Autonomist Marxism

Autonomism, or Autonomist Marxism is a left wing political movement and theory. Autonomism emerged in Italy in the 1960s as a form of workerist communism. Later, post-Marxist and lifestylist tendencies became significant after influence from Situationalism, the failure of the Italian revolutionary era in the 1970s and the emergence of a number of important theorists including Antonio Negri. Autonomism today varies between workerist marxism and lifestylist post-marxism and is influential in Italy, the United States and some other English speaking countries.

Autonomism may also refer to the Dutch anarchist Autonomen movement from the 1960s which concentrated on squatting, or to the German Autonomen squats of the 1980s.

Autonomist marxism

A branch of Marxist theory and practice which emphasises the ability of the working class to force changes to the organisation of the capitalist system (and which therefore concentrates on working class activity autonomous from the state, trade unions or political parties. Originally developed by Mario Tronti, Antonio Negri, Sergio Bolgna and others in Italy in the 1970s, and influential on the German autonomen, the worldwide Social Center movement and Marxist academics including Harry Cleaver, John Holloway and Steve Wright.