Syndicalism

SYNDICALISM IS A politico-economic philosophy that flourished among French laborers prior to World War I. Syndicalism is taken from the French word for labor union, syndicat. Syndicalism was influential in France from the 1890s to the 1920s as the philosophy of a militant trade union movement.

There are several theoretical roots to the philosophy of syndicalism. In 1840, Pierre Joseph Proudhon, who was an impoverished printer's helper, wrote a short pamphlet, Qu'est-ce que la Propriete? (What Is Property?). Proudhon declared that “property is theft.” He wrote numerous works as a theorist of poverty and a champion of the poorer classes. Proudhon was the first political theorist to call himself an anarchist. In addition, he believed that control of the means of production should be in the hands of workers.

Another important theoretical root is the sociopolitical theory of George Sorel. Sorel espoused syndicalism but sought to combine it with anarchism into anarcho-syndicalism. This was syndicalism with violence added to achieve its goal. In 1908, Sorel wrote Reflections on Violence, in which he advocated using strikes and other forms of revolutionary labor activity. Syndicalist philosophy taught that the state should be abolished so that groups of producers could create self-governing cooperative enterprises run by the workers. To achieve this goal, a strategy of noncooperation with the capitalist-state system with opposing direct action [Page 445]should be followed. Syndicalists rejected collective bargaining or engaging in political activity to affect labor policies. Election reforms were seen as a form of revisionism or betrayal of the coming syndicalist anarcho-utopia.

In syndicalist theory, there would come a time when socioeconomic chaos would lead to the general strike. All of the workers would go on strike; then industrial capitalism and the state would collapse in just a few days. The workers, after abolishing both capitalism and the state, would gather into a peaceful anarchic society with workers' groups as the only form of organization.

From about 1890 until 1914, syndicalism was at its peak of influence in France and other countries. In 1906, the Charter of Amiens was issued with the basic claims of Syndicalism. After World War I, syndicalism declined in France as many workers preferred the “political” option of collective bargaining to revolutionary direct action. Also, many syndicalists joined the French Communist Party. Syndicalism has continued to influence the French labor movement ever since in limited ways.

In 1905, syndicalist philosophy guided the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World in Chicago, Illinois, by members of the Western Federation of Mines and 42 other labor organizations. Leaders included Eugene V. Debs and William D. Haywood. Nicknamed the “Wobblies,” the movement spread to Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Its opposition to American engagement in World War I led to its suppression. By the 1930s, it had fewer than 10,000 members. In the 1990s, only 1,000 or so remained. In 1912, the Syndicalist League of North America was organized in Chicago by William Z. Foster and Earl C. Ford. Together, they wrote Syndicalism (1912). This organization accepted shop-floor organization and direct action like the Wobblies. However, they advocated the strategy of boring within existing unions rather than the dual union approach of the Wobblies. It appealed most to those with anarchist tendencies. Syndicalism was very influential in Spain and Portugal. From there, it spread to the Latin American countries. Benito Mussolini's fascism was supposed to have been influenced by syndicalism, but this view is wrongly based on a brief association in 1915. Syndicalism appears today in many places at the margins of the labor movement or in association with anarchist groups. It has had some lasting influence, usually in the form of anarcho-syndicalism.

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