Italian philosopher whose Workers and Capital (1966) laid the theory of operaismo
Born in Rome, Tronti graduated in philosophy from La Sapienza with a thesis on the young Marx. An active member of the Italian Communist Party in the 1950s, he co-founded the review Quaderni Rossi with Raniero Panzieri and split from it in 1963 to found and direct Classe Operaia. He led operaismo, which bypassed unions and parties to engage directly with the working class and factory struggles, and his Operai e capitale (Workers and Capital, 1966) strongly influenced the movements of the late 1960s. He never formally left the PCI; turning later to the "autonomy of the political", he sat on its Central Committee in the 1980s. He taught philosophy at the University of Siena for some thirty years and was elected to the Senate in 1992 and 2013.
Activities and affiliations
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1992–1994
Italy state institutionsSenator (Democratic Party of the Left)
Legislature and state representation -
2013–2018
Italy state institutionsSenator (Democratic Party)
Legislature and state representation -
Italy state institutionsProfessor of philosophy, University of SienaMain
Scholarship and theory -
Communist Party of Italy / Italian Communist Party (PCdI/PCI)
Scholarship and theory -
Communist Party of Italy / Italian Communist Party (PCdI/PCI)
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1963Founds Classe Operaia
- 1966Operai e capitale (Workers and Capital)
- 1977Sull'autonomia del politico
- 1992–1994Senator (Democratic Party of the Left)
- 2013–2018Senator (Democratic Party)