syndicalism

[French syndicalisme, from (chambre) syndicale, trade union, feminine of syndical, of a labor union, from syndic, delegate. See syndic.]

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A doctrine of socialist transformation rooted in an emphasis on the role of the trade union (syndicat in French) as an agent of revolutionary class struggle. It spread rapidly in Europe, North and South America, and Australia between about 1895 and the mid-1920s. The general strike was considered to be the great weapon of syndicalist revolution, and was seen to be potentially more effective than the parliamentary route to socialism or the political overthrow of the state in establishing a new social order based on workers' control. The anti-statist and anti-political tendency of syndicalism suggests strong similarities with anarchism (hence the use of the term ‘anarcho-syndicalism’). Amongst the many thinkers who contributed directly to the development of syndicalist theory, Georges Sorel and Daniel de Leon (one of the founders of America's Industrial Workers of the World, 1905) were particularly important.

— Keith Taylor

(French, syndicat, trade union) The movement that seeks to transfer control of the means of production to associations of workers, rather than to the state. In 19th-century France the movement had connections with anarchism (making anarcho-syndicalism), since each movement shared a distrust both of private ownership of the means of production, and of the centralizing power of the state. See also Owen, Proudhon.

Syndicalism, or revolutionary industrial unionism, originated in France but has been identified in the United States with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), founded in 1905. The IWW sought strong, centralized unions, while French syndicalists preferred smaller unions. Both opposed action through existing governments.

Syndicalists sought to establish a producers' cooperative commonwealth, with socially owned industries managed and operated by syndicats, or labor unions. Emphasizing class struggle, they advocated direct action through sabotage and general strikes. Opponents, criticizing the movement for militant actions, opposing political government, and condoning violence, secured antisyndicalist laws in several states. The syndicalist movement waned after World War I when many former adherents joined Communist, Trotskyite, or other Socialist groups.

Bibliography

Kimeldorf, Howard. Battling for American Labor: Wobblies, Craft Workers, and the Making of the Union Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.