Thesis title: Sindacalismo sociale contro la metropoli. Le lotte “per una vita più bella” del Sudd Cobas di Prato
The research begins by analysing the transformations of urban conflicts in the neoliberal metropolis, starting with the decline of the factory-city and the mass worker, in order to examine the contemporary possibilities for political recomposition in the West, and it ultimately sets out to study the struggles “for a better life” waged by the Sudd Cobas trade union in the industrial district of Prato as a case study, it is argued, of a broader emerging phenomenon of social unionism.
Following the neoliberal counter-revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, changes in workers’ subjectivity and the crumbling of the factory-city signalled the shift of the class struggle from the factory to the territory, but the explosion of the metropolis seems to have confined every antagonistic subject within the realm of social minorities that are, all things considered, governable. The exception is the metropolitan uprisings, the true protagonists of the antagonistic scene over the last forty years; yet whilst we believe they constitute a phenomenon to be navigated, it is also argued that they cannot represent our theoretical horizon. The case study is instead situated within a theoretical framework that identifies certain autonomous forms of social trade unionism, which thus transcend the boundaries of the "traditional" trade union, as the sphere of recomposition of a (re-)emerging subjectivity: the social worker.
Following a historical and theoretical overview of the evolution of urban conflicts from the 1970s to the present day, this study examines certain historical and territorial features of the Prato district, focusing in particular on three key themes relevant to our case study: the dispersed factory model, the relationship between clients and subcontractors, and the central role of immigrant labour. Through this lens, the trajectory of the "Prato model" in the West is analysed, leading up to the crisis of the 1980s and the emergence, in the 1990s and 2000s, of new class and racial hierarchies that continue to shape the present day.
The concluding chapter examines the birth and development of Sudd Cobas from 2018 onwards, beginning with the conquest of rights as expected by law, moving on to the forms of employer reaction and thus the defence and revival of those rights, which seems to be leading the trade union conflict to have to "move up the supply chain" to the point of including client brands in negotiations. Finally, by virtue of its very nature as a social trade union, Sudd Cobas’ objectives extend beyond the workplace to address issues such as residence permits, health, social welfare etc., reaching out to broader movements, from the campaign against the Salvini Decrees to the movement against the genocide in Palestine.
Methodologically, the research combines multidisciplinary literature reviews, semi-structured interviews and observation (including participant observation), offering an original contribution to the debate on new forms of conflict, and in particular social trade unionism, in Western cities.