!publish!

content/research/crazyrhythms.md

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 ## The story from which we started: Lebole, c. 1964
 
-In 1964, the all-female workforce of the apparel manufacturer Lebole in Arezzo, Tuscany, were among the first ones in Italy to experience the transformation of their workflow according to the teachings of the MTM (Motion Time Measurement) Method imported from the USA.  In the span of less than a decade, these women, many of whom were accomplished tailors before entering the factory, went from a semi-artisanal organization of labour, to a progressively more fragmented and repetitive segmentation of tasks, to a fully scripted repetitive performance with maddening rhythms.  With the introduction of the MTM method, their movements were measured and minutiously analysed by a team of experts, who then "choreographed" the execution of each motion in a new, time-saving manner. In short, the workers were expected to behave like ROBOTS. 
+In 1964, the all-female workforce of the apparel manufacturer Lebole in Arezzo, Tuscany, were among the first ones in Italy to experience the transformation of their workflow according to the teachings of MTM (Methods-Time Measurement), a new methodology for analysing and organizing chainwork imported from the USA.  In the span of less than a decade, these women, many of whom were accomplished tailors before entering the factory, went from a semi-artisanal organization of labour, to a progressively more fragmented and repetitive segmentation of tasks, to a fully scripted repetitive performance with maddening rhythms.  With the introduction of the MTM method, their movements were measured and minutiously analysed by a team of experts, who then "choreographed" the execution of each motion in a new, time-saving manner. In short, the workers were expected to behave like ROBOTS. 
 
-The impact of the new MTM Method on the health conditions of the Leboline (this was the nickname of the workers) was enourmous. Many experienced faintings, nervous breakdowns and other symptoms of exhaustion, conditions which the factory doctors tried to cure with cycles of "vitamin" injections. One of these women also chose to take her own life, many were forced to take frequest sick leaves. 
+The impact of the new MTM method on the health conditions of the Leboline (this was the nickname of the workers) was enourmous. Many experienced faintings, nervous breakdowns and other symptoms of exhaustion, conditions which the factory doctors tried to cure with cycles of "vitamin" injections. One of these women also chose to take her own life, many were forced to take frequest sick leaves. 
 
-The confrontation with the technical violence of the MTM Method also led the Leboline to become an incredibly active force in the political struggles of the 1960s and 1970s in Italy. They not only rejected the new technical violence of the method, insisting on slower rhythms and more frequent breaks, they also fought with (and within) workers' unions and communist party for the recognition of their specific labour as women, engaging in battles for municipal kindergartens, for instance. 
+The confrontation with the technical violence of MTM also led the Leboline to become an incredibly active force in the political struggles of the 1960s and 1970s in Italy. They not only rejected the new technical violence of the method, insisting on slower rhythms and more frequent breaks, they also fought with (and within) workers' unions and communist party for the recognition of their specific labour as women, engaging in battles for municipal kindergartens, for instance. 
 
 At the beginning of the 1960s, as political organizing was forbidden during working hours, the Leboline begun their political organizing as they could, invented a number of cunning ways to coordinate amongst themselves, in via endless word of mouth outside the factory gates, on the bus to work, and during the very few moments of rest. Crucially, important messages were communicated in a relay during bathroom visits, a practice named "Radio Gabinetto" (Radio Toilet). They also revamped the use of the contrafacta technique, modifying the lyrics of traditional but also popular hit songs of the time  to convey their political messages while singing at work and at the rallies. 
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Finding their own voice and fighting for keeping it was more than a metaphor for
 
 ## Luigi Firrao 
 
-We first encountered the story of the Lebole workers and the impact that the MTM Method had on their lives and health conditions during our research residency at the archive of Fondazione ISEC in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan. 
+We first encountered the story of the Lebole workers and the impact that MTM had on their lives and health conditions during our research residency at the archive of Fondazione ISEC in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan. 
 
 We encountered this story as "told" by Luigi Firrao, who followed it meticulously for a number of years. Firrao had a number of interviews with the Leboline, where he chatted with them about their experiences, as well as recording the powerful lyrics of their political choruses. He wrote several newspaper articles denouncing the hidden violence of the new management techniques which were silently creeping in Italian factories since the early 1960s. Firrao also left us an exceptional collection of newspaper cut-outs, articles, and reportages on the theme of MTM and its impact on the life of the workers. 
 
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 Maddening Rhythms is organized around 5 'factors', each centering one aspect of the Leboline's experiences and struggles and using it to introduce a broader reflection. We believe that reactivating some of the stories, techniques and imaginaries that came out of the struggles for health that took place in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s can be a useful exercise in our present days, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 syndemic, an event with a death poll that could have been, in large part, preventable. Connecting with the struggles that first obtained a public healthcare system might help us sharpen our demands for the future. 
 
 
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 ## Italian Healthcare struggles
 
 The aftermath of WWII saw a number of struggles for health to become recognised as a common good. Many people fought for health practices to be supported via the public sector, and for care to be made available universally and for free at the point of use (that is, paid for through general taxation, rather than via a single payer model).