Étienne Balibar : "Toni Negri was a reader and continuer of Karl Marx, in an astonishing combination of literality and freedom"
Étienne Balibar praises the work of his friend the Italian thinker Antonio Negri, who died on 16 December. Negri theorised creative resistance and new forms of revolt in the face of globalised capitalism [This obituary was originally published by Le Monde on December 2023]
The first thing that struck one about him, in addition to his incredibly youthful figure at any age, was his unique smile – sometimes carnivorous, sometimes ironic or full of affection. It grabbed me the first time we met, outside a seminar at the Collège International de Philosophie. He had escaped from Italy thanks to an election that temporarily released him from prison. We were devastated by the rise of Reaganism and Thatcherism, which shattered the illusions born of the Socialist victory of 1981. What could we do in this debacle? ‘But revolution!’ explained Toni, beaming with optimism. It was advancing through countless social movements, each more inventive than the last. I wasn’t sure that I really believed him, but I came away freed from my dark mood and won over by him for good.