The foundations of anarcho-syndicalism were laid by the anti-authoritarian faction of theInternational Workingmen's Association (IWMA) and developed by the FrenchGeneral Confederation of Labour (CGT). Anarcho-syndicalism was constituted as a specific tendency following theInternational Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam in 1907, which led to anarcho-syndicalism becoming the dominant form of trade union organisation inEurope andLatin America. After facing suppression during theRevolutions of 1917–1923, anarcho-syndicalists established theInternational Workers' Association (IWA) in 1922. Anarcho-syndicalism reached its apex during theSpanish Revolution of 1936, when theNational Confederation of Labour (CNT) established an anarcho-syndicalist economy throughout much of theSpanish Republic. Anarcho-syndicalism went into decline after the defeat of the anarchists in theSpanish Civil War in 1939. The movement split into two factions: the "orthodox" faction, which held to traditional syndicalist principles in spite of changing material conditions; and the "revisionist" faction, which aimed to achieve amass base and work within the framework of newly-establishedwelfare states. By the end of the 20th century, the rise ofneoliberalism and the collapse of theEastern Bloc had led to a revival in anarcho-syndicalism, with syndicalist unions once again being established throughout the globe.
Revolutionary syndicalism was first propagated inFrance, where theBourses du Travail (English:Labour Exchanges) were established to providemutual aid to workers and organise strike actions.[5] By the 20th century, thebourses had joined together to establish theGeneral Confederation of Labour (CGT),[6] which rose to include 60% of French workers within its ranks.[7] But after the CGT launched a general strike, which won French workers theeight-hour day and theweekend, the union turned away from revolutionary syndicalism towards reformism.[8] However, by this time, revolutionary syndicalism had already spread throughout Europe, with syndicalist unions being established in theNetherlands,Italy,Portugal,Germany andSweden.[9] The concurrent development ofindustrial unionism led to the establishment of theIndustrial Workers of the World (IWW) in countries throughout theEnglish-speaking world.[10] By the 1910s, syndicalism had spread throughout every country in Europe and anarchist tendencies started to develop within the movement.[11]
Although anarchists widely participated in the syndicalist movement, syndicalists were divided into separate tendencies, many of which rejected the ideological prescriptions of anarchism.[12] At theInternational Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam, convened by the anarcho-syndicalistChristiaan Cornelissen in 1907, a conflict between the two tendencies broke out; while the syndicalistPierre Monatte and the anarchistErrico Malatesta debated their respective ideologies,Amédée Dunois attempted to synthesise the two into a "workers' anarchism".[13] Anarcho-syndicalism soon became the dominant form of trade union organisation inSpain,Argentina,Brazil,Mexico,Paraguay,Uruguay and many other Latin American countries, where anarcho-syndicalists organised a series of general strikes for the eight-hour day.[14] Attempts to establish international links between these anarcho-syndicalist organisations culminated in the convocation of a revolutionary syndicalist congress in 1913, although further movements towards the creation of an international organisation were halted by the outbreak of world war.[15]
The outbreak ofWorld War I split anarcho-syndicalists intointernationalist and defencist camps; the former declared themselves against both sides of the war, while the latter supported theAllies against theCentral Powers.[16] The conflict ultimately demonstrated the inability of the international syndicalist movement to prevent war and discredited "neutral syndicalism" in the eyes of many workers, causing revolutionary sentiments to once again begin rising within the workers' movement.[17] When theRevolutions of 1917–1923 spread throughout Europe, anarcho-syndicalists became keen participants in the revolutionary wave, during which they faced rising political repression.[18] Anarcho-syndicalists in Europe, Latin America and Asia organised general strikes, sometimes reaching revolutionary proportions, but were ultimately suppressed by nationalist or communist dictatorships.[19]
DuringWorld War II, anarcho-syndicalists initially adopted an "internationalist" position, taking up the slogan "Neither Fascism, nor Antifascism." But following theNazi occupation of Europe and the subsequent suppression of their organisations, anarcho-syndicalists throughout Europe reorientated themselves towardsanti-fascism and joined theanti-fascist resistance.[23] After the war, anarcho-syndicalism experienced a rapid decline, as anarcho-syndicalist unions were either marginalised by risingsocial corporatism or repressed by newly-established authoritarian states.[24] Anarcho-syndicalists proved unable to keep up with the changes in the post-war capitalist system, which hastened the decline of the anarcho-syndicalist movement and forced its organisations to choose between marginalisation, reform or dissolution.[25] Despite the economic changes, the IWA chose to reaffirm traditional anarcho-syndicalist principles, causing its Dutch and Swedish sections to split from it.[26] The SAC chose to revise its principles in order to adapt to the newSwedish welfare state, within which they aimed to establishworkers' control overwelfare and thedemocratisation of the economy.[27] The IWA declined to its lowest point during the 1960s, as its membership became increasingly preoccupied with theory.[28]
Members of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist trade union CNT marching in Madrid in 2010
The anarcho-syndicalist movement began to experience a revival in the wake of theprotests of 1968 and theSpanish transition to democracy. While the Spanish CNT experienced a rapid growth, new anarcho-syndicalist organisations were established throughout Europe.[29] Asglobalisation andneoliberalism led to the dismantling of welfare states in the West, while theEastern Bloc collapsed, anarcho-syndicalists once again began to presentlibertarian socialism as a necessary alternative to the state and capitalism.[30] By the turn of the 21st century, anarcho-syndicalism had experienced a resurgence, as anarcho-syndicalist organisations re-emerged throughout the globe. Existing anarcho-syndicalist unions once again began taking direct action and organising strikes, while new anarcho-syndicalist unions established large support bases and achieved social reforms.[31]
The political theory of anarcho-syndicalism is based on the foundations oflibertarian socialism, as formulated by the anti-authoritarian faction of theInternational Workingmen's Association, while its organisational forms were adopted fromrevolutionary syndicalism, which was first put into practice by the French labour movement in the early 20th century.[32]
Anarcho-syndicalism is distinguished from other forms of syndicalism by its anarchist political philosophy, where other syndicalist tendencies distance themselves from anarchism or even deny any political alignment.[33] Other varieties of syndicalism include: the "neutral" revolutionary syndicalism, which separates itself from other political theories;[34]Daniel De Leon'sconception of industrial unionism, which infused it with aMarxist influence;[35] and anauthoritarian form of syndicalism developed byGeorges Sorel, which advocates forvanguardism andmythmaking to drive the masses towards a general strike.[36]
In the contemporary period, anarcho-syndicalism is divided into two main factions: the "orthodox" faction, which rejects anydiversity of tactics orcollaboration with statist forces, in favour of waiting for the right conditions for arevolutionary situation; and the "revisionist" faction, which is open to participation in systems ofsocial welfare and pursuesgradual reforms towards thedemocratisation of the economy.[41]
Anarcho-syndicalism is anapolitical oranti-political ideology,[42] opposed to the formation of socialist political parties and participation in parliamentary politics.[43] Anarcho-syndicalists argue that socialist participation in politics, rather than moving society closer to socialism, has damaged the labour movement by substitutingself-help forrepresentation.[44] They have further criticised socialist parties for abandoninganti-capitalism in favour ofnationalism, which they believe to have resulted in the reinforcement of capitalism and the integration of the labour movement into thenation state. To anarcho-syndicalists, politicalcareerism corrupted socialist politicians, while electoralism transformed socialism from aconstructive project into areformist one.[45] Anarcho-syndicalists are thus opposed to unions affiliating with political parties and attempt to prevent the capture of unions by party politicians.[42] From this position, anarcho-syndicalists have denouncedBolshevism as a vehicle forauthoritarianism andstate capitalism, and criticisedsocial democrats for bureaucratic inaction.[46]
Anarcho-syndicalists see trade unions not only as a means by which workers can organise for immediate improvements to their living and working conditions; but also as a means of training workers formanagement, with the goal of establishingworkers' control over production and the creation of asocialist economy.[47] Anarcho-syndicalists believe that trade unions are better suited for these tasks than socialist political parties, as workers often still require trade unions to protect their rights even under socialist governments.[48] Anarcho-syndicalists consider trade unions to be thevanguard of the labour movement; they believe workers' power resides in the economic sphere, as they are responsible for producing thewealth that society relies upon.[49] For anarcho-syndicalists, trade unions represent theprefiguration of a future socialist economy, the foundation that a new syndicalist society will be built on.[50]Workers' education is therefore at the centre of anarcho-syndicalism, which aims to use trade unions to prepare workers to take over management of the industrial economy.[51]
Outline of the federal system used by anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism organises itself according to the principles offederalism andfree association, in which theself-determination of each individual is upheld.[52] Anarcho-syndicalists are staunchly opposed tocentralised,hierarchical forms of organisation, which they believe stifleindependent initiative withbureaucracy.[53] In anarcho-syndicalist organisations, individual unions carry out their activities on a voluntary basis; for any larger-scale activity that requiresdelegation, representatives are typically elected forsingle terms and are paid the same amount as the workers they represent.[54] Anarcho-syndicalists believe that centralism weakens and inhibits workers' capacity to take independent action and make decisions, and that centralised organisations inevitably tend towards inertia and stagnation.[55] In contrast, they believe that federalist organisations provide workers with both the means to take rapid action in individual struggles and also connections that could allow them to establish workers' control of the economy and society in asocial revolution.[56]
According to the anarcho-syndicalist model, federal organisations are built from the bottom-up, on both a territorial and industrial basis:[57] first, workers join together in independent trade unions; the trade unions in a given city or district then combine into acartel, which act as centres for popular education and buildsolidarity between workers of different trades; the cartels then group together on a regional basis, up to the national level, providing larger-scale coordination between its member organisations.[58] Under this model, each trade union is also federatively linked with other unions of the same trade and related trades inindustrial unions, which allow workers a greater scope ofsolidarity actions in struggles relevant to their economic sector.[59] Anarcho-syndicalists see this federative form of industrial organisation as the nucleus for the reorganisation of the economy and society, as it would be able to take over the management of production in every economic sector.[60] In such arevolutionary situation, cartels would take over production in their communities, determine the needs of their local population and organise the economy to meet those needs. A national federation would likewise be able to organise production throughout a given country to meet the needs of the entire populace nationwide, while the industrial unions established workers' control over themeans of production andtransportation.[61]
In contrast to political parties that seek to enhance the political power ofstates oversociety, anarcho-syndicalists aim to restrict the ability of the state to act and influence society.[62] Anarcho-syndicalism also seeks to abolishcapitalism and replace it withsocialism, which it does by lowering theprofit margins of business owners and raising the workers'share in the product of their own labour.[63] Anarcho-syndicalists consider the state to be a result ofclass stratification, established and maintained in order to protect themonopoly of capitalists over the economy. As such, anarcho-syndicalists predict that thedissolution of the state will be an inevitable consequence of the abolition of capitalism. While moving towards this, they also consider it necessary to protect thecivil and political rights that workers have achieved frompolitical reaction.[64]
Anarcho-syndicalism is driven by the practice ofdirect action, which eschews legalistic methods in favour of workers forcing their employers to make concessions.[65] Methods of direct action include boycotts, sabotage andstrike actions, the latter of which syndicalists framed as a "revolutionary drill" to prepare workers for the overthrow of capitalism and the state.[66]
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