The Politics Of Subversion: A Manifesto For The Twenty First Century (english And Italian Edition)

In this important book, Antonio Negri develops the key ideas that were to form the basis for the highly influential analyses of new forms of power and social struggle presented in Empire and Multitude. He shows how new technology and the break-up of the traditional factory have created new social subjects whose value is no longer tied to their skill. The spread of communication networks and the globalization of production mean that capitalism has become totalized - but not, Negri stresses, monolithic. On the contrary, the possibilities for subversion have correspondingly increased. Going beyond classical Marxism, he shows how old solidarities must be reformulated and new alliances created. The struggles which marked the political end of the twentieth century are now being repeated in a new historical conjuncture, giving rise to new forms of transnational solidarity that can challenge dominant global powers. This new paperback edition, which includes a new Preface by the author, is an excellent introduction to the work of one of the most influential political thinkers writing today and will be essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the new forms of conflict and struggle that will shape the world in the twenty-first century. Subversion is the destruction of the violence that is inherent in exploitation and which runs through society, indistinctly, massively and terribly: subversion is countervailing power. The more the labour force, or the working subject, becomes intellectual and social, the more the violence inherent in exploitation acquires an intellectual and social character. Violence is spread out in a generalized way; it occupies the whole of society and permeates all of its pores. Violence is no longer merely ideological: rather, it is functional and innate. How can it be uprooted and destroyed? It is a violence which we feel bearing down on us; often we are its prisoners and our thoughts and nightmares are implicated in it. In this light countervailing violence. It would, however, be mad to draw such a conclusion, and when violence was recently expressed through terrorism, it did indeed have a feel of madness about it. But what does subversion imply then? Subversion is a force which is powerful and clear; it is the positive aspect of destruction. A major new statement by a notorious political theorist, on the experiences of "postmodern" society. He examines the new forms of exploitation, struggle and social organization which characterize the final years of the 20th century.