Resistance and Philosophy in Negri and Hardt: On the Role of Philosophy

Abstract

  This article clarifies the contemporary role of philosophy in the neo-Marxist theory. In Empire (2000), Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt showed the analysis of the new form of global power that was emerging as Empire. This analysis brought ambivalent vision: Empire was the realization of global society of control and real subsumption of labour under capital, but in Empire, the possibility of revolutions was getting larger. This vision was based on the Italian Marxist’s argument, which regarded workers’ power (potere operaio) as an essential element for the development of capitalism. Hence in their point of view, real subsumption never means the one-dimentionalization. Negri and Hardt accepted this optimism of Italian Marxism.

  However, class struggle cannot be a spontaneous product. Hence Negri and Hardt discussed “the contemporary role of intellectuals.” And they argued that spontaneity and hegemony were not the only alternatives. But their metaphor for the new form of revolution (an orchestra keeping the beat without a conductor) sounds like spontaneity of organization. This article shows how the role of philosophy in the new class struggle is determined in Negri and Hardt’s work.