Rob Weir's simple query produced an extended and interesting discussion on Syndicalism. Seth Wigderson H-Labor Moderator
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Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 20:37:26 EST Subject: Syndicalism Under The Microscope
Can anyone help Rob Weir explain syndicalism to his students? SW +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ I'd like to pose a question for those on the list whose comparative skills are sharper than my own.oper
Every time I teach the Wobblies and we get to Father Haggerty's Wheel, students invariably ask me to explain syndicalism to them. I do my best dictionary-like job, regale them with some of the major theorists and perhaps even put some Proudhon or Blanqui into their hands. The deeper we delve, the more confused they get. They always want to know what it would look like in practice, and how a syndicalist "state" (and I correct them at that point!) would be different from Marx's utopia. Again, I always fall back on theory and try to tease out the fine points, but I get the feeling I'm being more clever than clear.
Here's the question: Does anyone know of an example to which I can point students where syndicalism was anything more than a perversion (mussolini) or an abstraction? In particular they get confused about how local syndicats would network with others, and the more they ask, the more confused I get. I know of local attempts at synicats, but are there Latin American or European examples (or anywhere else) where something akin to a syndicalist network was ever tried long enough for us to get a hint? (Communards?)
Any thoughts and resources would be greatly appreciated.
Rob Weir RWeir@smith.edu +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ Robb Weir's query on syndicalism has produced many interesting responses. Dean Steede was good enough to repost to other lists, we also have responses from Arieh Leibowitz, Eric Weitz, Andrew Lee, Mel Dubofsky, Eric Tucker, and two from Michael Ballard. SW +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ DEAN STEEDE: Seth, I crossposted this to 1-union and iww-list since both those lists focus on syndicalism. Following are the first day's responses. You might direct Rob to join the 1-union list and watch the responses there himself. Send the usual message "subscribe 1-union" to listserv@lever.com
>From: "Seth Wigderson, Univ. of Maine-Augusta" <SETHW@MAINE.maine.edu> > >Can anyone help Robb Weir explain syndicalism to his students? SW > +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ [rob's request deleted] >Rob Weir >RWeir@smith.edu
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From 1-union, Edward Elhauge:
>Here's the question: Does anyone know of an example to which I can >point students where syndicalism was anything more than a perversion >(mussolini) or an abstraction? In particular they get confused about
That wasn't syndicalist the was corporatist organization.
>how local syndicats would network with others, and the more they ask, >the more confused I get. I know of local attempts at synicats, but are >there Latin American or European examples (or anywhere else) where >something akin to a syndicalist network was ever tried long enough >for us to get a hint? (Communards?)
>Any thoughts and resources would be greatly appreciated. > >Rob Weir >RWeir@smith.edu
When the Spanish CNT controlled Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War, that would be a syndicalist organization (or moving in that direction).
In more rural areas like Andalucia there where libertarian-communist communes formed by geographic area (towns and villages). Some of the bigger farms were organized in a syndicalist manner. The town communes weren't but used the same principles of organization.
The miners in Asturia's organized syndicalistically.
In the Ukraine during the Russian revolution, Mahno's Army war organized in a libertarian fashion and organized farming collectives.
Before Mussolini crushed the workers movement, the USI was an explicitly syndicalist movement which has hundreds of thousands of workers organized, but in never took power beyond several general strikes. --
Edward Elhauge | | "I want to be a person Lever Industries | ee@lever.com | like somebody else once was." San Francisco | | -- Peter Handke "Kasper"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From 1-union, Eva Durant:
Please, send me a copy, too!
> deeper we delve, the more confused they get. They always want to > know what it would look like in practice, and how a syndicalist "state" > (and I correct them at that point!) would be different from Marx's > utopia. Again, I always fall back on theory and try to tease out the > fine points, but I get the feeling I'm being more clever than clear. > I thought the end result - a society without state where wealth/ distribution is democratically and collectively controlled - is the same for anarchists and marxists ("proper" socialists...). Only the method of getting there is different, isn't it? Marxists use the existing political framework "to spread the word", anarchist start new democratic grassroot organisations. Is this really all that different from the first, spontaineous (organised from the bottom) soviets/workers's councils?
Eva.Durant@mailhost.mcc.ac.uk ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From iww-list, Iain
Hi folks
re: theorists on syndicalism, Blanqui was *not* a syndicalist, Proudhon was kinda a proto-syndicalistic. Bakunin, however, can be called the father of syndicalism is you are into that sort of thing.
As far as an example of syndicalism in action, the CNT is probably the best example - decentralised regional industrial union federations, which turned into collectively run workplaces during the civil war (1936-9).
For a syndicalist "state" think of the syndicalist union write big - ie every workplace as part of the union, in the federation.
Iain ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-- Dean Steede | Internet: sdlotu@iac.net Cincinnati, OH | IWW Delegate, IN-KY-OH Area, I.U. 450 -- Working overtime is scabbing on the unemployed.
PGP2.6.2 Public Key is available via email from: pgp-public-keys@pgp.iastate.edu In the subject space type: GET Dean Steede <sdlotu@iac.net> ID/1024:D73C1E7D
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+++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ ++++++ From: arieh.lebowitz@rex.com (Arieh Lebowitz)
I think that there are a few good basic sources for syndicalism, but perhaps it would be a good idea to contact the Industrial Workers of the World, which has a decent bookshelf, and could Xerox some relevant material (hey, property is theft); same goes for the Libertarian Book Club, which shares office space with the War Resisters' League in NYC; same, finally, for the people who put out the Libertarian Labor Review, which is incidentally quite a publication.
+++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ ++++++ From: Eric D Weitz <weitz@stolaf.edu> As an after-thought: Marcel van den Linden of the IISG in Amsterdam has a recent book on syndicalism (in English), and Klaus Tenfelde has written some interesting essays (in German) on syndicalist tendencies among Ruhr miners after World War I.
Eric Weitz weitz@stolaf.edu
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From: "ANDREW H. LEE" <LEEA@elmer1.bobst.nyu.edu> Organization: New York University Libraries Yes, there was at least one place where syndicalism was attempted to be put in place: Spain 1936-3?. (Depending on your viewpoint the end changes). As far as what the actual theories of how it would work I would recommend a book by
Diego Abad de Santillan. After the Revolution: Economic Reconstruction in Spain Today. New York: Greenberg, 1937.
[Abad de Santillan is the surname]
It is a translation from the original Spanish of a work by a major theorist and leader of both the Confederacion Nacional de Trabajo and the Federacion Anarquista de Iberica. It is also the only work he wrote that is translated into English. It is a simple straightforward exposition of the whys and hows of anarcho- syndicalism.
I would also look at (which I have not yet read, only recently getting a copy) of
Emile Pataud and Emile Pouget. How We Shall bring About the Revolution: Syndicalism and the Co-Operative Commonwealth. London: Pluto Press, 1990.
originally
Emile Pataud and Emile Pouget. Syndicalism and the Co-Operative Commonwealth. Oxford: New International Publishing Company, 1913.
This is a standard work with the added interest of a foreward by the English Syndicalist Tom Mann and a preface by the Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin. Drawings by Will Dyson. The Pluto reprint also has a new introduction by Geoff Brown.
Also look for works by F. Pelloutier and Rudolf Rocker, especially his Anarcho-Syndicalism (various printings and editions and languages). US syndicalism as represented by the IWW has some pamphlets, but the best source would probbably be some readings out of
Rebel Voices: An I.W.W. Anthology. edited by Joyce L. Kornbluh. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1964.
Andrew H. Lee leea@elmer1.bobst.nyu.edu
Tamiment Library "Neant, la Mecque des bibliotheques!" New York University Jules Laforgue, Salome
70 Washington Square South New York, New York 10012 (212) 998-2633
+++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ ++++++ MARC STERN: As I recall, probably the closest there is of an example is the short-lived experiments in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War. These were, however, always under pressure from both the various communist (i.e., Stalinist and Trotskyist) tendencies, liberal-republicans, and of course, external war-time exigencies induced by fascist/nationalist attacks.
Marc Stern Bentley College Waltham, MA mstern@bentley.edu
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From: Melvyn Dubofsky <DUBOF@BINGVMB.cc.binghamton.edu> Rob,
Father Hagerty's "Wheel of Fortune" would try any one's soul, let alone an undergradaute. None of the Wobblies I am familiar with could offer a reasonable definition or explanation of syndicalism in practice and some insisted that they were industrial unionists not syndicalists. And I cannot think of a single syndicalist experiment in practice (Mondragon in Spain? the early Soviets in the USSR?) as distinguished from corporatism. Perhaps it existed as a Sorelian myth. In numerous places and on different occasions I have had to offer defini- tions but never to demonstrate syndicalism in practice--like Marx's classless, stateless society, syndicalism lacks a blueprint.
Mel Dubofsky
+++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ ++++++ ERIC TUCKER: From: <ETUCKER@VM2.YorkU.CA> In regard to whether syndicalists ever established a lasting network, an obvious candidate is Mondragon in Spain. I'm not familiar with its history, but it's certainly worth investigating.
+++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ ++++++ From: Michael Ballard <miballar@leland.Stanford.EDU> > I'd like to pose a question for those on the list whose comparative > skills are sharper than my own.oper > > Every time I teach the Wobblies and we get to Father Haggerty's Wheel, > students invariably ask me to explain syndicalism to them. I do my > best dictionary-like job, regale them with some of the major theorists > and perhaps even put some Proudhon or Blanqui into their hands. The > deeper we delve, the more confused they get.
Funny. That's what happens to me when I read Proudhon or Blanqui. As for the good Father's Wheel, try the updated version in the IWW's "One Big Union" pamphlet. You can obtain it from IWW Lit.
They always want to > know what it would look like in practice, and how a syndicalist "state" > (and I correct them at that point!) would be different from Marx's > utopia. Again, I always fall back on theory and try to tease out the > fine points, but I get the feeling I'm being more clever than clear.
If Marx's utopia was a classless, Stateless society where production was to be carried on for use and need (as opposed to commodity production for the profit of private owners or State controllers,) then I hope that my fellow workers will choose to "make it so", to borrow a phrase from a science fiction character. In the final analysis though, the revolution will be made and its structure of production, distribution and so forth decided upon by the workers themselves; otherwise, it won't have been a revolution at all. Ok, all together now, 1,2,3,4 Bolshevism doesn't work; 5,6,7,8 we don't want no fascist, social democratic or bourgeois democratic State.
> Here's the question: Does anyone know of an example to which I can > point students where syndicalism was anything more than a perversion > (mussolini) or an abstraction? In particular they get confused about > how local syndicats would network with others, and the more they ask, > the more confused I get. I know of local attempts at synicats, but are > there Latin American or European examples (or anywhere else) where > something akin to a syndicalist network was ever tried long enough > for us to get a hint? (Communards?) >
Yes, I'd say study the Paris Commune and the general strike which occured in the US about 7 years later, especially activity around St. Louis. Then, as has been mentioned, their were the first workers' councils in Russia started by the women weavers of Ivanovo (without the leadership or knowledge of the RSDLP), the organizational activity around various strike actions in which the IWW was involved--the Patterson Silk Strike, the Seattle and Portland general strikes--and of course the beginnings of the Spanish social revolution in the mid-30's. Lastly, take a look at the various uprisings which have been quickly quashed, from the post WWI revolts of the German and Hungarian working classes to the Parisian clashes of May '68.
Mike B) Don't just criticize; get yourself organized in the One Big Union. Join the Wobblies! e-mail the IWW: iww@igc.apc.org
+++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ From: Michael Ballard <miballar@leland.Stanford.EDU> Seth,
Try reading the One Big Union pamphlet put out by the IWW. Next, read Deleon's "Socialist Reconstruction of Society" and the "Burning Question of Trade Unionism". IMHO syndicates of the type the IWW has advocated, have always aimed at the abolition of wage labor. This is how they differ from pro-capitalist trade unions or fascist syndicates. The IWW has also been radically democratic in structure, unlike the AFL-CIO or the avowedly undemocratic corporatist syndicats.
Mike B)
Don't just criticize; get yourself organized in the One Big Union. Join the Wobblies! e-mail the IWW: iww@igc.apc.org +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++
Thanx to for this additional contribution on syndicalism. SW +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++
Re. Rob Weir's request: Syndicalist experiments in Catalonia/Aragon 1936/8 superbly dealt with by Ronald Fraser, Blood of Spain (Penguin, London, 1981), especially pp.209-237; 347-373. Sam Davies, Liverpool John Moores University.
<R.S.DAVIES@livjm.ac.uk> +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++
Here are three more interesting responses to Robb Weir's query. Thanx to Jim Barrett, Marvin Gettleman and Joel Sipress. SW +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ ++++++ From: barrett james r <barrett@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Regarding the syndicalism inquiry: The clearest American statement that I know is simply called Syndicalism and was written by William Z. Foster and Earl C. Ford. Originally published in Chicago in 1912, it became the manifesto of the Syndicalist League of North America, a far purer example of American syndicalism than the IWW. It was republished with a new introduction by Charles H. Kerr and Co. (Chicago) in 1990. Strongly influenced by French syndicalism, one of the most interesting things about the pamphlet is that the authors try to provide a fairly detailed picture of what the new syndicalist society will look like. I've never seen anything quite like it in English.
Best, Jim Barrett
+++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ +++++++ ++++++ From: Marvin Gettleman <mgettlem@photon.poly.edu> One place Robb Weir & all & sundry can get a lucid exposition of syndicalism (at least Syndicalism's American context) is Ed Johanningsmeier's new biography of U.S. Communist William Z. Foster ("Forging American Communism" Princeton U. Press, 1994). Anyone who wants my recent review of this book, which has a summary of Ed's view on Foster's lifelong syndicalism (yes, despite his prominence in the CP\USA), please send a SSAE to me @ Polytechnic Univ, 6 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn NY 11201. (Please excuse my inability to upload or else I'd put the reviw on H-Labor; I'll learn, just gimme time). -- Marv Gettleman
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From: "JOEL M. SIPRESS" <JSIPRESS@wpo.uwsuper.edu> For Catalan syndicalism during the Spanish Civil War, why not use Orwell's Homage to Catalonia? It is not especially analytical, but I can think of nothing that better expresses the sensibility of syndicalism than does Orwell's description of revolutionary Barcelona.
Joel Sipress University of Wisconsin-Superior