The weight of the printed word : text, context and militancy in operaismo / Steve Wright.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Wright, Steve, 1958- author.

Series:

• Historical materialism book series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Labor movement--Italy--History--20th century.
• Working class--Italy--History--20th century.
• Working class--Political activity--Italy--History--20th century.
• Pamphlets--Political aspects--Italy.
• Communication in politics--Italy--History--20th century.
• Autonomism--Italy--History--20th century.
• Press, Labor--Italy--History--20th century.
• Underground press publications--Italy--History--20th century.
• Radicalism and the press--Italy--History--20th century.
• Printing--Political aspects--Italy--History--20th century.
• Italy--Politics and government--20th century.
• Autonomism.
• Communication in politics.
• Labor movement.
• Politics and government.
• Press, Labor.
• Printing--Political aspects.
• Radicalism and the press.
• Underground press publications.
• Working class.
• Working class--Political activity.
• Italy.

Genre:

• History

Physical Description:

xxvii, 584 ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chicago IL : Haymarket Books, 2022.

Summary:

"In The Weight of the Printed Word, Steve Wright explores the creation and use of documents as a key dimension in the activities of the Italian workerists during the 1960s and 1970s. From leaflets and newspapers to books, internal documents and workers' enquiries, the operaisti deployed a wide variety of printed materials in their efforts to organise amongst new subjectivities of mass rebellion. As Wright demonstrates, the practice of working with print was a central part of what it meant to be a workerist or autonomist militant during these years: one that throws light both on the meaning of political engagement, as well as the challenges posed by the use of technologies of communication and by emergent social subjects"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

• Introduction : Print, document work, and class politics
• What are militants? Ceto politico and ceto operaio
• Texts have bodies too : towards a materialist approach to document work and genre
• Genre, document work and militancy amongst the operaisti : some preliminary reflections
• Part I. The workers' enquiry and co-research. The Fiat workers' enquiry of 1960-61 : setting the scene
• The Fiat workers' enquiry of 1960-61 : what actually happened?
• The meaning of the workers' enquiry and co-research in the early 1960s
• Part II. Essays and their contexts. Cultural production in the Italy of the 'economic miracle'
• The essay and its discontents
• The role of the review in classical workerism
• The book trade and academia
• Part III. Leaflets and sundries. The emergence of the Assemblea operai e studenti
• The Assemblea's document work
• A short addendum on pamphlets
• Part IV. Potere Operaio. Debating organisation in print : Potop 1969-71
• Other elements of Potere Operaio's genre repertoire
• Two brief interludes : 'in praise of illegal work' and 'sotto la Mole'
• A gamble that failed : Potere Operaio del lunedì
• Part V. Internal documents and perspectives papers. Internal communication concerning Potere Operaio's press and organisation
• 'The measures taken'
• Position papers and discussion documents
• Part VI. 'Dites-le avec des pavé!' autonomist newspapers and the challenges of radio. The best re(a)d paper in Autonomia?
• Senza Tregua
• a brief and unhappy existence?
• 'A paper that speaks, a radio that writes' : I Volsci and the impact of radio on the printed word
• Part VII. Journals in a minor key. 'The firebrands of Porto Marghera'
• 'There is no housework in Marx'
• Conclusion : Print, document work, and class politics.

Notes:

• "First published in 2021 by Brill Academic Publisher, The Netherlands" -- title page verso.
• Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

• 1642597805
• 9781642597806

OCLC:

1315537150