Arrigo Cervetto (16 April 1927 – 23 February 1995) was an Italian Marxist theorist, anti-fascist partisan, and founder of the political group ''

Lotta Comunista Lotta Comunista (Communist Struggle) or Gruppi Leninisti della Sinistra Comunista (Leninist Groups of the Communist Left) is a political party born in Italy that does not recognize parliamentary dynamics for the party's strategy in the current h ...

''. Initially active in the anarchist movement, he later embraced a neo-Leninist approach rooted in a distinctive analysis of imperialism and state capitalism.Arrigo Cervetto – Digital Archives
Biblioteca Franco Serantini.

Biography

Born in Buenos Aires to working-class Italian parents, Cervetto returned to Savona during his childhood. During the 1943 strikes in northern Italy, he embraced anti-fascism and joined the ''Savona "Sguerso" Brigade'' in 1944, part of the ''Fumagalli Division'', under the name "Stalin". He was wounded in combat and received a War Merit Cross. He joined the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

but left in 1946 in protest against its postwar policies. Cervetto turned to anarchism and co-founded the group "Neither God Nor Master". He collaborated with prominent anarchists like Pier Carlo Masini and Umberto Marzocchi, and contributed to publications like ''Volontà'' and ''Umanità Nova''. In 1949, he wrote to Masini: "I didn’t believe Marxism, and especially Leninism, could be such a powerful weapon. Day by day I find in it nourishment for my ideas".

The GAAP and Marxist Transition

In 1950, Cervetto helped establish the '' Anarchist Groups of Proletarian Action'' (GAAP), pushing for a class-based interpretation of anarchism aligned with Marxist principles. He favored the concept of "liquidating the state" over its spontaneous extinction and drew from

Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , ; ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosophy, Marxist philosopher, Linguistics, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, Political philosophy, political the ...

’s historic bloc theory. After a temporary relocation to Argentina, he returned to Italy and further developed his theory of "indivisible imperialism", opposing the dual-camp logic of Cold War geopolitics. He rejected both Soviet and American imperialism as expressions of the same global capitalist system.

Toward ''Lotta Comunista''

In 1956, he co-founded ''Azione Comunista'' with Masini and Giuseppe Seniga. Following ideological divisions, Cervetto moved toward a neo-Leninist perspective and advocated the construction of a revolutionary organization of cadres. In 1965, he founded ''

'' in Genoa and led it until his death in 1995, dedicating himself full-time to political theory and practice.

Thought

Cervetto's theory centered on imperialism as a unified global system. He rejected the Soviet Union's socialist claims, labeling it a capitalist state integrated into world imperialism. He argued that imperialism did not block capitalism's spread but accelerated it in peripheral regions. His approach anticipated some later theories by

Paul Baran Paul Baran (born Pesach Baran ; April 29, 1926 – March 26, 2011) was a Polish-American engineer who was a pioneer in the development of computer networks. He was one of the two independent inventors of packet switching, which is today the do ...

and

Paul Sweezy Paul Marlor Sweezy (April 10, 1910 – February 27, 2004) was a Marxist economist, political activist, publisher, and founding editor of the long-running magazine ''Monthly Review''. He is best remembered for his contributions to economic theory ...

, though he was more critical of their interpretation of the Soviet economy.La Barbera, G., ''Lotta comunista: il modello bolscevico 1965–1995'', Milan, 2017.

Major works

* ''Lotte di classe e partito rivoluzionario'' (1966) * ''L’imperialismo unitario'' (1988) * ''Il ciclo politico del capitalismo di Stato'' (1989) * ''Il mondo multipolare'' (1996) * ''Opere complete'', 27 vols. (2015–2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cervetto, Arrigo Italian political philosophers Italian communists Italian Marxists Italian anarchists 1927 births 1995 deaths Resistance members People from Buenos Aires

Biography

The GAAP and Marxist Transition

Toward ''Lotta Comunista''

Thought

Major works

Further reading

Archives

See also

References