2026-02-16.1_competition - innovation - struggle

the development of FIAT from the 1940s to the 2000s is evidence that competition does indeed drive innovation. but not the kind of competition that free market fetishits (otherwise known as neoliberals), constantly drool over. all things considered, competition may not be the right term, struggle is more fitting.
FIAT was forced to innovate in the realm of robotics and automation not because of competition from other companies, but because of it’s highly militant workers that forced management to scramble to find new ways to profit from them and defeat them. as soon as that militancy was broken by the 1980s, FIAT floundered.

“The bosses’ machine was fed by stealing workers’ knowledge [born out of struggle]. Here we see the forceful return of the Marx of The Poverty of Philosophy, who explained that: [‘Of all the instruments of production, the greatest productive power is the revolutionary class itself.’].” - Gigi Roggero, Italian Operaismo: Context and Specificity

“La Fiat era tra le prime aziende al mondo per livello tecnologico: i robot di saldatura che avevano installato alla Fiat, proprio nel 1980, erano all’avanguardia. Quindi dieci anni di lotte hanno fatto bene a questa maledetta azienda, venti anni di pace sociale l’hanno distrutta: la Fiat nel 2002 era una fabbrica fallita e lo è ancora, cioè non si tirerà mai su una fabbrica così; dopo ventidue anni di pace sociale assoluta è a terra, dopo dieci anni di lotte era veramente all’avanguardia della tecnologia.” - Sergio Bologna, Operaismo e composizione di classe, infoaut.org