TY - JOUR

T1 - Operaismo and The Wicked Problem of Organisation

AU - Trott, Ben

PY - 2017/9

Y1 - 2017/9

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 operaistno (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 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 operaistno (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 increase labour's "autonomy" from capital.

KW - Philosophy

U2 - 10.1111/wusa.12291

DO - 10.1111/wusa.12291

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 20

SP - 307

EP - 324

JO - Journal of Labor and Society

JF - Journal of Labor and Society

SN - 2471-4607

IS - 3

ER -