Hi Angela

For an authoritative definition of *brainworkers* (aka knowledge workers/cognitive workers):

http://ica.cordis.lu/documents/documentlibrary/ADS0015926EN....
The ”brainworkers” are both technical and social innovators; they conceptualize, design as well as implement, hardware and software systems and/or large, complex research and technology-related projects. As a rule they tend to be highly creative producers(technologists, planners, project managers, designers, system architects, i.e., researchers in the broadest sense) rather than merely professional, highly skilled users (maintenance and repair specialists, programmers, EDP personnel) of new technologies.’…‘ The latter group, however, which shall be termed support personnel, constitutes an indispensable part of the former’s innovative performance. Diagrammatically speaking, the brainworkers are composed of a core of highly creative producers and a periphery of essential supporters that together function as an innovative whole, spearheading the new research-intensive key technologies.’
Source: vonGizychi, Ulrici(1988)

According to anarchist websites:

http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=1827
Alex Foti of the Italian Chainworkers group (www.chainworker.com) coined the term Chainworkers and Brainworkers to describe new types of work. By Chainworkers he means the 'workers in malls, shopping centres, hypermarkets, and in the myriad of jobs of logistics and selling in the metropolis'. By *Brainworkers* he means the knowledge workers, the programmers, the creatives and the freelancers.


Overall, this is about the knowledge economy, and knowledge management theory has its own well-established jargon. But as far as I've seen Verdiglione's writing is very peculiar (frankly, I find it near-incomprehensible), and I wouldn't dare normalize or interpret his choice of terminology. So my advice is, stick with *brainworking*

Hth!