This article argues that labour can be understood as a commons, located in the discussion of how commons can advance the transformation of social relations and society. To manage labour as a commons entails a shift away from the perception of labour power as the object of capital’s value practices, towards a notion of labour power as a collectively and sustainably managed resource for the benefit of society.

 In February 2016, a dozen former workers of a small woodworks plant in the small Greek town of Patrida, some 60 kilometers from Thessaloniki, had had enough. Since 2008 they had been tricked by the owners. With a promise to pay back everything soon, the bosses did not pay the workers their full salary anymore, reduced working hours and announced bankruptcy without making it official. But the situation never improved and the workers never saw their money. Finally, in December 2015, the plant closed.

NAHIMEN, Teoria eta Estrategia 2016/I

La Autonomía Comunal exige un desarrollo en todos los ámbitos productivos. El pensamiento es uno de esos ámbitos. Sin embargo, las facultades especializadas y los centros de investigación al servicio del Capital y los Estados, lo tienen bajo llave. Nahimen es un proyecto que apuesta por una estrategia de colectivización del pensamiento, por la reapropiación popular autónoma de ese espacio productivo. Nuestra revista quiere ser una herramienta más para ese fin: para contribuir a en que Euskal Herria se llegue a constituir el poder popular autónomo.

Der Beitrag betrachtet die Besetzung von Betrieben und die Übernahme der Produktion durch die Beschäftigten in Argentinien, Brasilien, Uruguay und, in geringerem Maße, Venezuela. Dabei werden die „Rückeroberten Betrieben unter Arbeiterkontrolle“ (RBA) als mögliche Wiederbelebung von Arbeitskämpfen analysiert und sowohl Differenzen zu den dominanten gewerkschaftlichen Herangehensweisen und Praktiken als auch die Unterschiede zu herkömmlichen Genossenschaften herausgearbeitet.

Dario Azzelini is a theoretician and political activist splitting time between Berlin and Caracas. He recently stayed in Belgrade to participate in the conference “Let’s bring socialism back into the game“. That gave us an opportunity to talk about different topics he addresses in his work – ranging from the question of Maduro’s election loss, the interrelation of art and politics, to cases of recuperations of workers’ factories throughout Europe.

Azzellini, Dario; Castronovo, Alioscia: “Le imprese recuperate in Europa”. In: De Nicola, Alberto; Quattrocchi, Biagio (ed.) (2016): Sindacalismo sociale. Lotte e invenzioni istituzionali nella crisi europea. Roma: DeriveApprodi

Dario Azzellini

Welche Alternativen von demokratischer Selbstorganisierung der Gesellschaft jenseits des Parlaments und des Kapitalismus können wir uns vorstellen? Ist das Modell einer selbstverwalteten Rätedemokratie dafür tauglich? In dieser Podiumsveranstaltung stellen Autor und Filmemacher Dario Azzelini und marx21-Koordinierungskreismitglied Stefan Bornost ihre Überlegungen hierzu vor.

Oliver Ressler, born 1970, lives and works in Vienna and produces installations, projects in public space, and films on issues such as economics, democracy, global warming, forms of resistance and social alternatives.

In Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela: Building 21st Century Socialism from Below, Dario Azzellini offers an account of the Bolivarian Revolution from below. While authors on Venezuela commonly concentrate on former president Hugo Chávez and government politics, this book shows how workers, peasants and the poor in urban communities engage in building 21st century socialism through popular movements, communal councils, communes and fighting for workers' control.