Andrea Cengia
Università degli Studi di Padova
andrea.cengia@gmail.com
Abstract: This paper is a part of a larger research included in my PhD dissertation. The main aim of the paper is to define an outline of a theory of technology as a part of a critique of political economy. The starting point is identified in the work of Raniero Panzieri, who in the early Sixties combines theoretical analysis of Marx’s Capital with the factory investigation. Panzieri’s research indicates the non-neutrality of Technology applied to production processes. Panzieri’s conclusions lead to return to Marx theory. Starting from these conclusions the paper focuses on the Marxian analysis on the Machines and Technology of Book I and Book III of Capital. This perspective allows us to understand the critique of political economy as an important tool for immanent reading of capitalist technology. The result is a critical perspective that investigates production processes in a high technological content as a political issue.
Keywords: Technology; Progress; Critique of Political Economy; Marx; Panzieri.