TY - JOUR

T1 - Operaismo and the Wicked Problem of Organization

AU - Trott, Ben

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Immanuel Ness and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PY - 2017/12/11

Y1 - 2017/12/11

N2 - The “problem of organization” has long been a core preoccupation of the Marxist tradition and labour movements. This article argues it is best understood as what some social planners call a “wicked problem,” one that cannot ultimately be “solved,” only “re-solved—over and over again.” It identifies a set of hallmark theoretical tools developed by the Italian Marxian tradition of operaismo (sometimes referred to as “autonomist Marxism”) with which it can nevertheless be productively approached. First, a “Copernican inversion” of “orthodox”—specifically, “dialectical materialist”—Marxism, focusing on the primacy of labour struggles in driving capitalist development. Second, an attention to “class composition” and the shifts in the political expression of labour movements as the technical make-up of labour changes. Third, accounting for these shifts through an analysis of “cycles of struggle.” And finally, approaching the (wicked) problem of organization in terms of an effort to increase labour’s “autonomy” from capital.

AB - The “problem of organization” has long been a core preoccupation of the Marxist tradition and labour movements. This article argues it is best understood as what some social planners call a “wicked problem,” one that cannot ultimately be “solved,” only “re-solved—over and over again.” It identifies a set of hallmark theoretical tools developed by the Italian Marxian tradition of operaismo (sometimes referred to as “autonomist Marxism”) with which it can nevertheless be productively approached. First, a “Copernican inversion” of “orthodox”—specifically, “dialectical materialist”—Marxism, focusing on the primacy of labour struggles in driving capitalist development. Second, an attention to “class composition” and the shifts in the political expression of labour movements as the technical make-up of labour changes. Third, accounting for these shifts through an analysis of “cycles of struggle.” And finally, approaching the (wicked) problem of organization in terms of an effort to increase labour’s “autonomy” from capital.

KW - Gender and Diversity

KW - Philosophy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146606437&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1163/24714607-02003003

DO - 10.1163/24714607-02003003

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85146606437

VL - 20

SP - 307

EP - 324

JO - Journal of Labor and Society

JF - Journal of Labor and Society

SN - 2471-4607

IS - 3

ER -