syndicalism n : a radical political movement that advocates bringing industry and government under the control of labor unions

English

Noun

1. The belief that capitalism is undesirable and should be replaced with labor unions.

Related terms

• anarcho-syndicalism
• syndicalist

Translations

Syndicalism refers to a set of ideas, movements, and tendencies which share the avowed aim of transforming capitalist society through action by the working class on the industrial front. For syndicalists, labor unions are the potential means both of overcoming capitalism and of running society in the interests of the majority. Industry and government in a syndicalist society would be run by labour union federations.

Introduction

This emphasis on industrial organization was a distinguishing feature of syndicalism when it began to be identified as a distinct current at the beginning of the twentieth century. Most socialist organisations of that period emphasised the importance of political action through party organizations as a means of bringing about socialism. Although all syndicalists emphasize industrial organization, not all reject political action altogether. For example, De Leonists and some other Industrial Unionists advocate parallel organisation both politically and industrially.

Syndicalisme is a French word meaning "trade unionism". This milder version of syndicalism was overshadowed by revolutionary anarcho-syndicalism in the early 20th century, which was most powerful in Spain, but also appeared in other parts of the world, as in the U.S.-centered Industrial Workers of the World.

In a model syndicalist community, the local syndicate communicates with other syndicates through the Bourse de Travail (labour exchange), which manages and transfers commodities.

Syndicalism is one of the three most common ideologies of egalitarian, pre-managed economic and labour structure, together with socialism and communism. It states, on an ethical basis, that all participants in an organized trade internally share equal ownership of its production and therefore deserve equal earnings and benefits within that trade, regardless of position or duty. By contrast, socialism emphasises distributing output among trades as required by each trade, not necessarily considering how trades organize internally. Syndicalism is compatible with privatism, unlike communism. Communism rejects government-sanctioned private ownership and private earnings in favor of making all property legally public, and therefore directly and solely managed by the people themselves. In Syndicalism, unions are the basis for the future society rather than simply means of attaining that society.

Syndicalists often form alliances with other workers' movements, including socialism, communism, and anarchism.

Prominent syndicalists

French syndicalists

• Fernand Pelloutier leader of the French Bourses du Travail (Labour Exchange)
• Emile Pouget Co-leader of the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT, founded in 1895)
• Hubert Lagardelle writer
• See also Charter of Amiens (1906)

Scottish syndicalists

• John Maclean, political activist and writer

Welsh syndicalists

• Sam Mainwaring, orator & originator of the term 'anarcho-syndicalist'

German syndicalists

• Rudolf Rocker

Italian syndicalists

• Alceste de Ambris
• Michele Bianchi
• Enrico Leone
• Arturo Labriola
• Agostino Lanzillo
• Robert Michels - Although he was German, he moved to Italy and became a revolutionary syndicalist.
• Sergio Panunzio

Spanish syndicalists

• Francisco Ascaso
• Buenaventura Durruti
• Ángel Pestaña

American syndicalists

• Bill Haywood
• Daniel De Leon
• Ralph Chaplin
• Noam Chomsky
• Sam Dolgoff

Swedish syndicalists

• Joe Hill

See also

• International Workers Association
• Anarchism
• Democratic socialism
• De Leonism
• International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam (1907)
• Trade unionism
• Council communism
• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, the "Wobblies")
• Anarcho-syndicalism
• National syndicalism

External links

• AnarchoSyndicalism.net
• Rudolf Rocker, a major proponent of anarcho-syndicalism
• Libertarian Communist Library Archive
• General Strikes, maps with locations where strikes have occurred; includes resource links

Bibliography

• Anarcho-Syndicalism, Rudolf Rocker, London, 1989.
• Liberalism and The Challenge of Fascism, Social Forces in England and France (1815-1870), J. Salwyn Schapiro, McGraw-Hill Book Co., NY, l949.
• The Anarchists, James Joll, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1980.
• The Syndicalist Tradition and Italian Fascism, David D. Robert, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill NC, 1979.
• Lenny Flank (ed), "IWW: A Documentary History", Red and Black Publishers, St Petersburg, Florida, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9791813-5-1

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