Italian philosopher and political theorist. In 1979, he was accused and arrested in connection with the investigations carried out after the Red Brigades kidnapped and killed Aldo Moro. Negri's relationship with the Red Brigades could not be proven. Despite this, he remained in prison for four and a half years.
After receiving his philosophy degree at the age of 23 with his senior thesis on German historicism, Negri worked at the Benedetto Croce Institute for Historical Studies for two years. He became a professor of Law in 1959 and worked at the University of Padua until 1967.
In 1967 he was also appointed professor of State Doctrines. He was involved in many publishing activities. He was the editor-in-chief of Progresso Veneto magazine, a local publication of the Italian Socialist Party. Later, when the socialists formed a coalition with the Christian Democratic Party, Negri did not accept this and left the party. After this date, he started writing in the magazine called Red Notebooks (Qaderni Rossi). Meanwhile, his articles were published in different philosophy magazines (Aut-Aut, Critical del Dretto). Negri became a prominent theorist in Potere Operairo, a new political formation environment. The Autonomia movement was born during this period, and Negri was blamed as one of those responsible for this uprising. He was acquitted of these charges but was later indicted and arrested in 1979, based on investigations into the Red Brigades' kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro. Negri's relationship with the Red Brigades could not be proven.
Antonio Negri (1 August 1933 – 16 December 2023) was an Italian political philosopher known as one of the most prominent theorists of autonomism, as well as for his co-authorship of Empire with Michael Hardt and his work on the philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Born in Padua, Italy, Negri became a professor of political philosophy at the University of Padua, where he taught state and constitutional theory. Negri founded the Potere Operaio (Worker Power) group in 1969 was a leading member of Autonomia Operaia, and published hugely influential books urging "revolutionary consciousness."
Despite this, he remained in prison for four and a half years and was released after being elected to the Italian Parliament while in prison on the list of the Radical Party. However, his immunity was lifted and Negri had to leave Italy as a result. He lived in France until 1997 and returned to Italy that year. He was returned to prison to serve the remaining prison sentence. He wrote many important and influential books (Marx Beyond Marx, Empire). In particular, the book Empire, which he wrote together with Michael Hardt, was considered a cornerstone in the theoretical development of a new leftist thought. Creating a new theory of power and resistance within the postmodern situation can be stated as Negri's philosophical and political goal.