operativismo

Operativismo, often rendered as operaismo in Italian, is a Marxist theoretical current that emerged in Italy during the 1960s within radical labor and student movements. It sought to reinterpret capitalism as a network of social relations produced and reproduced in work, foregrounding the workplace as the primary site of class struggle while arguing that struggles extend beyond the factory into broader social life. The approach challenged both reformist unionism and vanguardist party politics, insisting that workers must organize autonomously and act directly to challenge capital.

Core ideas include the primacy of wage labor as the motor of capitalist development, the factory as the main arena of conflict, and the autonomy of labor against external political leadership. Operativismo emphasized that capital continuously reorganizes social production, creating new forms of cooperation and resistance, and it favored worker-led tactics and organization over reliance on traditional party structures. The movement helped develop concepts such as the “social factory” and, in later autonomist currents, analyses of immaterial labor and the general intellect.

Historical development and influence: the current took shape in Italy in the 1950s–60s, with figures such as Mario Tronti and Antonio Negri contributing to its theory. It contributed to the formation of Autonomia Operaia in the late 1960s and influenced other European autonomist movements. Its legacy extends into debates on post-Fordist labor and social reproduction, with later scholars like Paolo Virno and Maurizio Lazzarato drawing on operaismo foundations.

Criticism and evaluation: supporters praise its emphasis on worker initiative and the evolving nature of labor, while critics argue it can overemphasize the factory at the expense of state institutions and long-range organizational strategy.