Social Factory" in Postwar Italian Radical Thought from Operaismo to Autonomia
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City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2014 The "Social Factory" In Postwar Italian Radical Thought From Operaismo To Autonomia David P. Palazzo Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/262 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE “SOCIAL FACTORY” IN POSTWAR ITALIAN RADICAL THOUGHT FROM OPERAISMO TO AUTONOMIA by DAVID PETER PALAZZO A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 DAVID PETER PALAZZO All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in satisfaction of the Dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Dr. Jack Jacobs________________________ __04/10/2014________ ____________________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Dr. Alyson Cole_______________________ ___04/10/2014_______ ____________________________________ Date Executive Officer ___Dr. Mary Gibson____________________________ ___Dr. Frances Fox Piven________________________ Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract THE “SOCIAL FACTORY” IN POSTWAR ITALIAN RADICAL THOUGHT FROM OPERAISMO TO AUTONOMIA by DAVID PETER PALAZZO Adviser: Professor Jack Jacobs This dissertation examines the “social factory” as it developed conceptually within postwar Italian Autonomist Marxism. This concept is defined historically as an outgrowth of the critique of political economy that accompanied a rethinking of Marxism in postwar Italian working class political thought through the experience of Quaderni Rossi, which culminated in the theoretical and practical work of Potere Operaio, with fragments in the area of Autonomia. Historically, this dissertation locates the “social factory” as derivative of two figures: Raniero Panzieri and Mario Tronti, as well as two subsidiary movements that were articulated, separately, by Antonio Negri and Mariarosa Dalla Costa. Conceptually, the “social factory” is understood in two differing modes: as the result of capitalist accumulation and, the other, as the consequence of the increasing tertiarization of economic life. Both are problematic and unresolved within Italian workerist thought; Negri and Dalla Costa contribute to the discussion of a “social factory” critique of political economy in terms of extending the conceptualization of class and the understanding of social relations within advanced, post-Fordist capitalism. The idea of the “social factory” is understood historically to signify the relationship between capital and class, to understand the role of capital as an element of command within a particular, historical mode of production. In this regard, the development of operaismo is delineated in terms of the critique of political economy and its secondary concept: class composition. The history of a rather rich and varied political orientation constitutes the substantive matter of this work, with the conceptual apparatus forming the definitive characteristics of a distinct political movement: operaismo. In short, the “social factory” is explained historically through its articulation in iv Quaderni Rossi, Classe Operaio, the student movement, the “hot autumn,” Potere Operaio, and Autonomia. Between the early-1960s and the mid 1970s Italy was the country of class conflict. This dissertation tells a story of that historical moment as understood through the development of its main concept, the “social factory,” as a critique of political economy. v Acknowledgements In the course of a dissertation there are many people that deserve recognition. First and foremost is the late Marshall Berman. He was the first person I spoke to of this work and he gave me a characteristic and practical piece of advice: “would you rather do research at 42nd and 5th or live in Italy for consecutive summers?” The iconic citizen of New York City instructed me to go abroad, to Italy, to enjoy my dissertation experience. Thank you. My adviser Jack Jacobs: always a mentor—supportive, challenging, and enlightening; steadfast and encouraging. This work bears the imprint of both of their influences. To Joan Tronto, thank you for being part of the proposal defense and for supporting the initial development of this work. To the staff at Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, who assisted my archival research— particularly David Bidussa, Loretta Lanzi, Massimiliano Tarantino, and Alfredo Puttini—thank you for welcoming me with open arms and for patiently dealing with my particular demands. To the staff at the Biblioteca Centrale at Palazzo Sormani, thank you for the endless days of microfiche tape and assistance in periodical research. To the staff at Libreria Calusca a.k.a. Cox 18—while I lived in Porto Ticinese, thank you for the introduction to your rich historical and cultural archives, preserved in the face of state terror. Thanks to the Centro Sociale Leoncavallo—for the informal conversations over dinner, the personal connections, and intellectual dialogue that “liberated spaces” offer (and many others who nourished my spirit as a foreigner investigating Italian history and politics). I would like to thank the Graduate Center of the City University of New York for its material support, particularly the staff in the Mina Rees Library’s Inter-Library Loan office who found and retreated the bulk of my initial secondary sources, but also to the administration who thought my work of enough interest to award me funding to conduct research and to write. Second to them is the staff at the New York Public Library’s “Schwarzman Building” and “Science, Industry, and Business Library.” Studying Italian political thought and history in New York City would have proved impossible without these institutions. I would like to individually acknowledge Professors Frances Fox Piven and Mary Gibson: the latter, for her commitment to students of Italian history and ideas; the former, for her unceasing support for students interested in working class studies and the social movements that they create. Lastly, thanks to my immediate family. Mom, thank you for your unquestioning support. Thanks to Rabab Elfiky for her support and encouragement at the culmination of this work. In a general sense, this work was made possible by the rich history of working class peoples who vi struggle, and have struggled, to attain a better life for themselves, outside the boundaries of the wage- slavery offered to them by capital. I’m proud to have written this for my father. Thanks dad for being union and talking about your work-life. I have undoubtedly overlooked many people who in myriad ways contributed to this work (especially my professors from URI who, in my undergraduate years, were remarkable). To the Italians who constitute this history, I’ve tried my best to represent what I know of your struggles honestly and without discrimination. Yet, in standard fashion, all the errors within are my own. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: Working class politics from the Resistance to the Economic Miracle 12 CHAPTER 2: The crisis of 1956 and the birth of Autonomist Marxism: Raniero Panzieri and the origins of Quaderni Rossi 57 CHAPTER 3: The “social factory” and socialist revolution in the theoretical and political work of Quaderni Rossi 96 CHAPTER 4: Classe Operaia: The primacy of working class struggle and the organization of revolution 142 CHAPTER 5: Students and revolutionary class politics: capitalist planning, the scholastic system, and student revolt 205 CHAPTER 6: The “social factory” and workers’ liberation from work: the “hot autumn” and working class revolution 292 CHAPTER 7: The “social factory” and the question of “worker centrality” 350 CONCLUSION 385 WORKS CITED 388 viii INTRODUCTION This dissertation is a historical reconstruction of the “social factory” concept as developed within the intellectual tradition of Italian operaismo in the postwar period up through the end of the Bretton Woods period. As a critique of political economy, the “social factory” was formulated in order to understand how those living in advanced capitalist economies were subjected to capital’s unceasing pressure to develop individual and collective capacities and focus ones efforts and energies towards the needs and goal of capital accumulation. One purpose of introducing this concept is that it served as a unifying concept under the rubric of class that provided an open and fluid framework for heterogeneous social groups. Its fundamental thrust informs us that regardless of identity, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or status, we are forced to sell ourselves, and in turn become that particular commodity, labor-power, that generates capital. Traditionally, the socialist conception of technological progress sought to lesson the burden of work, yet this has not occurred. Rather, with the achievements in technological development, work life has increased, with the amount of time spent on such items increasingly penetrating traditionally “private” realms of being. At the core of this phenomenon is not simply the role of money as the coercive tool of capital; nor is it