What is Anarcho-Syndicalism?
Anarcho-syndicalism is a form of anarchism built around labor unions. It starts from a simple claim: workers produce everything, so workers should run everything. Its supporters do not want unions to stop at haggling over pay. They want unions to be schools of self-rule today and the working parts of a new society tomorrow. They distrust parliaments and political parties, which they see as ways of pulling workers into a system that serves the owners. Instead they stress direct action: strikes, boycotts, slowdowns and occupations. The aim is a society with no state and no private bosses, where each workplace is managed by its own workers and linked to others in federations.
Core beliefs
- The union is both the tool for fighting capitalism and the seed of a free society.
- Workers should win gains by their own direct action, not by trusting politicians.
- A mass general strike could end the rule of owners and the state.
- Unions should be run by members in open meetings, with delegates who can be recalled and no career officials.
- After the revolution, industries and regions should be coordinated by federations built from below.
- Unions should stay independent of parties and governments.
History
The roots lie in France in the 1890s. Fernand Pelloutier helped turn the labor exchanges, called Bourses du Travail, into centers of working-class education and organizing. The CGT, founded in 1895, adopted a revolutionary line in its Charter of Amiens of 1906. Similar ideas spread to Spain, Italy, Latin America and Sweden. The Industrial Workers of the World, founded in the United States in 1905, shared much of the outlook. Spain became the great stronghold. The CNT, formed in 1910, grew to over a million members by the 1930s. When a military coup began the Civil War in July 1936, CNT members helped defeat it in cities such as Barcelona. They then took over many factories, transport systems and farms in Catalonia, Aragon and elsewhere. In 1922 and 1923 anarcho-syndicalist unions from many countries formed an international body in Berlin. Rudolf Rocker became one of its best known writers.
Variants
Some strands stress revolutionary industrial unionism, where one union organizes a whole industry. Others favor small militant groups inside a wider labor movement. Some groups will take part in workplace elections, while purists refuse any contact with the state. Today the idea survives in small unions such as Sweden's SAC and in groups linked to the International Workers' Association.
Criticisms
Marxists argued that without a party to lead, the working class could not seize power or defend a revolution. Reformist socialists said the general strike was a fantasy and that real gains come from elections and laws. Even inside the movement there were painful splits. In late 1936 the CNT leaders joined the Republican government in Spain, which many members saw as a betrayal of anarchist principles. Critics also point to cases where collectivization was pushed on reluctant villagers. In May 1937 street fighting in Barcelona between anarchists and the Communist-backed forces weakened the Republican cause. The movement was crushed when Franco won in 1939.
In practice
Large anarcho-syndicalist unions are rare today. The influence is more indirect: ideas of workers' control, rank-and-file organizing and solidarity strikes show up in many labor movements. The Spanish experience of 1936 to 1939 remains the main test case, and historians still argue over how well it worked. On the 12 axes the ideology scores strongly toward Public on Ownership and Democratic on Authority, and toward Local on Structure.