Workers’ Autonomy from Detroit to Turin and Beyond | Red May 2021

How is the concept of working-class autonomy — from capitalism and the state apparatus, from the official organizations of the Left (political parties, nonprofit organizations, progressive religious groups, foundations, etc.) — indebted to Black and Brown liberation movements? To begin to answer this question, we will revisit the early conversations between CLR James and others about the “autonomy” of black liberation, intertwining of black liberation struggles and autonomist worker organizing in the lives and work of Grace Lee and Jimmy Boggs, and the relationships between black autoworkers and autonomists in Italy.

Paul Buhle, Nico Pizzolato, Andrew Anastasi, Kevin Van Meter, Scott Kurashige

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Red May is a month-long spree of red arts, red theory, and red politics based in Seattle, Washington. We gather in bookstores, movie theaters, bars, parks, cafes, alleys, and auditoriums to share in discussion and plot ways forward toward a world in common: a world beyond capitalism. While we will continue our annual collective hurdle over the wire of our capitalist horizon, now you can join us throughout the other 11 months of the year.

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