Potere Operaio
Encyclopedia
Potere Operaio was a radical left-wing Italian political group, active between 1968 and 1973. (It shouldn't be confused with "Potere Operaio Pisano" which was one of the components of a competing "revolutionary" group, Lotta Continua
.) Among the group's leaders were Antonio ('Toni') Negri
, Franco Piperno
, Oreste Scalzone
and Valerio Morucci
, who led its clandestine armed wing. It was part of the "workerist" movement (operaismo), leading to the later development of the Autonomist movement.
Potere Operaio' s main sphere of operations was in factories, especially big factories in the industrial North, and publishing newspapers and leaflets. It sought to base its Marxist theory on the everyday life of supposedly revolutionary factory workers.
of Abril 16 1973 (an attack on the house of a neo-fascist MSI
militant, which resulted in his two sons (20 and 8 years old) burning alive), or the kidnapping and accidental killing of Carlo Saronio, a Potere Operaio sympathizer and son of a prominent industrialist family. It had a very scant support among industrial workers, essentially among recently-immigrated, young, frustrated industrial workers in the chemical sector.
Members of the group theorized the use of violence to impose the "revolutionary struggle". Potere Operaio's leaders quickly lost their grip on the organization, which disbanded after a number of investigations by the Italian authorities after 1973.
, signalling the shift from operaismo to autonomism. Some of the leaders later drifted towards more radical groups such as the Red Brigades
, including Morucci and Adriana Faranda
, who took part in the Moro
murder. Negri was arrested in the late 1970s, accused of being the leader of the Red Brigades, before being cleared of charges. Oreste Scalzone also was arrested, in connection with violent acts.
Lotta Continua
Lotta Continua was a far left extra-parliamentary organization in Italy. It was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement of Turin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factories such as Fiat...
.) Among the group's leaders were Antonio ('Toni') Negri
Antonio Negri
Antonio Negri is an Italian Marxist sociologist and political philosopher.Negri is best-known for his co-authorship of Empire, and secondarily for his work on Spinoza. Born in Padua, he became a political philosophy professor in his hometown university...
, Franco Piperno
Franco Piperno
Franco Piperno is an Italian former communist militant. He is currently an associated professor of Condensed Matter Physics in the University of Calabria..-Biography:Piperno was born at Catanzaro....
, Oreste Scalzone
Oreste Scalzone
Oreste Scalzone is an Italian Marxist intellectual and one of the founders of the communist organization Potere Operaio....
and Valerio Morucci
Valerio Morucci
Valerio Morucci is an Italian former terrorist, who was a member of the Red Brigades and who took part in the kidnapping and assassination of Aldo Moro in 1978.-Biography:...
, who led its clandestine armed wing. It was part of the "workerist" movement (operaismo), leading to the later development of the Autonomist movement.
Potere Operaio
Criminal operations
Despite presenting a legal facade and acting as a harbour for intellectuals and other individuals connected to protests in factories, Potere Operaio had been involved in some criminal operations, like the Primavalle FirePrimavalle Fire
The Primavalle Fire was an arson which occurred in Rome on April 16, 1973, and which caused the death of two youngsters, children of neo-fascist MSI member Mario Mattei....
of Abril 16 1973 (an attack on the house of a neo-fascist MSI
MSI
-Computing:* Windows Installer, an installer system written by Microsoft for Windows platforms * Medium Scale Integration, a generation of integrated circuit chips which contain hundreds of transistors...
militant, which resulted in his two sons (20 and 8 years old) burning alive), or the kidnapping and accidental killing of Carlo Saronio, a Potere Operaio sympathizer and son of a prominent industrialist family. It had a very scant support among industrial workers, essentially among recently-immigrated, young, frustrated industrial workers in the chemical sector.
Members of the group theorized the use of violence to impose the "revolutionary struggle". Potere Operaio's leaders quickly lost their grip on the organization, which disbanded after a number of investigations by the Italian authorities after 1973.
End and shift from operaismo to autonomism
Potere Operaio officially ceased to exist on 3 June 1973. Most of its core members went on to be involved in Autonomia OperaiaAutonomia Operaia
Autonomia Operaia was an Italian extra-parliamentary leftist movement particularly active from 1976 to 1978. It emerged in 1972 not as a party but rather as a place of encounter among various extra-parliamentary and revolutionary left-wing tendencies opposed to reformism...
, signalling the shift from operaismo to autonomism. Some of the leaders later drifted towards more radical groups such as the Red Brigades
Red Brigades
The Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
, including Morucci and Adriana Faranda
Adriana Faranda
Adriana Faranda is an Italian former terrorist, who was a member of the Red Brigades during the kidnapping of Aldo Moro.-Biography:Faranda was born at Tortorici, in eastern Sicily....
, who took part in the Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
murder. Negri was arrested in the late 1970s, accused of being the leader of the Red Brigades, before being cleared of charges. Oreste Scalzone also was arrested, in connection with violent acts.
See also
- Years of lead (Italy)
- AutonomismAutonomismAutonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. As an identifiable theoretical system it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerist communism...
- Operaismo
- Prima LineaPrima LineaPrima Linea was an Italian Marxist-Leninist terrorist group of the 1970s. It was formed in 1976 by members of hard-line factions within the far left, extra-parliamentary organization Lotta Continua, which disbanded that year, together with members of Potere Operaio and of other far left groups...
- Autonomia OperaiaAutonomia OperaiaAutonomia Operaia was an Italian extra-parliamentary leftist movement particularly active from 1976 to 1978. It emerged in 1972 not as a party but rather as a place of encounter among various extra-parliamentary and revolutionary left-wing tendencies opposed to reformism...