Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution .
134-401: Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict . Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism , anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both a means to achieve immediate improvements to working conditions and to build towards a social revolution in the form of a general strike , with
268-516: A carnivalesque atmosphere that is part of contemporary anarchist vividity. As anarchism is a philosophy that embodies many diverse attitudes, tendencies, and schools of thought, disagreement over questions of values, ideology, and tactics is common. Its diversity has led to widely different uses of identical terms among different anarchist traditions which has created a number of definitional concerns in anarchist theory . The compatibility of capitalism , nationalism , and religion with anarchism
402-457: A necessary evil . Anarchists took an active role in strike actions, although they tended to be antipathetic to formal syndicalism , seeing it as reformist . They saw it as a part of the movement which sought to overthrow the state and capitalism. Anarchists also reinforced their propaganda within the arts , some of whom practiced naturism and nudism . Those anarchists also built communities which were based on friendship and were involved in
536-477: A bank of the people. Mutualism has been retrospectively characterised as ideologically situated between individualist and collectivist forms of anarchism. In What Is Property? (1840), Proudhon first characterised his goal as a "third form of society, the synthesis of communism and property." Collectivist anarchism is a revolutionary socialist form of anarchism commonly associated with Mikhail Bakunin . Collectivist anarchists advocate collective ownership of
670-662: A central role in anarchist philosophy. Anarchism's emphasis on anti-capitalism , egalitarianism , and for the extension of community and individuality sets it apart from anarcho-capitalism and other types of economic libertarianism . Anarchism is usually placed on the far-left of the political spectrum. Much of its economics and legal philosophy reflect anti-authoritarian , anti-statist , libertarian , and radical interpretations of left-wing and socialist politics such as collectivism , communism , individualism , mutualism , and syndicalism , among other libertarian socialist economic theories. As anarchism does not offer
804-455: A corrupting influence on the labour movement . In order to achieve their material and economic goals, anarcho-syndicalists instead practice direct action in the form of strike actions , boycotts and sabotage . Anarcho-syndicalists also attempt to build solidarity among the working class , in order to unite workers against the exploitation of labour and build workers' self-management . The foundations of anarcho-syndicalism were laid by
938-412: A fixed body of doctrine from a single particular worldview , many anarchist types and traditions exist and varieties of anarchy diverge widely. One reaction against sectarianism within the anarchist milieu was anarchism without adjectives , a call for toleration and unity among anarchists first adopted by Fernando Tarrida del Mármol in 1889 in response to the bitter debates of anarchist theory at
1072-488: A given country to meet the needs of the entire populace nationwide, while the industrial unions established workers' control over the means of production and transportation . In contrast to political parties that seek to enhance the political power of states over society , anarcho-syndicalists aim to restrict the ability of the state to act and influence society. Anarcho-syndicalism also seeks to abolish capitalism and replace it with socialism , which it does by lowering
1206-693: A leader or a leading group. One way is for an individual from the group to play the role of facilitator to help achieve a consensus without taking part in the discussion themselves or promoting a specific point. Minorities usually accept rough consensus, except when they feel the proposal contradicts anarchist ethics, goals and values. Anarchists usually form small groups (5–20 individuals) to enhance autonomy and friendships among their members. These kinds of groups more often than not interconnect with each other, forming larger networks. Anarchists still support and participate in strikes, especially wildcat strikes as these are leaderless strikes not organised centrally by
1340-552: A minority of anarchists adopted tactics of revolutionary political violence , known as propaganda of the deed . The dismemberment of the French socialist movement into many groups and the execution and exile of many Communards to penal colonies following the suppression of the Paris Commune favoured individualist political expression and acts. Even though many anarchists distanced themselves from these terrorist acts, infamy came upon
1474-419: A misunderstanding of anarchist principles. While opposition to the state is central to anarchist thought, defining anarchism is not an easy task for scholars, as there is a lot of discussion among scholars and anarchists on the matter, and various currents perceive anarchism slightly differently. Major definitional elements include the will for a non-coercive society, the rejection of the state apparatus,
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#17328843276941608-447: A necessary alternative to the state and capitalism. By the turn of the 21st century, anarcho-syndicalism had experienced a resurgence, as anarcho-syndicalist organisations re-emerged throughout the globe. Existing anarcho-syndicalist unions once again began taking direct action and organising strikes, while new anarcho-syndicalist unions established large support bases and achieved social reforms. The political theory of anarcho-syndicalism
1742-644: A reformist one focused on social reform . After Joseph Stalin consolidated power in the Soviet Union, the Comintern launched a campaign against the reformist movement by denouncing them as social fascists . According to The God that Failed by Arthur Koestler , a former member of the Communist Party of Germany , the largest communist party in Western Europe in the interwar period, communists aligned with
1876-549: A revival in anarcho-syndicalism, with syndicalist unions once again being established throughout the globe. The history of anarcho-syndicalism can be traced back to the anarchist faction of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), which called for trade unions to overthrow the state in a general strike . This syndicalist model of trade union organisation was adopted by anarchists in Spain , Cuba , Mexico and
2010-623: A revival in the wake of the protests of 1968 and the Spanish transition to democracy . While the Spanish CNT experienced a rapid growth, new anarcho-syndicalist organisations were established throughout Europe. As globalisation and neoliberalism led to the dismantling of welfare states in the West, while the Eastern Bloc collapsed, anarcho-syndicalists once again began to present libertarian socialism as
2144-600: A ruler", composed of the prefix an- ("without") and the word arkhos ("leader" or "ruler"). The suffix -ism denotes the ideological current that favours anarchy. Anarchism appears in English from 1642 as anarchisme and anarchy from 1539; early English usages emphasised a sense of disorder. Various factions within the French Revolution labelled their opponents as anarchists , although few such accused shared many views with later anarchists. Many revolutionaries of
2278-447: A series of general strikes for the eight-hour day. Attempts to establish international links between these anarcho-syndicalist organisations culminated in the convocation of a revolutionary syndicalist congress in 1913, although further movements towards the creation of an international organisation were halted by the outbreak of world war. The outbreak of World War I split anarcho-syndicalists into internationalist and defencist camps ;
2412-755: A singular anarchism , in which common principles are shared between schools of anarchism while each group prioritizes those principles differently. Gender equality can be a common principle, although it ranks as a higher priority to anarcha-feminists than anarcho-communists. Anarchists are generally committed against coercive authority in all forms, namely "all centralized and hierarchical forms of government (e.g., monarchy, representative democracy, state socialism, etc.), economic class systems (e.g., capitalism, Bolshevism , feudalism , slavery , etc.), autocratic religions (e.g., fundamentalist Islam , Roman Catholicism , etc.), patriarchy , heterosexism , white supremacy , and imperialism ." Anarchist schools disagree on
2546-425: A small yet diverse following of Bohemian artists and intellectuals as well as young anarchist outlaws in what became known as illegalism and individual reclamation . Anarchist principles undergird contemporary radical social movements of the left. Interest in the anarchist movement developed alongside momentum in the anti-globalisation movement, whose leading activist networks were anarchist in orientation. As
2680-423: A subject of study for anarchists, yielding a post-structuralist critique of sexual normality . Some anarchists distanced themselves from this line of thinking, suggesting that it leaned towards an individualism that was dropping the cause of social liberation. The interest of anarchists in education stretches back to the first emergence of classical anarchism. Anarchists consider proper education, one which sets
2814-431: A syndicate. As in the past, newspapers and journals are used, and anarchists have gone online to spread their message. Anarchists have found it easier to create websites because of distributional and other difficulties, hosting electronic libraries and other portals. Anarchists were also involved in developing various software that are available for free. The way these hacktivists work to develop and distribute resembles
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#17328843276942948-400: A tactic which can include acts of sabotage or terrorism . This attitude was quite prominent a century ago when seeing the state as a tyrant and some anarchists believing that they had every right to oppose its oppression by any means possible. Emma Goldman and Errico Malatesta , who were proponents of limited use of violence, stated that violence is merely a reaction to state violence as
3082-401: A vehicle for authoritarianism and state capitalism , and criticised social democrats for bureaucratic inaction. Anarcho-syndicalists see trade unions not only as a means by which workers can organise for immediate improvements to their living and working conditions; but also as a means of training workers for management , with the goal of establishing workers' control over production and
3216-504: A way of men imposing authority over women, largely because marriage law greatly favoured the power of men. The notion of free love was much broader and included a critique of the established order that limited women's sexual freedom and pleasure. Those free love movements contributed to the establishment of communal houses, where large groups of travelers, anarchists and other activists slept in beds together. Free love had roots both in Europe and
3350-764: A way to a " socialist society " and was criticized by Karl Marx , who considered the communist revolution a required step. One of the delegates to the SPD congress was Eduard Bernstein , who later expanded on the concept, proposing what he termed " evolutionary socialism ". Bernstein was a leading social democrat in Germany. His " revisionism " was quickly targeted by revolutionary socialists , with Rosa Luxemburg condemning Bernstein's evolutionary socialism in her 1900 essay Social Reform or Revolution? and by orthodox Marxists such as Karl Kautsky , who condemned its theories in his 1909 work Road to Power . While Luxemburg died in
3484-500: Is a necessary precondition for the structural changes necessary to transform a capitalist system into a qualitatively different socialist system . Responding to a pejorative conception of reformism as non- transformational , philosopher André Gorz conceived non-reformist reform in 1987 to prioritize human needs over capitalist needs. As a political doctrine, centre-left reformism is distinguished from centre-right or pragmatic reform, which instead aims to safeguard and permeate
3618-402: Is a theory of anarchism that advocates a communist society with common ownership of the means of production, held by a federal network of voluntary associations , with production and consumption based on the guiding principle " From each according to his ability, to each according to his need ." Anarcho-communism developed from radical socialist currents after the French Revolution but
3752-401: Is a way to regain urban space from the capitalist market, serving pragmatical needs and also being an exemplary direct action. Acquiring space enables anarchists to experiment with their ideas and build social bonds. Adding up these tactics while having in mind that not all anarchists share the same attitudes towards them, along with various forms of protesting at highly symbolic events, make up
3886-579: Is based on the foundations of libertarian socialism , as formulated by the anti-authoritarian faction of the International Workingmen's Association , while its organisational forms were adopted from revolutionary syndicalism , which was first put into practice by the French labour movement in the early 20th century. Anarcho-syndicalism is distinguished from other forms of syndicalism by its anarchist political philosophy, where other syndicalist tendencies distance themselves from anarchism or even deny any political alignment. Other varieties of syndicalism include:
4020-399: Is enacted by many contemporary anarchist groups, striving to embody the principles, organization and tactics of the changed social structure they hope to bring about. As part of this the decision-making process of small anarchist affinity groups plays a significant tactical role. Anarchists have employed various methods to build a rough consensus among members of their group without the need of
4154-469: Is governed by consensus, although they saw this as highly unlikely. Beliefs on how to abolish the state also differ. As gender and sexuality carry along them dynamics of hierarchy, many anarchists address, analyse, and oppose the suppression of one's autonomy imposed by gender roles. Sexuality was not often discussed by classical anarchists but the few that did felt that an anarchist society would lead to sexuality naturally developing. Sexual violence
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4288-405: Is responsible for their own actions but works together to bring down oppression using sabotage and other violent means against state, capitalism, and other enemies. Members of The Invisible Committee were arrested in 2008 on various charges, terrorism included. Overall, contemporary anarchists are much less violent and militant than their ideological ancestors. They mostly engage in confronting
4422-502: Is significant overlap between the two. Anarchist tactics have shifted during the course of the last century. Anarchists during the early 20th century focused more on strikes and militancy while contemporary anarchists use a broader array of approaches . During the classical era, anarchists had a militant tendency. Not only did they confront state armed forces, as in Spain and Ukraine, but some of them also employed terrorism as propaganda of
4556-501: Is significant overlap between the two. Evolutionary methods try to simulate what an anarchist society might be like, but revolutionary tactics, which have historically taken a violent turn, aim to overthrow authority and the state. Many facets of human civilization have been influenced by anarchist theory, critique, and praxis . The etymological origin of anarchism is from the Ancient Greek anarkhia (ἀναρχία), meaning "without
4690-458: Is used to oppose such structural changes. The other is based on the assumption that while reforms are not socialist in themselves, they can help rally supporters to the cause of revolution by popularizing the cause of socialism to the working class . The debate on the ability of social democratic reformism to lead to a socialist transformation of society is over a century old. Reformism is criticized for being paradoxical as it seeks to overcome
4824-623: Is usually described as the libertarian wing of the socialist movement ( libertarian socialism ). Although traces of anarchist ideas are found all throughout history, modern anarchism emerged from the Enlightenment . During the latter half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century, the anarchist movement flourished in most parts of the world and had a significant role in workers' struggles for emancipation . Various anarchist schools of thought formed during this period. Anarchists have taken part in several revolutions , most notably in
4958-517: Is widely disputed, and anarchism enjoys complex relationships with ideologies such as communism, collectivism , Marxism, and trade unionism . Anarchists may be motivated by humanism , divine authority , enlightened self-interest , veganism , or any number of alternative ethical doctrines. Phenomena such as civilisation , technology (e.g. within anarcho-primitivism), and the democratic process may be sharply criticised within some anarchist tendencies and simultaneously lauded in others. Objection to
5092-625: The status quo by preventing fundamental structural changes to it. Leftist reformism posits that an accumulation of reforms can eventually lead to the emergence of entirely different economic and political systems than those of present-day capitalism and bureaucracy . Religious reformism has variously affected (for example) Judaism , Christianity and Islam since time immemorial, sometimes occasioning heresies , sectarian schisms and entirely new denominations . There are two types of reformism. One has no intention of bringing about socialism or fundamental economic change to society and
5226-636: The Bolshevik government had stabilised, including during the Kronstadt rebellion . Several anarchists from Petrograd and Moscow fled to Ukraine, before the Bolsheviks crushed the anarchist movement there too. With the anarchists being repressed in Russia, two new antithetical currents emerged, namely platformism and synthesis anarchism . The former sought to create a coherent group that would push for revolution while
5360-652: The Escuela Moderna in Barcelona as an opposition to the established education system which was dictated largely by the Catholic Church. Ferrer's approach was secular, rejecting both state and church involvement in the educational process while giving pupils large amounts of autonomy in planning their work and attendance. Ferrer aimed to educate the working class and explicitly sought to foster class consciousness among students. The school closed after constant harassment by
5494-703: The German Revolution , the reformists soon found themselves contending with the Bolsheviks and their satellite communist parties for the support of intellectuals and the working class . In 1959, the Godesberg Program (signed at a party convention in Bad Godesberg in the West German capital of Bonn ) marked the shift of the SPD from an orthodox Marxist program espousing an end to the capitalist system to
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5628-710: The Industrial Workers of the World left their organisations and joined the Communist International . In the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39, anarchists and syndicalists ( CNT and FAI ) once again allied themselves with various currents of leftists. A long tradition of Spanish anarchism led to anarchists playing a pivotal role in the war, and particularly in the Spanish Revolution of 1936 . In response to
5762-709: The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam , convened by the anarcho-syndicalist Christiaan Cornelissen in 1907, a conflict between the two tendencies broke out; while the syndicalist Pierre Monatte and the anarchist Errico Malatesta debated their respective ideologies, Amédée Dunois attempted to synthesise the two into a "workers' anarchism". Anarcho-syndicalism soon became the dominant form of trade union organisation in Spain , Argentina , Brazil , Mexico , Paraguay , Uruguay and many other Latin American countries, where anarcho-syndicalists organised
5896-458: The New Left and libertarian Marxists , who do not associate themselves with authoritarian socialists or a vanguard party , and extreme cultural liberals , who are primarily concerned with civil liberties . Additionally, some anarchists use libertarian socialist to avoid anarchism's negative connotations and emphasise its connections with socialism . Anarchism is broadly used to describe
6030-601: The Paris Commune , the Russian Civil War and the Spanish Civil War , whose end marked the end of the classical era of anarchism . In the last decades of the 20th and into the 21st century, the anarchist movement has been resurgent once more, growing in popularity and influence within anti-capitalist , anti-war and anti-globalisation movements. Anarchists employ diverse approaches , which may be generally divided into revolutionary and evolutionary strategies ; there
6164-529: The Republican government, ending in another defeat of anarchists at the hands of the communists. By the end of World War II , the anarchist movement had been severely weakened. The 1960s witnessed a revival of anarchism, likely caused by a perceived failure of Marxism–Leninism and tensions built by the Cold War . During this time, anarchism found a presence in other movements critical towards both capitalism and
6298-538: The Revolutions of 1917–1923 spread throughout Europe, anarcho-syndicalists became keen participants in the revolutionary wave, during which they faced rising political repression. Anarcho-syndicalists in Europe, Latin America and Asia organised general strikes, sometimes reaching revolutionary proportions, but were ultimately suppressed by nationalist or communist dictatorships. Following the suppression of their movements and
6432-587: The Revolutions of 1917–1923 , anarcho-syndicalists established the International Workers' Association (IWA). Anarcho-syndicalism reached its apex during the Spanish Revolution of 1936 , when the National Confederation of Labour (CNT) established an anarcho-syndicalist economy throughout much of the Spanish Republic . Anarcho-syndicalism went into decline after the defeat of the anarchists in
6566-424: The Spanish Civil War . The movement split into two factions: the "orthodox" faction, which held to traditional syndicalist principles in spite of changing material conditions; and the "revisionist" faction, which aimed to achieve a mass base and work within the framework of newly-established welfare states . By the end of the 20th century, the rise of neoliberalism and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc had led to
6700-688: The Spanish Republic . With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War , the CNT led the defeat of the Nationalists in Catalonia , where they ignited an anarcho-syndicalist revolution that collectivised three-quarters of the Republican economy. The CNT's decision to join the Republican government caused controversy within the IWA and the social revolution was eventually suppressed by the government. The Republicans ultimately lost
6834-451: The St. Imier International . Under the influence of Peter Kropotkin , a Russian philosopher and scientist, anarcho-communism overlapped with collectivism . Anarcho-communists, who drew inspiration from the 1871 Paris Commune , advocated for free federation and for the distribution of goods according to one's needs . By the turn of the 20th century, anarchism had spread all over the world. It
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#17328843276946968-517: The Summerhill School in 1921, also declaring being free from coercion. Reformism Within the socialist movement , reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eventually lead to fundamental changes in a society's political and economic systems . Reformism as a political tendency and hypothesis of social change grew out of opposition to revolutionary socialism , which contends that revolutionary upheaval
7102-556: The United States , where syndicalism became the dominant organisational form. Elsewhere, the development of reformist tendencies such as social democracy sidelined anarchists within trade unions. But tensions between rank-and-file trade unionists and their social-democratic leadership eventually gave way to the development of revolutionary syndicalism , which called for workers themselves to take direct action in order to improve their own material conditions. Revolutionary syndicalism
7236-587: The World Trade Organization (WTO), the Group of Eight and the World Economic Forum . During the protests , ad hoc leaderless anonymous cadres known as black blocs engaged in rioting, property destruction and violent confrontations with the police. Other organisational tactics pioneered at this time include affinity groups , security culture and the use of decentralised technologies such as
7370-461: The anti-authoritarian wing of the socialist movement . Anarchism is contrasted to socialist forms which are state-oriented or from above. Scholars of anarchism generally highlight anarchism's socialist credentials and criticise attempts at creating dichotomies between the two. Some scholars describe anarchism as having many influences from liberalism, and being both liberal and socialist but more so. Many scholars reject anarcho-capitalism as
7504-492: The anti-fascist resistance . After the war, anarcho-syndicalism experienced a rapid decline, as anarcho-syndicalist unions were either marginalised by rising social corporatism or repressed by newly-established authoritarian states. Anarcho-syndicalists proved unable to keep up with the changes in the post-war capitalist system, which hastened the decline of the anarcho-syndicalist movement and forced its organisations to choose between marginalisation, reform or dissolution. Despite
7638-451: The arms industry to addressing Monsanto seed-saving policies and patents , helping farmers , and resisting the commodification of food and housing. Honeywell also emphasizes that contemporary anarchists are interested in the flourishing not only of humans , but non-humans and the environment as well. Honeywell argues that their analysis of capitalism and governments results in anarchists rejecting representative democracy and
7772-417: The civil and political rights that workers have achieved from political reaction . Anarcho-syndicalism is driven by the practice of direct action , which eschews legalistic methods in favour of workers forcing their employers to make concessions. Methods of direct action include boycotts, sabotage and strike actions , the latter of which syndicalists framed as a "revolutionary drill" to prepare workers for
7906-414: The division of labour , considering the ideal of a stateless society to be one of decentralised , small-scale social units, anarcho-syndicalism foresees trade unions as taking over a large-scale and centralised industrial economy. Anarcho-syndicalists believe that the establishment of a syndicalist system could lead to the withering away of the state and as such to anarchy and communism . Some support
8040-467: The eight-hour day and the weekend , the union turned away from revolutionary syndicalism towards reformism. However, by this time, revolutionary syndicalism had already spread throughout Europe, with syndicalist unions being established in the Netherlands , Italy , Portugal , Germany and Sweden . The concurrent development of industrial unionism led to the establishment of the Industrial Workers of
8174-401: The means of production which is theorised to be achieved through violent revolution and that workers be paid according to time worked, rather than goods being distributed according to need as in communism. Collectivist anarchism arose alongside Marxism but rejected the dictatorship of the proletariat despite the stated Marxist goal of a collectivist stateless society . Anarcho-communism
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#17328843276948308-495: The profit margins of business owners and raising the workers' share in the product of their own labour. Anarcho-syndicalists consider the state to be a result of class stratification , established and maintained in order to protect the monopoly of capitalists over the economy. As such, anarcho-syndicalists predict that the dissolution of the state will be an inevitable consequence of the abolition of capitalism. While moving towards this, they also consider it necessary to protect
8442-439: The second wave of feminism , radicalising some currents of the feminist movement and being influenced as well. By the latest decades of the 20th century, anarchists and feminists were advocating for the rights and autonomy of women, gays, queers and other marginalised groups, with some feminist thinkers suggesting a fusion of the two currents. With the third wave of feminism , sexual identity and compulsory heterosexuality became
8576-598: The second wave of feminism . Black anarchism began to take form at this time and influenced anarchism's move from a Eurocentric demographic. This coincided with its failure to gain traction in Northern Europe and its unprecedented height in Latin America. Around the turn of the 21st century, anarchism grew in popularity and influence within anti-capitalist, anti-war and anti-globalisation movements. Anarchists became known for their involvement in protests against
8710-429: The state and its institutions is a sine qua non of anarchism. Anarchists consider the state as a tool of domination and believe it to be illegitimate regardless of its political tendencies. Instead of people being able to control the aspects of their life, major decisions are taken by a small elite. Authority ultimately rests solely on power, regardless of whether that power is open or transparent , as it still has
8844-427: The wealth that society relies upon. For anarcho-syndicalists, trade unions represent the prefiguration of a future socialist economy, the foundation that a new syndicalist society will be built on. Workers' education is therefore at the centre of anarcho-syndicalism, which aims to use trade unions to prepare workers to take over management of the industrial economy. Anarcho-syndicalism organises itself according to
8978-447: The "big-A Anarchism" of the classical era, the newly coined term "small-a anarchism" signals their tendency not to base their thoughts and actions on classical-era anarchism or to refer to classical anarchists such as Peter Kropotkin and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon to justify their opinions. Those anarchists would rather base their thought and praxis on their own experience, which they will later theorize. The concept of prefigurative politics
9112-583: The "neutral" revolutionary syndicalism, which separates itself from other political theories; Daniel De Leon 's conception of industrial unionism , which infused it with a Marxist influence; and an authoritarian form of syndicalism developed by Georges Sorel , which advocates for vanguardism and mythmaking to drive the masses towards a general strike. Anarcho-syndicalism also distinguishes itself from other forms of anarchism, due to its favourability towards industrialisation and organisation. While other forms of anarchism reject economic centralisation and
9246-434: The "orthodox" faction, which rejects any diversity of tactics or collaboration with statist forces, in favour of waiting for the right conditions for a revolutionary situation ; and the "revisionist" faction, which is open to participation in systems of social welfare and pursues gradual reforms towards the democratisation of the economy. Anarcho-syndicalism is an apolitical or anti-political ideology, opposed to
9380-418: The 19th century such as William Godwin (1756–1836) and Wilhelm Weitling (1808–1871) would contribute to the anarchist doctrines of the next generation but did not use anarchist or anarchism in describing themselves or their beliefs. The first political philosopher to call himself an anarchist (French: anarchiste ) was Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), marking the formal birth of anarchism in
9514-685: The Bakuninists were expelled from the International by the Marxists at the 1872 Hague Congress . Anarchists were treated similarly in the Second International , being ultimately expelled in 1896. Bakunin predicted that if revolutionaries gained power by Marx's terms, they would end up the new tyrants of workers . In response to their expulsion from the First International, anarchists formed
9648-507: The Establishment and secondly to promote anarchist ethics and reflect an anarchist vision of society, illustrating the unity of means and ends . A broad categorisation can be made between aims to destroy oppressive states and institutions by revolutionary means on one hand and aims to change society through evolutionary means on the other. Evolutionary tactics embrace nonviolence and take a gradual approach to anarchist aims, although there
9782-744: The Internet. A significant event of this period was the confrontations at the 1999 Seattle WTO conference . Anarchist ideas have been influential in the development of the Zapatistas in Mexico and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, more commonly known as Rojava , a de facto autonomous region in northern Syria . While having revolutionary aspirations, many contemporary forms of anarchism are not confrontational. Instead, they are trying to build an alternative way of social organization (following
9916-514: The Soviet Union continued to consider the SPD to be the real enemy in Germany even after the Nazi Party had gotten into power. The term was applied to elements within the British Labour Party in the 1950s and subsequently on the party's liberal wing. Anthony Crosland wrote The Future of Socialism (1956) as a personal manifesto arguing for a reformulation of the term. For Crosland,
10050-466: The United States; however, some anarchists struggled with the jealousy that arose from free love. Anarchist feminists were advocates of free love, against marriage, and pro-choice (using a contemporary term), and had a similar agenda. Anarchist and non-anarchist feminists differed on suffrage but were supportive of one another. During the second half of the 20th century, anarchism intermingled with
10184-458: The World (IWW) in countries throughout the English-speaking world . By the 1910s, syndicalism had spread throughout every country in Europe and anarchist tendencies started to develop within the movement. Although anarchists widely participated in the syndicalist movement, syndicalists were divided into separate tendencies, many of which rejected the ideological prescriptions of anarchism. At
10318-453: The ability to coerce people. Another anarchist argument against states is that the people constituting a government, even the most altruistic among officials, will unavoidably seek to gain more power, leading to corruption. Anarchists consider the idea that the state is the collective will of the people to be an unachievable fiction due to the fact that the ruling class is distinct from the rest of society. Specific anarchist attitudes towards
10452-433: The anarchist ideals, especially when it comes to preserving users' privacy from state surveillance . Anarchists organize themselves to squat and reclaim public spaces . During important events such as protests and when spaces are being occupied, they are often called Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ), spaces where art, poetry, and surrealism are blended to display the anarchist ideal. As seen by anarchists, squatting
10586-459: The anarchist movement, although contemporary anarchism favours actions over academic theory. Various anarchist groups, tendencies, and schools of thought exist today, making it difficult to describe the contemporary anarchist movement. While theorists and activists have established "relatively stable constellations of anarchist principles", there is no consensus on which principles are core and commentators describe multiple anarchisms , rather than
10720-548: The anti-authoritarian faction of the International Workingmen's Association (IWMA) and developed by the French General Confederation of Labour (CGT). Anarcho-syndicalism was constituted as a specific tendency following the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam , which led to anarcho-syndicalism becoming the dominant form of trade union organisation in Europe and Latin America . After facing suppression during
10854-505: The army rebellion , an anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of Barcelona and of large areas of rural Spain, where they collectivised the land. The Soviet Union provided some limited assistance at the beginning of the war, but the result was a bitter fight between communists and other leftists in a series of events known as the May Days , as Joseph Stalin asserted Soviet control of
10988-730: The belief that human nature allows humans to exist in or progress toward such a non-coercive society, and a suggestion on how to act to pursue the ideal of anarchy. The most notable precursors to anarchism in the ancient world were in China and Greece . In China, philosophical anarchism (the discussion on the legitimacy of the state) was delineated by Taoist philosophers Zhuang Zhou and Laozi . Alongside Stoicism , Taoism has been said to have had "significant anticipations" of anarchism. Anarchic attitudes were also articulated by tragedians and philosophers in Greece. Aeschylus and Sophocles used
11122-474: The cartels then group together on a regional basis, up to the national level, providing larger-scale coordination between its member organisations. Under this model, each trade union is also federatively linked with other unions of the same trade and related trades in industrial unions , which allow workers a greater scope of solidarity actions in struggles relevant to their economic sector. Anarcho-syndicalists see this federative form of industrial organisation as
11256-441: The creation of a socialist economy . Anarcho-syndicalists believe that trade unions are better suited for these tasks than socialist political parties, as workers often still require trade unions to protect their rights even under socialist governments. Anarcho-syndicalists consider trade unions to be the vanguard of the labour movement; they believe workers' power resides in the economic sphere, as they are responsible for producing
11390-456: The deed . Assassination attempts were carried out against heads of state , some of which were successful. Anarchists also took part in revolutions. Many anarchists, especially the Galleanists , believed that these attempts would be the impetus for a revolution against capitalism and the state. Many of these attacks were done by individual assailants and the majority took place in the late 1870s,
11524-425: The early 1880s and the 1890s, with some still occurring in the early 1900s. Their decrease in prevalence was the result of further judicial power and of targeting and cataloging by state institutions. Anarchist perspectives towards violence have always been controversial. Anarcho-pacifists advocate for non-violence means to achieve their stateless, nonviolent ends. Other anarchist groups advocate direct action ,
11658-526: The early 19th century, such as the utopian socialists Henri de Saint-Simon , Charles Fourier , and Robert Owen were revolutionary. Instead these thinkers believed they could convince the governments and ruling classes in England and France to adopt their schemes through persuasion. In 1875, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) adopted a Gotha Program that proposed "every lawful means" on
11792-527: The economic changes, the IWA chose to reaffirm traditional anarcho-syndicalist principles, causing its Dutch and Swedish sections to split from it. The SAC chose to revise its principles in order to adapt to the new Swedish welfare state , within which they aimed to establish workers' control over welfare and the democratisation of the economy. The IWA declined to its lowest point during the 1960s, as its membership became increasingly preoccupied with theory. The anarcho-syndicalist movement began to experience
11926-427: The economy and society in a social revolution . According to the anarcho-syndicalist model, federal organisations are built from the bottom-up, on both a territorial and industrial basis: first, workers join together in independent trade unions; the trade unions in a given city or district then combine into a cartel , which act as centres for popular education and build solidarity between workers of different trades;
12060-523: The existing economic system of capitalism while trying to improve the conditions of capitalism, thereby making it appear more tolerable to society. According to Rosa Luxemburg , capitalism is not overthrown, "but is on the contrary strengthened by the development of social reforms". In a similar vein, Stan Parker of the Socialist Party of Great Britain argues that reforms are a diversion of energy for socialists and are limited because they must adhere to
12194-637: The form of disrupting and protesting against unjust hierarchy, or the form of self-managing their lives through the creation of counter-institutions such as communes and non-hierarchical collectives. Decision-making is often handled in an anti-authoritarian way, with everyone having equal say in each decision , an approach known as horizontalism . Contemporary-era anarchists have been engaging with various grassroots movements that are more or less based on horizontalism, although not explicitly anarchist, respecting personal autonomy and participating in mass activism such as strikes and demonstrations. In contrast with
12328-435: The formation of socialist political parties and participation in parliamentary politics. Anarcho-syndicalists argue that socialist participation in politics, rather than moving society closer to socialism, has damaged the labour movement by substituting self-help for representation . They have further criticised socialist parties for abandoning anti-capitalism in favour of nationalism , which they believe to have resulted in
12462-505: The former declared themselves against both sides of the war, while the latter supported the Allies against the Central Powers . The conflict ultimately demonstrated the inability of the international syndicalist movement to prevent war and discredited "neutral syndicalism" in the eyes of many workers, causing revolutionary sentiments to once again begin rising within the workers' movement. When
12596-433: The foundations of the future autonomy of the individual and the society, to be an act of mutual aid . Anarchist writers such as William Godwin ( Political Justice ) and Max Stirner (" The False Principle of Our Education ") attacked both state education and private education as another means by which the ruling class replicate their privileges. In 1901, Catalan anarchist and free thinker Francisco Ferrer established
12730-429: The free potential of society through equality and social ownership . In a chronological sense, anarchism can be segmented by the classical currents of the late 19th century and the post-classical currents ( anarcha-feminism , green anarchism , and post-anarchism ) developed thereafter. Beyond the specific factions of anarchist movements which constitute political anarchism lies philosophical anarchism which holds that
12864-743: The golden age of anarchism. Drawing from mutualism, Mikhail Bakunin founded collectivist anarchism and entered the International Workingmen's Association , a class worker union later known as the First International that formed in 1864 to unite diverse revolutionary currents. The International became a significant political force, with Karl Marx being a leading figure and a member of its General Council. Bakunin's faction (the Jura Federation ) and Proudhon's followers (the mutualists) opposed state socialism , advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings. After bitter disputes,
12998-501: The historical Reform Party of Canada advocated structural changes to government to counter what they believed was the disenfranchisement of Western Canadians. Some social democratic parties such as the aforementioned Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Canadian New Democratic Party are still considered to be reformist and are seen as centre-left . None of the initial figures that founded modern socialism in
13132-466: The ideological development of what became the era of classical anarchism. During the French Revolution , partisan groups such as the Enragés and the sans-culottes saw a turning point in the fermentation of anti-state and federalist sentiments. The first anarchist currents developed throughout the 18th century as William Godwin espoused philosophical anarchism in England , morally delegitimising
13266-552: The latter were against anything that would resemble a political party. Seeing the victories of the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution and the resulting Russian Civil War , many workers and activists turned to communist parties , which grew at the expense of anarchism and other socialist movements. In France and the United States, members of major syndicalist movements such as the General Confederation of Labour and
13400-455: The logic of capitalism. French social theorist Andre Gorz criticized reformism by advocating a third alternative to reformism and social revolution that he called " non-reformist reforms ", specifically focused on structural changes to capitalism as opposed to reforms to improve living conditions within capitalism or to prop it up through economic interventionism . In modern times, some reformists are seen as centre-right . For example,
13534-465: The major currents of social anarchism ( collectivist , communist and syndicalist ). They differ on organisational and economic aspects of their ideal society. Mutualism is an 18th-century economic theory that was developed into anarchist theory by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Its aims include "abolishing the state", reciprocity , free association , voluntary contract, federation and monetary reform of both credit and currency that would be regulated by
13668-444: The methods by which these forms should be opposed. The principle of equal liberty is closer to anarchist political ethics in that it transcends both the liberal and socialist traditions. This entails that liberty and equality cannot be implemented within the state, resulting in the questioning of all forms of domination and hierarchy. Anarchists' tactics take various forms but in general serve two major goals, namely, to first oppose
13802-603: The mid-19th century. Since the 1890s and beginning in France, libertarianism has often been used as a synonym for anarchism; its use as a synonym is still common outside the United States. Some usages of libertarianism refer to individualistic free-market philosophy only, and free-market anarchism in particular is termed libertarian anarchism . While the term libertarian has been largely synonymous with anarchism, its meaning has more recently been diluted by wider adoption from ideologically disparate groups, including both
13936-789: The movement and attempts were made to prevent anarchists immigrating to the US , including the Immigration Act of 1903 , also called the Anarchist Exclusion Act. Illegalism was another strategy which some anarchists adopted during this period. Despite concerns, anarchists enthusiastically participated in the Russian Revolution in opposition to the White movement , especially in the Makhnovshchina ; however, they met harsh suppression after
14070-667: The movement shaped 21st century radicalism, wider embrace of anarchist principles signaled a revival of interest. Anarchism has continued to generate many philosophies and movements, at times eclectic, drawing upon various sources and combining disparate concepts to create new philosophical approaches. The anti-capitalist tradition of classical anarchism has remained prominent within contemporary currents. Contemporary news coverage which emphasizes black bloc demonstrations has reinforced anarchism's historical association with chaos and violence. Its publicity has also led more scholars in fields such as anthropology and history to engage with
14204-460: The myth of Antigone to illustrate the conflict between laws imposed by the state and personal autonomy . Socrates questioned Athenian authorities constantly and insisted on the right of individual freedom of conscience . Cynics dismissed human law ( nomos ) and associated authorities while trying to live according to nature ( physis ). Stoics were supportive of a society based on unofficial and friendly relations among its citizens without
14338-414: The news media. In the current era, Italian anarchist Alfredo Bonanno , a proponent of insurrectionary anarchism , has reinstated the debate on violence by rejecting the nonviolence tactic adopted since the late 19th century by Kropotkin and other prominent anarchists afterwards. Both Bonanno and the French group The Invisible Committee advocate for small, informal affiliation groups, where each member
14472-415: The nucleus for the reorganisation of the economy and society, as it would be able to take over the management of production in every economic sector. In such a revolutionary situation , cartels would take over production in their communities, determine the needs of their local population and organise the economy to meet those needs. A national federation would likewise be able to organise production throughout
14606-463: The overthrow of capitalism and the state. Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is against all forms of authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy , typically including the state and capitalism . Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies and voluntary free associations . A historically left-wing movement, anarchism
14740-454: The police during demonstrations and riots, especially in countries such as Canada , Greece , and Mexico . Militant black bloc protest groups are known for clashing with the police; however, anarchists not only clash with state operators, they also engage in the struggle against fascists and racists , taking anti-fascist action and mobilizing to prevent hate rallies from happening. Anarchists commonly employ direct action . This can take
14874-456: The presence of a state. In medieval Europe , there was no anarchistic activity except some ascetic religious movements. These, and other Muslim movements, later gave birth to religious anarchism . In the Sasanian Empire , Mazdak called for an egalitarian society and the abolition of monarchy , only to be soon executed by Emperor Kavad I . In Basra , religious sects preached against
15008-521: The principles of federalism and free association , in which the self-determination of each individual is upheld. Anarcho-syndicalists are staunchly opposed to centralised , hierarchical forms of organisation, which they believe stifle independent initiative with bureaucracy . In anarcho-syndicalist organisations, individual unions carry out their activities on a voluntary basis; for any larger-scale activity that requires delegation , representatives are typically elected for single terms and are paid
15142-496: The reinforcement of capitalism and the integration of the labour movement into the nation state . To anarcho-syndicalists, political careerism corrupted socialist politicians, while electoralism transformed socialism from a constructive project into a reformist one . Anarcho-syndicalists are thus opposed to unions affiliating with political parties and attempt to prevent the capture of unions by party politicians. From this position, anarcho-syndicalists have denounced Bolshevism as
15276-440: The relevance of nationalization , or public ownership , for socialists was much reduced as a consequence of contemporary full employment , Keynesian management of the economy and reduced capitalist exploitation. After the third successive defeat of his party in the 1959 general election , Hugh Gaitskell attempted to reformulate the original wording of Clause IV in the party's constitution , but proved unsuccessful. Some of
15410-482: The rising influence of Marxism-Leninism throughout the world, anarcho-syndicalists moved to establish their own international organisation: the International Workers' Association (IWA). Theoretical discussions within the IWA led to debates on the issues of platformism , insurrectionism , industrialism and reformism , while the Spanish National Confederation of Labour (CNT) rose to prominence in
15544-473: The same amount as the workers they represent. Anarcho-syndicalists believe that centralism weakens and inhibits workers' capacity to take independent action and make decisions, and that centralised organisations inevitably tend towards inertia and stagnation. In contrast, they believe that federalist organisations provide workers with both the means to take rapid action in individual struggles and also connections that could allow them to establish workers' control of
15678-403: The state and Ferrer was later arrested. Nonetheless, his ideas formed the inspiration for a series of modern schools around the world. Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy , who published the essay Education and Culture , also established a similar school with its founding principle being that "for education to be effective it had to be free." In a similar token, A. S. Neill founded what became
15812-411: The state as a whole. Anarchist schools of thought have been generally grouped into two main historical traditions, social anarchism and individualist anarchism , owing to their different origins, values and evolution. The individualist current emphasises negative liberty in opposing restraints upon the free individual, while the social current emphasises positive liberty in aiming to achieve
15946-428: The state lacks moral legitimacy , without necessarily accepting the imperative of revolution to eliminate it. A component especially of individualist anarchism, philosophical anarchism may tolerate the existence of a minimal state but claims that citizens have no moral obligation to obey government when it conflicts with individual autonomy . Anarchism pays significant attention to moral arguments since ethics have
16080-498: The state such as the anti-nuclear , environmental , and peace movements , the counterculture of the 1960s , and the New Left . It also saw a transition from its previous revolutionary nature to provocative anti-capitalist reformism . Anarchism became associated with punk subculture as exemplified by bands such as Crass and the Sex Pistols . The established feminist tendencies of anarcha-feminism returned with vigour during
16214-413: The state vary. Robert Paul Wolff believed that the tension between authority and autonomy would mean the state could never be legitimate. Bakunin saw the state as meaning "coercion, domination by means of coercion, camouflaged if possible but unceremonious and overt if need be." A. John Simmons and Leslie Green , who leaned toward philosophical anarchism, believed that the state could be legitimate if it
16348-556: The state with a new society democratically self-managed by workers. The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are direct action , workers' solidarity and workers' self-management . Individualist anarchism is a set of several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasise the individual and their will over any kinds of external determinants. Early influences on individualist forms of anarchism include William Godwin , Max Stirner , and Henry David Thoreau . Through many countries, individualist anarchism attracted
16482-412: The state, Max Stirner 's thinking paved the way to individualism and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon 's theory of mutualism found fertile soil in France . By the late 1870s, various anarchist schools of thought had become well-defined and a wave of then-unprecedented globalisation occurred from 1880 to 1914. This era of classical anarchism lasted until the end of the Spanish Civil War and is considered
16616-531: The state. In Europe, various religious sects developed anti-state and libertarian tendencies. Renewed interest in antiquity during the Renaissance and in private judgment during the Reformation restored elements of anti-authoritarian secularism in Europe, particularly in France. Enlightenment challenges to intellectual authority (secular and religious) and the revolutions of the 1790s and 1848 all spurred
16750-406: The temporary establishment of a collectivist system of distribution " to each according to their contribution ", until a state of post-scarcity is achieved, at which point it would give way to an anarchist communist system of distribution " from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs ". In the contemporary period, anarcho-syndicalism is divided into two main factions:
16884-492: The theories of dual power ), based on mutual interdependence and voluntary cooperation. Scholar Carissa Honeywell takes the example of Food Not Bombs group of collectives, to highlight some features of how contemporary anarchist groups work: direct action , working together and in solidarity with those left behind. While doing so, Food Not Bombs provides consciousness raising about the rising rates of world hunger and suggest policies to tackle hunger, ranging from de-funding
17018-462: The time. Belief in political nihilism has been espoused by anarchists. Despite separation, the various anarchist schools of thought are not seen as distinct entities but rather as tendencies that intermingle and are connected through a set of shared principles such as autonomy, mutual aid , anti-authoritarianism and decentralisation . Inceptive currents among classical anarchist currents were mutualism and individualism . They were followed by
17152-406: The ultimate aim of abolishing the state and capitalism . Anarcho-syndicalists consider trade unions to be the prefiguration of a post-capitalist society and seek to use them in order to establish workers' control of production and distribution . An anti-political ideology, anarcho-syndicalism rejects political parties and participation in parliamentary politics , considering them to be
17286-580: The war and the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists were imprisoned, killed or forced into exile by the victorious Francoist dictatorship . During World War II , anarcho-syndicalists initially adopted an "internationalist" position, taking up the slogan "Neither Fascism, nor Antifascism." But following the Nazi occupation of Europe and the subsequent suppression of their organisations, anarcho-syndicalists throughout Europe reorientated themselves towards anti-fascism and joined
17420-528: The younger followers of Gaitskell, principally Roy Jenkins , Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams , left the Labour Party in 1981 to found the Social Democratic Party , but the central objective of the Gaitskellites was eventually achieved by Tony Blair in his successful attempt to rewrite Clause IV in 1995. The use of the term is distinguished from the gradualism associated with Fabianism (the ideology of
17554-482: Was a concern for anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker , who opposed age of consent laws , believing they would benefit predatory men. A historical current that arose and flourished during 1890 and 1920 within anarchism was free love . In contemporary anarchism, this current survives as a tendency to support polyamory , relationship anarchy , and queer anarchism . Free love advocates were against marriage, which they saw as
17688-489: Was a notable feature of the international syndicalist movement. In China , small groups of students imported the humanistic pro-science version of anarcho-communism. Tokyo was a hotspot for rebellious youth from East Asian countries, who moved to the Japanese capital to study. In Latin America, Argentina was a stronghold for anarcho-syndicalism , where it became the most prominent left-wing ideology. During this time,
17822-465: Was first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International . It was later expanded upon in the theoretical work of Peter Kropotkin , whose specific style would go onto become the dominating view of anarchists by the late 19th century. Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism that views labour syndicates as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and
17956-564: Was first propagated in France , where the Bourses du Travail (English: Labour Exchanges ) were established to provide mutual aid to workers and organise strike actions. By the 20th century, the bourses had joined together to establish the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), which rose to include 60% of French workers within its ranks. But after the CGT launched a general strike, which won French workers
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