Re: AUT: Negri and Charleton Heston?

["Harald Beyer-Arnesen" <haraldba@xxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "chris wright" <cwright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "aut-op-sy" <aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2004 7:44 PM
Subject: Re: AUT: Negri and Charleton Heston?

Chris, Nate and all ...

Nice post Chris, but a word about class consciousness/identity-
One  problem, here, is that the question frequently being
implictly framed within Leninist terms.

A more useful way to pose this is in terms of solidarity, i.e.
a practical awarenesss of common intererests. While it
is abvious that practice is the most effective road to
class consciousness, a praxis of solidarity also presupposes
a certain level of class consciousness. As for instance,
McDonalds worker at one outlet, seeing the increased strenght
in joining up with workers in other outlets in a struggle.
        The more expansive the framework of solidarity
the greater also tendentially class consciousness, and
thus also some form of working class identity will become.
It is a question of dialectics. The best way to avoid a
working class indentity is to avoid the class struggle.
Further, the going beyond, the transcendece of wage-
work as such, to at all to be posed as anything but an
ideal,  presupposes a certain level of class
consciousness/idenity/(practical)solidarity/struggle. Or in other terms, a
certain
level of strength, and thus belief and self-confidence.  As
the vast majority of workers of course are perfectly
aware that they cannot do it all on their own.
        Class consciousness does not in itself atomatically
entail a conscious will to abolish wage relations, even
if a certain level of class consciousness is precondition
for the latter.  But also, the less such a goal is part of
collective consciousness within the working class, the more
class consciouness will also tendentially decline. This is
both logical and historically confirmed.

Further, something which often completely forgotten in
such discussion, but is absolutly crucial.  Just as the
working class by definition is a global class,  a fully
developed class consciousness implies a global perspective,
even if it does not begin there. The problem in the U.S. history
hardly has been too much class consciousness and
indentity. Had that had been predominant, there would
never have been a AFL, nor today much of racism to
talk about.

Another part of this, which has been important for
the labour movements in Europe, is what I before
has referred to as Marx greatest sin, however much
one shared by many others: the promotion of a political
workers party of the parliamentary kind, which in
effect, was almost bound to undermine class
consciousness, and what amounts to the same, lead to
the "nationalisation" of the labour movement.

Harald




     --- from list aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---