Chaosophy - autonomous learning

had essentially disappeared from the political scene.21 A whole movement
calling for worker autonomy sprouted from the debris of
Leninism. This movement gathered together many collectives, some
of which were particularly powerful within several large Italian companies
like Fiat, Pirelli, Alfa Romeo, and Policlinico ... What was
original about them was that it challenged-on principle-the
traditional forms of the delegation of power and speech. Many
militants of the old organization Potere Operario could be found
there. And then, in 1977 there were the "metropolitan Indians,"
representing the most creative wing of the movement. They insisted
more on the need for transforming the relations between individuals,
and practiced as their major weapon a sort of derision or irony vis-avis
the system. They organized themselves in tribes of "Redskins"
moving within big Italian cities and fought for the liberalization of
drugs, for the requisition of empty buildings, for the creation of
antifamilial patrols meant to remove minors from their parents'
control, and to claim one square kilometer of greenery per inhabitant.
Unlike 1968, these protest movements had no reason to claim
the need for a student-worker alliance; it was a de facto development
between the students, the young workers, the many
"lump en" and unemployed workers who came to recognize themselves
in this emerging movement which claimed its autonomy
against all forms of manipulation. Leading up to 1977, the
actions of the Worker Autonomy movement had multiplied,
many of which took place in an "in-between" zone, at once close
to common criminality in terms of deeds and to political action
in terms of intentions: these included occupations of private
houses and auto-reductions of bills in public services, as well as
the expropriation from and hold-ups of banks. 1977 was the high
point of this agitation.
One aggravating factor was added to this situation, which had
been spared to the France of May '68 and onwards: terrorism. It
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