The Worker as Monster: Images of Class and Radicalism in Operaismo and Autonomia

Operaismo and Autonomia were two social movements that articulated an original form of Marxist theory and praxis in the 1960s and 1970s. While the major texts of these currents have been widely translated and commented upon, the images that emerged from them still warrant examination. This article focuses on one motif from their complex visual production: specifically, representations of the working class and of radical subjects more generally. The analysis will concentrate on the militant work of two artists, Mario Mariotti and Pablo Echaurren, as well as on the figure of the monster. This theme emerged as a tool to provide a cogent non-humanist depiction of radicalism, and to signal political incommensurability with the narratives and icons of the official workers’ movement.