like this.

Negri COMPLETELY mixes up work and labour in this text. He calls for 
the abolishing of work. This is entirely un-marxist. Marx said that 
labour power, labour - was the commodified form of work under 
capitalism. All humans, in all ages work. It is part of what makes  
us human. Communism is to make work our prime want.

So, in the autonomia stuff, we have an overemphasis of the boycott of 
work, absenteesim and the like as a form of conscious class war. It 
is unconscious for most people.

I respect Negri immensely. He is one of the few academics who are 
actually activists and not armchair revolutionaries. However, I think 
that at the end of the day, his stance is petit bourgeois. It has a 
'abolish work' stance, rather than 'abolish the wages system' which was 
Marx's slogan. The difference is profound.

Any bites?


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