Saltalippi, Matteo. 2018. Frames of Class Struggle

Saltalippi, Matteo. 2018. Frames of class struggle: An ethnography about local labour and global capitalism during the “ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni” steel plant strike in Terni, Central Italy. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis] http://research.gold.ac.uk/24091/ The version presented here may differ from the published, performed or presented work. Please go to the persistent GRO record above for more information. If you believe that any material held in the repository infringes copyright law, please contact the Repository Team at Goldsmiths, University of London via the following email address: [email protected]. The item will be removed from the repository while any claim is being investigated. For more information, please contact the GRO team: [email protected] FRAMES OF CLASS STRUGGLE An ethnography about local labour and global capitalism during the “ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni” steel plant strike in Terni, Central Italy. PhD Thesis Matteo Saltalippi Department of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in September 2017 1 I, Matteo Saltalippi, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. The photographs and the visual material used in this thesis are my own. I confirm that, where the information has other sources, it has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract This thesis, which focuses on a prolonged period of unrest that took place at the TK-AST Terni steelworks in Central Italy in 2014 and addresses the ways in which labour activism contributes to the articulation of working class self-identification and consciousness. The thesis draws on anthropological approaches to class in a context of historical change that requires the Terni workers to engage in multiple and contradictory relations with local and global capital and with political entities. The thesis shows how contemporary labour struggles incorporate coercion and solidarity and demonstrates that the strike is re- assessed as the main instrument of protest, while the Terni steelworkers’ political agency fails to resonate with traditional repertoires of class struggle transmitted through memories and narratives about a glorious past. Through visual ethnographic methods, the thesis explores the steelworkers’ engagement with their current possibilities: film and text draw on and illustrate the Terni workers’ search for visibility for their cause and show how the fragmentation underpinning the organisation of production is reflected in the different ways that contractors and blue and white-collar workers engage with the struggle, thus undermining the emergence of a united front. The thesis considers how new configurations and geographies of power undermine the pivotal role of local trade unionists and shape the demands of workers and the innovative forms of struggle they adopt to ensure media visibility. This leads to a proliferation of new forms of struggle that reflect the fragmentation of the Terni labour force even while they are pursuing the shared aim of safeguarding the future of the plant and the town. By analysing workers while they are stepping outside the boundary of the protected sphere of production and occupying public space, thereby transforming the economic struggle into a political one, the thesis demonstrates that the working class has not disappeared and highlights its relevance in the present socioeconomic landscape. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my first supervisor Massimiliano Mollona, whose research and films on steelworkers and the steel industry have been inspiring me since my time as an MA student at Goldsmiths; his formal and informal feedback, comments and encouragement have been crucial to the development of this research. I wish to thank also my second supervisor Victoria Goddard: her insights into the steel industry, and into what anthropology can do in order to understand the work and lives of steelworkers, have been thought-provoking and have guided me throughout my research. Henrike Donner, Mark Johnson, Ricardo Leizaola, Isaac Marrero-Guillamón, Frances Pine, Martin Webb and Chris Wright from Goldsmiths Anthropology Department, have contributed with valuable feedback on both written and filmed material. I’m especially grateful to Ricardo, who has helped with my video projects since my MA with great technical and intellectual support. I’m indebted to my cohort: Cy Elliott-Smith, Claudia Giannetto, Sarah Howard, Clate Korsant, Charli Livingstone, Dionysia Manesi, Jo Sedillo, and William Wheeler and for their friendship, encouragement and stimulating chats, especially in the pub. In particular, I’m thankful to William for proofreading my thesis and to Claudia with whom I shared the difficulties and joys of trying to combine mainstream and visual ethnographic methodologies. Our conversations on the visual aspect of the research, and the stimulating challenges it can create, as well as on films and documentaries, have been indeed fundamental to the development of the methodological approach. I’m also grateful for the helpful conversations I had with Yari Lanci and his insights on Marxism. This research has also greatly benefited from the help of CGIL-FIOM in Terni, represented by Carlo, who introduced me to the Human Resource department of TK-AST. 4 I am also grateful to Dr Giustinelli, who allowed me to access the factory historical archive and to Paolo Pellegrini the archivist who directed me towards the right records and engaged in long and fruitful conversations with me about the history of the steelworks. I would like to thank Marco Coppoli and BLOB (Laboratory for Youth Communication) for their technical support while making the documentary Biographies of Struggle, the visual part of this thesis – which would not have come to fruition without the help of Greca Campus. Her expertise as filmmaker and deep understanding of the context, have been essential to all phases of the film production. The same goes for Riccardo Tappo, who embarked on the project, carrying out a number of indispensable technical tasks; their hard (and unpaid) work has not only been a gift, but also an enormous encouragement for my research. I hope that this will lead to more visual projects in the future. I also wish to thank Nicola Mastice and Nicola Frattegiani for their (unpaid) work on, respectively, graphic and sound design; Fabrizio Loce-Mandes has been a dear friend and colleague since our times at the Anthropology Department of Perugia, always ready to discuss Anthropology and all that it entails. My thanks go also to all the participants in my research, especially Monia, for her generosity in sharing her photographs, and those who became fundamental gatekeepers: Daniele, who was my ‘guide’ during the strike and made me understand what being a Unionist and steelworker means through long and patient explanation of life at ‘La Terni’; and Emanuele, who was passionately knowledgeable not only about the factory, but also about the beautiful Valnerina – the natural environment which surrounds the factory. I am grateful for his friendship, built during months of walks, talks and dinners. Our excursions often ended up at Ristoro Lu Tappu, a small cabin that serves as a bar and light restaurant for those who explore the peaks around Polino: Pina and Cesare Tappo (Riccardo’s parents) embodied the true meaning of Ristoro, that of being able to restore 5 peace of mind with a glass of wine and their amazing hospitality. My thoughts go out to Marco Bartoli, who died a month before the thesis was completed: he was an AST worker who embodied the true spirit of the militant worker and who spoke about his own life and commitment with a rare and precious honesty. At the end of the screening of Biographies of Struggle in Terni, he was the only one to speak among a silent crowd, encouraging us to keep the camera rolling on the AST steelworkers. I wish to thank my mother and brother for their support and also my father, a retired worker, who transmitted his political ideas to me without impositions – it is probably he who is responsible for my interest in the workers’ struggle. My last thoughts go to Irene, my partner, to whom this thesis is dedicated. She has known of my interest in Anthropology since my BA, and has always supported and encouraged me, even when she didn’t know she was putting herself into as I decided to embark on a PhD and turn this passion into a job. She has read, reviewed and criticised everything I have written in academic contexts since my MA, and has also used her expertise as translator and subtitler for the captions of the documentary. In addition to this irreplaceable help throughout all these years, she took care of my well-being during the last writing-up stages, enduring the stress that they implied. I admire her courage and strength and I wish to give her back at least half of what she has given me, now that she, not scared by these last few years, will soon begin her own PhD research. London, September 2017 6 Table of contents Abstract................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 4 Table of contents ..................................................................................................................... 7 Table of Illustrations .............................................................................................................

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