Information AboutWorkerism |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WORKERISM | |
| anarchism | |
| marxist theory | |
| syndicalism | |
| labor | |
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WORKERISM AS REVOLUTIONARY PRAXIS See also Autonomism and Autonomist Marxism Workerism (or ''Operaismo'') is a political analysis, whose main elements were to merge into Autonomism that starts out from the power of the working class. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri , knowns as operaist and autonomist writers, offer a definition of operaismo, quoting from Marx as they do so: Operaismo :Technological development: Where there are strikes, machines will follow. "It would be possible to write a whole history of the inventions made since 1830 for the sole purpose of providing capital with weapons against working-class revolt." (''Capital'', Vol. 1, Chapter 15, Section 5) :Political development: The factory legislation in England was a response to the working class struggle over the length of the working day. "Their formulation, official recognition and proclamation by the State were the result of a long class struggle." (''Capital'', Vol. 1, Chapter 10, Section 6) Operaismo Some workerists approach social movements by recognising that most people active in broader social movements are workers, and seeks to inject forms of organisation based on workplace organising into these social movements. The notable attempt by the Autonomist organisation Lotta Continua in Italy failed, and the organisation dissolved itself into the broader workers and social movements as an Autonomist movement. By the mid-70s, the ''operaist'' movement had become knowm as Autonomist . WORKERISM AS A NEGATIVE CULTURAL PHENOMENON More broadly, workerism can imply the idealisation of workers, especially manual workers, Working Class Culture (or an idealised conception of it) and Manual Labour in general. Socialist Realism is an example of a form of expression that would be likely to be accused of workerism in this sense. The charge of workerism is often levelled at Syndicalist s. Traditional communist parties are also thought to be workerist, because of their supposed glorification of manual workers to the exclusion of white-collar workers. This use of the term was the most common English Language use during the twentieth century. Lenin's accusations of workerism V.I. Lenin charged a number of Russian socialists with being ''workerist'' for opportunistically following the political or cultural movements of the working class, instead of holding a separate Marxist political position. FURTHER READING ''Insurgent Identities: Class, Community and Protest in Paris from 1848 to the Commune '' by Roger V. Gould (1995 University of Chicago Press) ISBN 0226305619 - Gould argues that while class played a pivotal role in 1848, it was neighbourhood solidarity that was a decisive organizing force during the Paris Commune of 1871 (amazon link) SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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