The Strategy of the Refusal

Mario Tronti's work formed something of a pivot in the development of communist politics in Italy, and informed many of the premises, or at least touchstones, that would become more familiar to English-language readers through the work of Toni Negri, Paolo Virno, Silvia Federici and others (such as Midnight Notes in the US), and as it inspired a subsequent lexicon of exodus, desertion, lines of flight and autonomy. Tronti's signature text is Operai e Capitale, a compilation of essays written in the mid-1960s, some of which have been translated into English (see below). [The entire book has been translated into Spanish and French, and parts in German, as far as I know.]

The concept most closely associated with Tronti is that of 'refusal'. In his analyses of the character of class struggles in the 1960s, there was, he argued, a global pattern of struggle which took the form of a refusal, of the struggle against work, of absenteeism, widespread non-co-operation and the desertion of traditional forms of working class representation.  He argued, among other things, that it is the refusal which induces the composition and strategies of capital and, more controversially perhaps, in order "to struggle against capital the working class must struggle against itself insofar as it is capital".

There is much more that could be said here, much that might complicate such a perspective, elaborate on it, contend with it. But this is only a brief introduction for the purposes of announcing a reading of Tronti's "The Strategy of the Refusal", symposium-style.

In part, the talk turned to reading Tronti's essay as an accompaniment to, and extension of, discussions that have been occurring around various blogs about what it means to refuse, of the convergences and differences between the Operaistas' analysis of refusal (and perhaps also on the relation between identity, representation and struggle), Zizek on going nowhere, post-hegemony, zerowork, Agamben and solidarity, Deleuzo-Guattarian lines of flight, Levinasian escape, and anything else that might be given a different or interesting twist by way of an encounter with Tronti's essay and, of course, vice versa.

Contributors so far are Nate, Jodi, Eric, Jon, Craig and myself. With a couple of others expressing a possible interest in contributing.

Is there anyone else who might be interested in contributing a post, however brief or extensive, before we start scheduling? (The tentative date for the beginning of the symposium is March 20th, and the order of posts has yet to be worked out.)

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Other parts of Operai e Capitale which have been translated into English, for those who might want to venture further:  "Social Capital" | "Workers and Capital" | "The Struggle Against Labour" | "Lenin in England" |

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And, for those who have an interest in digging a little more into more recent discussions around Tronti's work, some related essays, chapters and fragments that are available online: Jon Beasley-Murray, "Ethics as Post-Political Politics"  |  Franco Berardi, "What is the Meaning of Autonomy Today?"  |  Mark Coté, "The Italian Foucault: Subjectivity, Valorization, Autonomia"  |  Stefano Franchi, "Passive Politics" [pdf]  |  Angela Mitropoulos and Brett Neilson, "Cutting Democracy's Knot"  |  Nicholas Thoburn, "Refusal of Work", chapter 5 from his book, Deleuze, Marx and Politics  |  Alberto Toscano, "Antagonism and Insurrection in Italian Operaismo" [pdf]  | Paolo Virno, Grammar of the Multitude (Foreword Sylvère Lotringer)  |  Steve Wright, "Children of a Lesser Marxism"  |  See also Leggiamo Tronti  |  And, I'll append an intro to a forthcoming essay: "Autonomy, Recognition, Movement" (in Constituent Imagination) |  Suggestions for additions would be welcome.