Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of
anarchism which focuses on the
labour movement.
Syndicalisme is a French word meaning "
trade unionism" – hence, the "
syndicalism" qualification. Anarcho-syndicalists view labour unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing
capitalism and the
State with a new society democratically self-managed by workers. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class divisions.
The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are:
# Workers' solidarity #
Direct action #
Workers' self-management |
Flag used by Anarcho-syndicalists. |
Workers' solidarity means that anarcho-syndicalists believe all workers, no matter their
gender or
ethnic group, are in a similar situation in regard to their bosses (
class consciousness). Furthermore, it means that, within
capitalism, any gains or losses made by some workers from or to bosses will eventually affect all workers. Therefore, to liberate themselves, all workers must support one another in their
class conflict.
Anarcho-syndicalists believe that only
direct action — that is, action concentrated on directly attaining a goal, as opposed to indirect action, such as electing a representative to a government position — will allow workers to liberate themselves.
Moreover, anarcho-syndicalists believe that workers' organizations — the organizations that struggle against the wage system, and which, in anarcho-syndicalist theory, will eventually form the basis of a new society — should be self-managing. They should not have bosses or "business agents"; rather, the workers should be able to make all the decisions that affect them themselves.
Rudolf Rocker was one of the most popular voices in the anarcho-syndicalist movement. He outlined a view of the origins of the movement, what it sought, and why it was important to the future of labour in his
1938 pamphlet
Anarcho-Syndicalism.
Hubert Lagardelle wrote that
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon laid out the fundamental theories of anarcho-syndicalism, through his repudiation of both capitalism and the state, his flouting of political government, his idea of free, autonomous economic groups, and his view of struggle, not pacifism, as the core of humanity.
The earliest expressions of anarcho-syndicalist structure and methods were formulated in the
International Workingmen's Association or First International, particularly in the
Jura federation. The First International, however, split between two main tendencies within the organization; the libertarian wing represented by
Mikhail Bakunin and the authoritarian wing represented by
Karl Marx. Adherents of the former would go on to influence the development of the labour movement in Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands, while orthodox Marxists would form mass-based labour and social democratic parties throughout Europe, with major strongholds in Germany and England. Some Marxists, notably Rosa Luxembourg and Anton Pannokoek, would formulate positions remarkably close to anarcho-syndicalism through
council communism. See main article
Anarchism and Marxism.
In 1895, the
Confédération Générale du Travail in
France expressed fully the organizational structure and methods of revolutionary syndicalism influencing labour movements the world over. The CGT was modelled on the development of the
Bourse de Travail (labour exchange), a workers' central organization which would encourage self-education and
mutual aid, and facilitate communication with local workers' syndicates. Through a
general strike, workers would take control of industry and services and self-manage society and facilitate production and consumption through the labour exchanges. As Rudolf Rocker points out in his pamphlet
Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism, the anarcho-syndicalist union has a dual purpose, "1. To enforce the demands of the producers for the safeguarding and raising of their standard of living; 2. To acquaint the workers with the technical management of production and economic life in general and prepare them to take the socio-economic organism into their own hands and shape it according to socialist principles." In short, laying the foundations of the new society "within the shell of the old." Up to the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution, anarcho-syndicalist unions and organizations were the dominant actors in the revolutionary left.
The
International Workers Association, formed in
1922, is an international anarcho-syndicalist federation of various labour unions from different countries. At its peak, the International Workers Association represented millions of workers and competed directly for the hearts and minds of the working class with social democratic unions and parties. The
Spanish Confederación Nacional del Trabajo played and still plays a major role in the Spanish labour movement. It was also an important force in the
Spanish Civil War. Another Spanish anarcho-syndicalist union, the
Confederacion General del Trabajo de España, is now the third largest union in Spain and the largest anarchist union with tens of thousands of members.
The anarcho-syndicalist orientation of many early American labour unions played an important role in the formation of the American political spectrum, most significantly of the
Industrial Workers of the World. The United States is the only industrialized ("first world") country that does not have a major labour-based political party. See
It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States,
Seymour Martin Lipset and Gary Marks, ISBN 0-39-332254-8.
Rudolf Rocker wrote in
Anarcho-Syndicalism::"Political rights do not originate in parliaments; they are rather forced upon them from without. And even their enactment into law has for a long time been no guarantee of their security. They do not exist because they have been legally set down on a piece of paper, but only when they have become the ingrown habit of a people, and when any attempt to impair them will meet with the violent resistance of the populace"
|
The "London Social Centre" [1], a [[squatting |
action by anarcho-syndicalists in
Russell Square.]]
*
International Workers Association (IWA-AIT)
*
Associação Internacional dos Trabalhadores - Secção Portuguesa (AIT-SP) Portugal
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Anarho-sindikalisticka inicijativa (ASI-MUR) Serbia
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Awareness League Nigeria
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Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT-AIT) Spain
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Confédération Nationale du Travail (CNT-AIT) France
*
Direct! Switzerland
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Federace Sociálních Anarchistù (FSA-MAP) Czech Rep
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Federação Operária do Río Grande do Sul - Confederação Operária Brasileira (FORGS-COB-AIT) Brazil
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Federacion Obrera Regional Argentina (FORA-AIT) Argentina
*
Freie Arbeiter- und Arbeiterinnen Union (FAU) Germany
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Konfederatsiya Revolyutsionnikh Anarkho-Sindikalistov (KRAS-IWA) Russia
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Norsk Syndikalistik Forbund (NSF-IAA) Norway
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Priama Akcia (PA-IWA) Slovakia
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Solidarity Federation (SF-IWA) Britain
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Unione Sindacale Italiana (USI) Italy
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Workers Solidarity Alliance*
FESAL (European Federation of Alternative Syndicalism)
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Confederación General del Trabajo de España (CGT) Spain
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Ελευθεριακή Συνδικαλιστική Ένωση (ESE) Greece
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Freie ArbeiterInnen Union Schweiz (FAUCH) Switzerland
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Industrial Workers of the World (not explicitly
anarcho-syndicalist: see above)
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SKT Siberian Confederation of Labour
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Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation (Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet, SUF) Sweden
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Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden (Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation, SAC) Sweden
*
Antiauthoritarian Movement (Αντιεξουσιαστίκή Κίνηση) (ΑΚ) Greece
*
Rudolf Rocker,
Anarcho-Syndicalism [
2]
* Anarcho-Syndicalism served as a short, famous, gag for
Monty Python in the movie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). In the scene,
King Arthur (played by
Graham Chapman) asks a group of peasants (played by
Michael Palin and
Terry Jones) who their lord is; one peasant explains that their community is an autonomous collective as part of an anarcho-syndicalist commune, while Arthur continues to assert he is their
king. Among the peasants' responses is "Well I didn't vote for you!"
*
General strike*
Syndicalism*
Council Communism*
International Workers Association - IWA-AIT*
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo - CNT-AIT*
Unione Sindacale Italia - USI-AIL*
Anarho-sindikalisticka inicijativa - ASI-MUR*
Freie Arbeiter- und Arbeiterinnen Union - FAU-IAA*
Confédération Nationale du Travail - CNT-AIT*
Solidarity Federation - SF-IWA*
Konfederatsiya Revolyutsionnikh Anarkho-Sindikalistov - KRAS-IWA*
Federace Sociálních Anarchistù - FSA-MAP*
Direct!*
Antiauthoritarian Movement/Αντιεξουστιαστική Κίνηση (ΑΚ)*
Workers' Solidarity Alliance*
Ελευθεριακή Συνδικαλιστική Ένωση (ESE)*
Anarcho-Syndicalism 101*
Libertarian Communist Library - Contains Many Anarcho-Syndicalist Texts*
IWW Retail Workers*
Anarcho-Syndicalist Review*
Syndicalism: Myth and Reality*
The Ghost of Anarcho-Syndicalism A criticism by
Murray Bookchin*
The Bourgeois Roots of Anarcho-syndicalism by Feral Faun
