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