Our operaismo

I remain unsure about the choice of political tactics at that point—not what was ‘correct’, but what would have been most useful. It’s true that, at times, little depends on your own decisions and much on circumstances, openings, encounters.  We let ourselves get carried away by the fascinating pleasure of alternative thinking. But the lingering doubt remains that the other path may have been the right one: saying a little less and doing a little more.

History and theory of Operaismo by one of its leading figures: http://libcom.org/library/our-operaismo-mario-tronti

I'm not up to summarizing the article.  I would just recommend reading it for a great guide to the origins, aims, methodology and eventual collapse of Italian Operaism/Autonomism

Dafuq? It just comes off as babbling to me. I haven't a clue what the author is trying to get across to the reader.

Did you read the article? It's about developing a theory and practice out of actual, existing conditions rather than trying to fit an abstract or outdated theory to a reality that has moved on. Listening to worker's demands, responding to and supporting them in order to provoke a crisis in capitalism.

In many ways the opposite of Vanguardism. Intellectual specialists, however, are needed to articulate and and ultimately direct the demands of workers. Whatever the importance of Vanguardism, it is hard to ignore that most 'Vanguards' have no connection at all to the working class and are actually just tiny, irrelevant groupscules arguing among themselves.

The Operaisti also demonstrated that working towards short-term goals needn't lead to simple social-democratic reformism but can actually be far more radical than strict orthodoxy and ideological fidelity.

As for the article itself, it was written long after the events for a specialised academic audience. The language is appropriate to a critical history. Also the author is writing in English rather than his native Italian.

The quotation I used may seem obscure but I think it sums up the movement's self-critical mode of thinking, spontaneity and avoidance of simple b&w distinctions.

Damn, I'll try to get through this before I have to go to work. Seems interesting.