The International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan—Peace in Kurdistan” wrote the following In Memoriam for philosopher Antonio Negri.

The world mourns a revolutionary thinker, former political prisoner and life-long radical. Antonio Negri lived a full and remarkable life. A leading figure in Autonomia and one of the most influential Marxists of the latter twentieth century, Negri was one of the rare academics that linked ideas and political philosophy to struggles for political change in the streets. This underlines the importance of a legacy that will continue to influence intellectual debate and political discourse far into the future.

Negri began as a professor of political science at Padua in the tumultuous 1960s. His life-long political radicalism and participation in workers struggles both propelled his ideas and also led to his exile in France and later political imprisonment by the Italian state. He thus became a symbol for the strife between radical left movements and the state in Italy.

Throughout his life, Negri was a strong critic of capitalism and his writing and political work gave inspiration to movements and intellectuals alike. His understanding of the ruling structures of society that perpetuate exploitation and inequality has provided a powerful framework for challenging them. He became an essential figure in developing the notion of ‘freedom’ in the tradition of Baruch Spinoza together with Althusser and Deleuze.

In this he found a kindred spirit in Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdish freedom movement. In his message to our very first “Challenging Capitalist Modernity” Conference in 2012, Negri said:

Your struggle is therefore also a struggle for a different society, driven by the recognition of collective rights as well as a different way of understanding economic development and the use of resources, to build a model of governance that goes beyond that of the nation-state. A governance that would be able to challenge a capitalism in crisis but still very aggressive. This conference is yet another concrete sign of your desire to discuss of the crisis of capitalism, the perspectives for the left but above all of the model of society we want to build... This conference is another answer to those who would like to silence you. We are with you with our heart and above all with supportive political intelligence.

Negri shared his thoughts on the second volume of Abdullah Öcalan’s Manifesto of the Democratic Civilization, “Capitalism”, which we published in the book Building Free Life: Dialogues with Öcalan and as a foreword to the German translation of this book, Die kapitalistische Zivilisation.

It is not enough to admire the formidable “last-ditch effort” of the perception of a Geist of the performative history of a community, of a democratic confederation, that this man, undisputed leader of a community of free people, scattered throughout the world, has been able to imprint on a struggle for national liberation, transforming it into a completely new and powerful figure of proletarian internationalism. Other leaders of national liberation processes and decolonization projects, such as Aimé Césaire and Leopold Senghor, had refused to accept the doxa that self-determination requires a sovereign state. But these authors and leaders have not kept their promise. The strength of Öcalan and his people in moving towards the “democratic confederation” has been successful to date.

Öcalan defends the right to utopia and testifies that every revolutionary can only do so. Let us not be moved, however, by this enlightened option. Öcalan’s utopia - as is soon discovered - is extremely concrete: it is embodied in the struggles and the order of the zones liberated by the Kurdish communist militias! A real utopia, the one that Öcalan supports, a precious gem that strongly opposes the rebirth, so common today, of national-fascisms. The utopia of the democratic confederation of peoples embodies a real process that will win every battle.

In or outside of prison, throughout his long life, Negri never stopped producing original ideas with the aim of liberating the oppressed. 

The last time we met in Venice, not long ago, Negri was very curious about Abdullah Öcalan’s situation, expressed endless support for his freedom and inquired what could be done to further that goal. In the book “Building Free life: Dialogues with Abdullah Öcalan” he wrote:

It is extraordinary to read this book by Öcalan, a man in jail but still capable of developing a thought that destroys all closure, a political leader who — under impossible conditions — continues to produce and renew an ethical and civil teaching for his people. An Antonio Gramsci for his own country. An example for everyone.

As we mourn his passing, we celebrate his life and reflect on permanent imprint Negri’s work has left on the ways we think about power, struggle and social change. His legacy as a radical intellectual will continue to provoke thought and inspire. We extend our deepest condolences to his comrades, partner and children.

Cologne, 18 December 2023