Vadim Damier - Anarcho-Syndicalism (Bibliographic Essay)

8/7/2019 Vadim Damier - Anarcho-Syndicalism (Bibliographic Essay)

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Bibliographic Essay

he history o anarcho-syndicalism has been little studied.Social historians have been attracted in the frst instanceto social-democratic and communist trends in the workersmovement; less requently they have studied Christian andother mainstream trade unions. In the Soviet Union, underthe conditions o the ideological monopoly o the CPSU,anarcho-syndicalism was perceived as an ideological enemywith which one must carry on an uncompromising struggle.

In the books and brochures o V. Yagov, B. M. Leibzon, V. V.Komin, F. Ya. Polyansky, N. V. Ponomarev, S. N. Kanev, E.M. Kornoukhov, I. S. Rozental, et al, this tendency was con-sidered a variety o petty-bourgeois revolutionism (alongwith rotskyism and Maoism). Tese authors acknowledgedthat anarcho-syndicalism had involved signifcant masses oworkers in various countries and in dierent periods o time;however, this act was interpreted as a maniestation o theweakness and immaturity o the workers movement. Teundamental ideas and viewpoints o anarchists and syndi-calists were reduced to a simplistic level or, as oen happened just alsifed; the intention o these works did not consistin analyzing the content o the positions being criticized, butrather in exposing ultra-leists. Te anarcho-syndicalistInternational was hardly mentioned, and lumped under the

rubric anarcho-syndicalism without any distinction werethe revolutionary syndicalism o the early 20th century, thesyndicalist neo-Marxists G. Sorel and A. Labriola, suchvery dierent union centrals as the Industrial Workers o theWorld and the Spanish National Conederation o Labour,and even the Workers Opposition inside the BolshevikParty at the beginning o the 1920s.

o some degree or other problems connected with the

Vadim Damier: Anarcho-syndicalism in the 20th Century - Translated from Russian by Malcolm Archibald

(Edmonton, Black Cat Press, 2009)


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revolutionary syndicalist and anarcho-syndicalist move-ment were touched upon by the authors o studies o the

history o specifc countries: France (S. N. Gurvich, V. M.Dalin, G. Morozov, R. Sabsovich, and others)[338], Spain (S.P. Pozharskaya, L. V. Ponomareva, and others)[339], Italy (Z.P. Yakhimovich)[340], and the states o Latin America (B. I.Koval, and others)[341]. In general these works were not de-voted particularly to the history o anarchism (as a rareexception one can mention Ye. Yu. Staburovas investigationo anarchism in China).[342] Without deviating rom ocial

conceptions, these historians adduced inormation andacts which broadened the understanding o revolutionary

338 G. Morozov and R. Sabsovich, [Studies o the history o the union movement inFrance] (Moscow, 1961); [Studies o the history o the workers movement in France] (Moscow, 1968);S. N. Gurvich, - . [Radical-socialists and the workers movement in France at

the beginning o the 20th

century] (Moscow, 1976); V. M. Dalin, [From the history o socialist doctrines inFrance] (Moscow, 1984).

339 L. V. Ponomareva, 1931-1934 . [The workers movement in Spain during the years o revolution1931-1934], Moscow (1965); S. P. Pozharskaya, . 1931-1919. [The socialist workers party o Spain. 1931-1939.] (Moscow, 1966); ____, 18 1936 . [From July18 1936 the long road] (Moscow, 1977); I. M. Maisky, ed., 1918-1972. [Spain 1918-1972. Historical essay.] (Moscow, 1975).

340

Z. P. Yakimovich, o, XIX XX . [The working class o Italy againstimperialism and militarism, end o the 19th beginning o the 20th century](Moscow, 1986).

341 B. I. Koval, 1857-1967[History othe working class o Brazil in 1857-1967] (Moscow, 1968); ____, o [Light o October over Latin America], Moscow(1977); A. M. Zorina, , 1850-1925 [Workers move-ment in Cuba, 1850-1925] (Moscow, 1975); et al.

342 Ye. Yu. Staburova, . 1920-1921. [Anarchism in China.1920-1921] (Moscow, 1983).


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syndicalism and anarcho-syndicalism as components othe global workers movement. Nevertheless, here also one

fnds the predominance o an ideologized assessment o therole o anarchists and syndicalists and their inuence onthe masses.

Te elimination o the ideological monopoly o the CPSUin 1990-1991 and the opening o the archives allowed na-tive historians to study social movements at a higher level.Researchers began to write more objectively about the roleo the anarchists.[343] A two-volume collection o documents

about the Russian anarchists was published,[344] and worksappeared about the anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists inRussia.[345] At the same time, it must be acknowledged thatan in-depth study o the role o the anarcho-syndicalists inthe Russian Revolution still does not exist.

343 See, or example: S. P. Pozharskaya and A. V. Shubin, [The civil war in Spain and Francoism] in . [Totalitarianism in Europe in the 20th century]

(Moscow, 1996); S. P. Pozharskaya and A. I. Saplin, [The Comintern and the Civil War in Spain] in 1919-1943 [History o the Com-munist International 1919-1943] (Moscow, 2002); et al.

344 . . [Anarchists. Documents andmaterials.], 2 vols. (Moscow, 1998-1999).

345 See: V. V. Krivenky, -[Anarcho-syndicalists] in [Political parties o Russia] (Moscow, 1996); V.D. Yermakov, : [The anarchist movement in Russia: historical and contemporary] (St. Pe-

tersburg, 1997); A. A. Shtirbul, 1- [The anarchist movement in Siberia in the 1st quarter othe 20th century], 2 vols. (Omsk, 1996); D. I. Rublev,

-

[Inluence o French revolutionarysyndicalism on the ormation o the anti-statist notions o Russian anar-chism] in - [State and society in the conceptions o let-wingsocial-political movements] (Moscow, 2005); et al. This list could also includethe numerous works devoted to the history o the Makhnovist movementin Ukraine.


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Te study o the international anarcho-syndicalist move-ment was also initiated. A. V. Shubin published several

works which covered the role not only o the anarchists inthe Makhnovist movement in Ukraine, but also Spanishanarcho-syndicalism in the period o the Spanish Revolutiono the 1930s and the discussions in the Russian emigrationand in the global anarchist movement during the inter-warperiod.[346] Above all he discussed in detail the social transor-mations carried out by anarcho-syndicalist workers in Spainand the political practice o the National Conederation o

Labour (CN), and demonstrated the baselessness o manyo the myths about anarchism and the accusations directedat the CN. At the same time, one must regard as unprovenhis ideas about a transition o anarcho-syndicalism in the1920s and 1930s to a position o market socialism andabout its reversion rom Kropotkin to Bakunin.

On the whole, despite signifcant progress in the study oanarcho-syndicalism, in Russian historiography up to nowthere have been no investigations devoted to the history othe anarcho-syndicalism International and its sections in amajority o the countries o the world.

Elsewhere a number o works have been published aboutanarcho-syndicalist organizations and unions in individualcountries o the world. Te most investigated has been themost powerul movement the Spanish; indeed the major-

ity o authors were part o it themselves (M. Buenacasa, M.Iigez, J. Gmez Casas, G. Leval, S. Lorenzo, A. Paz, J. Peirats,and others). O course, this circumstance has le its imprinton their works: in their pages one fnds the continuation

346 A. V. Shubin,- (1936-1939 .) [Anarcho-syndicalists in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)],(Moscow, 1997); ____, . 1917-1939. [Anarchist social experiment. Ukraine and Spain. 1917-1939.] (Moscow, 1998); et al.


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o polemics around questions which have long divided theSpanish anarcho-syndicalists, such as the role o the anarchist

ederation FAI, the struggle with reormism, and tactics inthe period o Revolution and Civil War 1936-1939. [347] Testudy o the Spanish movement has also been taken up byauthors ar removed rom it A. Balcells, A. Bar, B. Bol-loten, J. Brademas, A. Elorza, J. Garner, et al.[348] Historianshave been able to show the unique character o syndicalismin Spain, which drew on a tradition which can be tracedback directly to the anarchism o the Bakuninist wing o the

First International, and ormed an original symbiosis oboth tendencies. Simultaneously the Spanish movement tosome extent also elt the inuence o French revolutionarysyndicalism. In investigations up to the present there existvarying analyses o the activity o the anarchist groups whichwere ormed inside the anarcho-syndicalist unions o Spain:some authors consider them harmul (S. Lorenzo); others understandable in the light o eorts to oppose reormistand communist tendencies, but useless; and a third groupinclined to interpret the actions o at least some o thesegroups in a positive way (A. Paz, J. Gmez Casas).

However, in studies o Spanish anarcho-syndicalism thereremain issues and episodes which have been less studied. Tis

347 See: M. Buenacasa,El movimiento obrero espaol, 1886-1926 (Barcelona,1928); J. Gmez Casas, Historia del anarcosindicalismo espaol(Madrid, 1960);

M. Iiges, Esbozo de una enciclopedia historica del anarquismo espaol(Ma-drid, 2001); G. Leval, Das libertre Spanien (Hamburg, 1979); C. M. Lorenzo,Los anarquistas espaoles y el poder, 1858-1969 (Paris, 1972); A. Paz, Durruti:El proletariado en armas (Barcelona, 1978); J. Peirats, La C.N.T. en la revolucinespaola, 3 vols. (Paris, 1971); et al.

348 See: A. Balcells, El sindicalismo en Barcelona, 1916-1926 (Barcelona, 1965);A. Bar, La CNT en los aos rojos: Del sindicalismo revolucionario al anarco-sindicalismo, 1910-1926 (Madrid, 1981); J. Brademas, Anarcosindicalismo yrevolucin en Espaa, 1930-1937(Barcelona, 1974); J. Garner, Creating unity ordivision? The creation of the Federacin Iberica inUniversity o Sussex Journalo Temporary History, 2003, August, Issue 6; et al.


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applies, in particular, to the battles between supporters andopponents o the Profntern in the CN, to the development

o the worker anarchism tendency in the CN, and theinternal struggle in the anarchist movement aer the coupo Primo de Rivera in 1923.

One special theme, to which a multitude o books andarticles is devoted, is the activity and role o the anarcho-syndicalists in the period o the Spanish Revolution andCivil War 1936-1939.

As or other European countries, the greatest interest o

researchers has been drawn to French revolutionary syn-dicalism, requently regarded as the prototype o all othersyndicalist movements. Te most important contributionsto its study have been made by E. Dollans, G. Leranc, J.Maitron, J. Julliard, et al.[349] But still insuciently studied isthe problem o the social base and some concrete moments othe history o the syndicalist movement in France (composi-tion, membership, relationship to social legislation). Te leaststudied aspect remains the activity o the small union centralo French anarcho-syndicalists in the inter-war period.

In works by German historians since the end o the 1960s(H. M. Bock, A. Vogel, U. Klan, D. Nelles, H. Rbner, et al.)there is sucient detail on the ounding and developmento the Free Association o German rade Unions (the Ger-man section o the anarcho-syndicalist International) and

the social organizations connected with it. Comparativelyless attention has been devoted to the internal ideologicaldiscussions within the ranks o the German movement.[350]

349 See: Edouard Dollans, Histoire du mouvement ouvrier, Vols. 2, 3 (Paris:1957, 1960); Georges Leranc, Le mouvement syndical sous la Troisime Re-

publique (Paris, 1967); Jean Maitron, Le mouvement anarchiste en France,red, 2 vols. (Paris, 1992); Jacques Julliard, Fernand Pelloutier et les originesdu syndicalisme daction directe (Paris,1971); et al.

350 See: H. M. Bock, Syndikalismus und Linkskommunismus von 1918-1923(Meisenheim am Glan, 1969); U. Linse, Die anarchistische und anarcho-


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Italian syndicalism has been the subject o investigationsby M. Antonioli, C. Venza, E. Falco, G. Careri, et al.[351] Te

history o anarcho-syndicalism in Portugal is reected inthe workers o the libertarian authors E. Rodrigues, J. Freire,and P. F. Zarcone.[352] Concerning the syndicalist movementin other European countries only investigations limited inscope have been published.

Tere are a number o monographs and articles aboutthe history o the anarchist workers movement in Argentina(E. Bilsky, A. Lpez, S. Marotta, I. Oved, J. Solomono, and

others).[353] Unortunately, the emphasis in these works ison the period up to 1920-1921, and the presence o a newsurge o working class anarchism in Argentina in the 1920sis requently ignored. Te ideological-theoretical positions othe FORA, which it deended in the course o debates in theinternational anarcho-syndicalist movement, also deserve amore substantial analysis.

In Latin America the best studied anarcho-syndicalist

syndikalistische Jugendbewegung 1918-1933 (Frankurt a.M., 1976); A. Vogel,Der deutsche Anarcho-Syndikalismus (Berlin, 1977); U. Klan and D. Nelles, Eslebt noch eine Flamme (Graenau/Dngen, 1986); H. Rbner, Freiheit undBrot(Berlin/Kln, 1994); et al.

351 See: M. Antonioli, Armando Borghi e LUnione Sindacale Italiana(Manduria/Bari/Roma, 1990); G. Careri, Il sindacalismo autogestionario(Roma, 1991); ____, LUnione Sindacale Italiana tra sindacalismo di base etrasormazione sociale (S.l.,1997); E. Falco, Armando Borghi e gli anarchici

italianai 1920-1922 (Urbino, 1992); C. Venza, Lanarchosyndicalisme italienpendant le Biennio Rosso (1919-1920)in De LHistoire du mouvement ouvrierrvolutionnaire (Paris, 2001); et al.

352 See: J. Freire,Anarquistas e operrios: ideologia, ocia e prticas sociais(Porto, 1992); E. Rodrigues, Os Anarquistas e os Sindicatos: Portugal, 1911-1922 (Lisbon, 1981); P. F. Zarcone, Lanarchismo portoghese (Fano, 2003); et al.

353 See: E. J. Bilsky, La Semana Tragica (Buenos Aires, 1984); A. Lpez, LaFORA en el movimiento obrero, 2 vols. (Buenos Aires, 1987); S. Marotta, Elmovimiento sindical argentino: su genesis y desarollo, 3 vols (Buenos Aires,1960-1970); I. Oved, El anarquismo y el movimiento obrero en Argentina(Mexico City, 1978); et al.


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movements are those o Chile[354], Brazil[355], Mexico[356], andCuba[357]. But even here there more than a ew neglected mo-

ments and details so that the reader, instead o a systematicand thorough picture o the development o organizations,is more oen than not presented with sketches describingevents with varying degrees o detail. Tere are also indi-vidual works on the history o anarchism and syndicalismin other countries o the region.

Te study o Chinese anarchism has been taken up byR. Scalapino, J.-J. Gandini, A. Dirlik, Nohara Shiro, et al.[358]

Unortunately, the anarcho-syndicalist movement receivessignifcantly less attention in these works; thus, the historyo libertarian ideas in China aer the mid 1920s remainsbasically a white patch. Te study o Japanese anarchismand syndicalism in the period between the two world warshas received valuable contributions rom the European andNorth American researchers J. Crump, P. Pelletier, S. Large,et al.[359] Works have been published in the Japanese language

354 L. Vitale, Contribucin a una Historia del Anarquismo en America Latina,(Santiago, 1998); L. Gambone, The libertarian movement in Chile (Montreal,1996); J. Godio, Historia del movimiento obrero latinoamericano, 1: Anarquis-tas y socialistas, 1850-1918 (Mexico City, 1980); M. L. Heredia, Breve storiadellanarchismo chileno 1897-1931 (Casalvelino Scalo, 1989).

355 E. Rodrigues, Socialismo e sindicalismo no Brazil, 1675-1913 (Rio deJaneiro, 1969); Jorge E. Silva, O nascimento da organizao sindical no Brasile as primeiras lutas operrias, 1890-1935 (Rio de Janeiro, 2000); et al.

356 L. Araiza, Historia del movimiento obrero mexicano, Vols. 1-5 (Mexico City,1964-1966); J. Huitron, Origenes y historia del movimiento obrero in Mexico(Mexico City, 1975); J. M. Hart, Anarchism and the Mexican Working Class,1860-1931 (Austin, 1987); et al.

357 F. Fernandes, El anarquismo en Cuba (Madrid, 2000); S. Dolgof, The CubanRevolution: a critical perspective (Montreal, 1976).

358 R. Scalapino and G. T. Yu, The Chinese Anarchist Movement (Berkeley,1961); J.-J. Gandini, Aux sources de la rvolution chinoise. Les anarchistes.(Lyon, 1986); A. Dirlik,Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution (Berkeley/Oxord/Los ngeles, 1991); et al.

359 J. Crump, The Anarchist Movement in Japan (London, 1996); P. Pelletier,


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by Kiyoshi Akiyama, Akinobu Got, Ryuji Komatsu, andYasuyuki Suzuki. Te book by Yoshikharu Hashimoto was

translated into English; the rest, unortunately, are inac-cessible to the European reader.[360] Te history o Koreananarchism is the subject only one substantial, but ar romexhaustive, investigation the work o Ha Ki-Rak.[361]

A special place in the international syndicalist movementis occupied by syndicalism and revolutionary unionism inthe English-speaking countries. For a long time the predomi-nant point o view was that the rise o syndicalist tendencies

in Great Britain beore the First World War was an isolated,temporary episode which did not play an important role inthe history o the British workers movement.[362] However, inrecent decades historians have begun to direct more attentionto such phenomena as the ongoing tradition o the struggleor workers control, the movement or merger (amalgama-tion) o trade unions, the opposition movements o rank-and-fle members, and other examples o the inuence osyndicalism.[363] Researchers have come to the conclusionthat British syndicalism was not an alien phenomenon, buta natural and appropriate response to the existing historicalsituation, a maniestation o the drive to overcome shop-leveland proessional particularism in avour o the community

Un oubli due consensus: lanarchosyndicalisme au Japon de 1911 1934in DelHistoire du movement ouvrier rvolutionnaire (Paris, 2001).

360 See: Y. Hashimoto, A Short History o the Anarchist Movement in Japan(Tokyo, 1979).

361 Ha Ki-Rak,A History o the Korean anarchist movement(Taegu, 1986).

362 See: H. Pelling, A History o British Trade Unionism (London, 1966); A. L.Morton and G. Tate, The British Labour Movement(London, 1973); A. Hutt andJ. Gollan, British Trade Unionism. A Short History(London, 1975).

363 R. Price, Masters, Unions and Men. Work Control in Building and theRise o Labour, 1830-1914 (Cambridge/London/New York, 1980); V. Gore,Rank-and-File DissentinA History o British Industrial Relations, 1875-1914(Brighton, 1982).


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o interests o workers in one or other industries.[364]

o the study o the syndicalist movement in other Eng-

lish-speaking countries (the Industrial Workers o the Worldand the One Big Union) contributions have been made bysuch authors as F. Tompson, P. Renshaw, M. Dubosky, P.Carlson, and M. Hargis (U.S.A.)[365]; G. Jewel and D. Bercuson(Canada)[366]; L. van der Walt (South Arica) [367] et al. But thewhole story o this industrial tendency in syndicalism hasnot yet been written.

In global historiography a discussion about the histori-

cal place and role o anarcho-syndicalism in the workersmovement is ongoing.

Te Marxist tradition is inclined to view it as a producto the underdevelopment o the workers movement, theevolution o which is understood as a linear-progressiveprocess. Syndicalism and anarcho-syndicalism are associ-ated with economic backwardness, a maniestation o thepre-industrial, primitive rebellion o people rom a peasantand handicra milieu (frst generation workers) who areunable to adjust to the realities o industrial-capitalist society.Tis phase was completed with the onset o the period ocontemporary large-scale industry, mass production, andmass consumption.[368] Anarcho-syndicalism lingered on

364 See, e.g., B. Holton, British Syndicalism 1900-1914 (London, 1976).

365 F. Thompson, The IWW: Its First Seventy Years (Chicago, 1977); P. Renshaw,The Wobblies: The Story o Syndicalism in the United States (New York, 1967);M. Dubosky, We Shall Be All (Chicago, 1969); M. Hargis, 95 Years of Revolu-tionary Industrial Unionism: A Chronology,Anarcho-Syndicalist Review, 2000,nos. 27, 28; et al.

366 G. Jewel, The IWW in Canada, KWWSZZZDXVSXQNRUJOLEUDU\JURXSVLZZVSW[W; D. J. Bercuson, Fools and Wise Men: The Rise and Fall o theOne Big Union (Toronto, 1978).

367 L. van der Walt, Between racial capitalism and revolutionary socialism:Revolutionary syndicalism, the national question and South Arican socialism,

1910-1928, KWWSZZZVWUXJJOHZHDIULFDVDIULFDKLVWRU\UHYBV\QBQDWKWPO.

368 See, e.g.: E. J. Hobsbawm, Primitive Rebels: Studies in Archaic Forms o


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or some time only in backward countries where, at thebeginning o the 20th century, handicra or semi-handicra

production still predominated (in France, Italy, Spain, Por-tugal, Latin America, etc.). Te presence o certain customsand traditions supposedly led to weak sel-discipline andthe spread o insurrectionary methods o direct action,instead o the practice o collective bargaining between theenterprises and the workers. Correspondingly, the develop-ment o large-scale industry was viewed as a actor which ledto the spread o Marxist ideas within the working class. As a

result, a new type o trade union was established, based noton resolute opposition to enterprises and the contesting otheir powers as such, but on negotiations and the pursuit ocoordinated eorts to assure the unctioning o production.

A contrast to this point o view, based to a signifcant ex-tent on technical-economic determinism, emphasized in thefrst instance the particularism o individual countries, di-erences in culture and mentality, orms and unctions o theState, and traditions o class resistance.[369] In connection withthis, a thesis was put orward according to which syndicalismand anarcho-syndicalism were perceived as above all Ro-mance phenomena, peculiar to Romanic peoples (French,Spaniards, Latin Americans, etc.). Its interesting that such aposition has traditionally been upheld by many syndicalists,as well as a number o social-democratic authors (M. Adler,

W. Sombart). Some historians to this day are inclined to makea comparison between the pragmatic (Anglo-Saxon) andsocial-democratic (continental) tendency in the trade union

Social Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries (New York, 1965); J. Bruhat andM. Piolot, Esquisse dune histoire de la CGT(Paris, 1959); J. Joll, The Anarchists(London, 1964); et al.

369 See, e.g.: E. Lpez Arango and D. Abad de Santillan, El anarquismo enel movimiento obrero (Barcelona, 1925); J. Peirats, Les anarchistes espagnols(Toulouse, 1989).


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movement with the Romance-syndicalist tendency, which ischaracterized as having a lower level o sel-discipline, less

responsibility in the handling o the members dues, and aweakness or radical orms o action.[370]

Te majority o researchers nowadays eschew extremepoints o view and call or the study o various actors andcircumstances. Te thesis about anarcho-syndicalism as amaniestation o lack o consciousness and backwardnesso workers is not confrmed by the acts. Te characteriza-tion o anarchism as a utopian, petty-bourgeois movement

cannot explain why it enjoyed popularity among signifcantstrata o workers in very dierent countries o the world.A concrete-historical investigation shows that syndicalismattracted not only skilled and handicra workers (in theconstruction and metalworking trades) who were araid olosing the value o their skill as a result o the introductiono new technologies and methods o organizing labour, [371]but also workers who had received industrial training, andyoung, unskilled migrant-workers who had been drawninto production as a result o an industrial boom or a re-structuring o production or military ends and who wereignored by traditional unions.[372]

370 See: V. R. Lorwin, The French Labor Movement(Cambridge, MA, 1954); F. F.Ridley, Revolutionary Syndicalism in France(Cambridge, 1970); H. Mommsen,

Arbeiterbewegung und nationale Frage (Gttingen, 1979); et al.

371

See: S. Mallet, Die neue Arbeiterklasse (Neuwied/Berlin, 1972); B. H. Moss,The Origins o the French Labor Movement 1830-1914 (Berkeley/Los ngeles/London, 1980); R. Boch, Handwerker-Sozialisten gegen Fabrikgesellschat(Gttingen, 1985); et al.

372 See: Jaurs et la classe ouvrire (Paris, 1981); E. Lucas,Zwei Formen desRadikalismus in der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung (Frankurt a. M., 1976); K.Tenelde, Linksradikale Strmungen in der Ruhrbergarbeiterschaft 1905 bis 1919in Glck au, Kameraden!(Kln, 1979); A. Bar, The CNT: the Glory and Tragedyof Spanish Anarchosyndicalismin Revolutionary syndicalism: an international

perspective...; and also works on the history o Argentine working class anar-chism and the IWW in the USA.


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A number o authors have raised doubts about the le-gitimacy o the linear conception o the development o the

workers movement, which associates radical activities anddecentralized orms o organization with backwardness.Tey note that handicra and communal traditions o theearly workers movement acilitated the ormation o at-titudes which could lead to and in act led to more class-con-scious, independent activity on the part o the workers. Tisclass-consciousness included such elements as a conceptiono the social signifcance o labour, a striving or more inde-

pendence and responsibility in the production process, andthe desire to control the production process and its results.[373]

Te thesis about the Romance character o anarcho-syndicalism as such also denied the acts. Researchers haveshown that revolutionary syndicalism and working classanarchism propagated to very dierent countries and regionso the world not only to Romanic, but also to English-speaking, Germanic, Slavic, and Asiatic. Tis orces the as-sumption that at the basis o the given phenomenon theremust lie certain common causal actors.

Historians who have attempted a comparative analysis othe syndicalist movement in dierent countries (P. Schttler,G. Haupt, L. Peterson, P. Lsche, W. Torpe, M. van der Lin-den, and others) tend to interpret it in the context o the gen-eral transition rom liberal to organized capitalism which

was characterized by a high degree o State intervention.Radical protest, in their opinion, was directed not so muchagainst the concentration o workers in large enterprises,as against the de-skilling o labour. At the same time theytry to take into consideration the appearance o new stratao workers who are not satisfed with the previous relations

373 See, e.g.: M. Bookchin, The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years 1868-1936 (Edinburgh, 1998); H. Rodriguez Garca, Los perdedores de la Historia(Cochabamba, 2005); et al.


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and orms o organization o the working class, originatingin the 19th century. Tese discontented categories believe

that centralized trade unions and the political, parliamen-tary activities o the socialists are insucient in themselvesto deend their interests and needs. But these historianshave ailed to show a direct dependency between the scaleo enterprises and the spread o syndicalist attitudes. Tesyndicalist movement pulled together very dierent stratao workers who rejected the authoritarian structures takingshape in the workplace.[374]

Finally, some authors are inclined to view the rise o therevolutionary syndicalist and anarcho-syndicalist movementin the frst decades o the 20th century in the context o thehistory o the establishment and development o industrial-capitalist civilization itsel as a orm o resistance againstit and an eort to counterpoise to it a dierent, alternativemodel o society, based on sel-management and a distinctiveworking-class culture. Te introduction in the 20th centuryo the Fordist-aylorist model o mass production, basedon the division o labour into a series o discrete operationsand the severe limiting o initiative, undermined the senseo wholeness o the production process and, consequently,any conception o the possibility o controlling it. Tis led to,among other things, the collapse o working class radicalismand then a decline in the workers movement as such and

the dissolution o working-class culture.[375]

374 G. Haupt, Dimensions internationales du syndicalisme rvolutionnaire,Ricerche Storiche, 1981, no. 11; P. Schttler, Syndikalismus in der europischen

ArbeiterbewegunginArbeiter und Arbeiterbewegung im Vergleich (Mnchen,1986); L. Peterson, The One Big Union in International Perspective: RevolutionaryIndustrial Unionism,Labour / Le Travailleur, 1981, no.7; P. Lsche,Anarchismus(Darmstadt, 1977); M. van der Linden and W. Thorpe, Aufstieg und Niedergangdes revolutionren Syndikalismus,in 1999 Zeitschrit r Sozialgeschichte des

20. und 21. Jahrhunderts, H. 3.

375 See, e.g.: M. Revelli, Der Sozialstaat in den Brennesseln...,(n1); Z. Bauman,


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Te decline o mass radicalism in the workers movement(including anarcho-syndicalism) acilitated, in the opinion o

a number o scholars, the rise o the Social State which tookshape in the second third o the 20th century[376]; thanks to thispolitical development, the centre o social conicts shiedrom the sphere o production (and the battle or control overit) to the sphere o distribution and consumption. Workersrelied more and more on the social and distributive role othe State and were less inclined to concur with the statelessalternative o the anarchists. Looked at rom this point o

view, the decrease in popularity o anarcho-syndicalism inthe second hal o the 20th century cannot be seen as irre-versible, especially in light o the current crises o the SocialState and the Fordist model.[377]

In analyzing the common actors avouring the riseo revolutionary syndicalism and anarcho-syndicalism asa global movement in the frst decades o the 20th century,historians can not orget the special eatures o individualcountries and regions. Tese include the orms and modelso organization, social basis, ideological tendency, emer-gent themes and problems, relationship to political parties,and, above all, the ocus o labour union or social-culturalwork.[378]

On the whole one can say that the international anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary syndicalist movement has

been studied in a very uneven manner. Along with a largenumber o monographs on the history o syndicalism in

Memories o Class (London, 1982); et al.

376 For the role o the social policy o the State in reducing working class radi-calism in the case o Argentina, see: O. Bayer, Die argentinischen Anarchistenin Under dem Pfaster liegt der Strand, Vol. 5 (Berlin, 1978).

377 About these phenomena as actors in the radicalization o the struggleo workers in production, see, e.g., K. H. Roth (ed.), Die Widerkehr der Prole-taritt(Kln, 1994).

378 P. Schttler, op. cit., p. 472 (n355).


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a ew countries, there are only a ew articles or pamphletsdealing with other countries. O the various themes which

have been studied in only a cursory ashion, one can mentionideological discussions, the organizational lie o anarcho-syndicalist unions and ederations, and their internationalconnections and relationships with the anarcho-syndicalistInternational. Issues concerning the social basis and his-torical place o anarcho-syndicalism in the history o theworkers movement continue to be contentious.

Little work has been done on the history o the anarcho-

syndicalist International the International Workers As-sociation (IWA). Mainly there are some small pamphletswritten by members o either the Secretariat o the Interna-tional or anarcho-syndicalist organizations.[379] In them onefnds a demonstration o the origins o the IWA in the FirstInternational (at least its anti-authoritarian wing), and thecontinuity in positions between the two organizations. Muchattention is devoted to the conrontation with Bolshevismin the 1920s, and brie overviews o the congresses o theanarcho-syndicalist International and their resolutions aregiven. In these condensed outlines there is simply no roomor detailed analyses o the course o events and their causes.Tere are also some articles o greater scientifc value byresearchers who are sympathetic to anarchist attitudes. Butsuch works are ew in number and only deal with isolated

moments in the history o the movement.[380]

379 A. I. T. La Internacional del sindicalismo revolucionario (n. p., n. d.); C.Longmore, The IWA today. A short account o the International Workers As-sociation and its sections (London, 1985); F. Gorrn Canoyra,AIT, La Interna-cional desconocida (Madrid, 1986);Qu es la A. I. T.?(Castelln, 1977). As anexception it is possible to consider the annotated publication o the documentso the congresses o the International, prepared by a ormer secretary o theorganization: J. Muoz Congost, La Asociacin Internacional de los Trabajadoresa travs de sus Congresosin Cenit, 1987-1988, nos. 250-263.

380 See: A. Castel, De la premire Internationale lAssociation Internationale


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fciencies, Torpe and the Dutch historian M. van der Lindenpublished in 1990 the collection Revolutionary Syndicalism:

an International Perspective, which was the frst attempt topull together articles about the development o revolution-ary syndicalism and anarcho-syndicalism in France, theNetherlands, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain, Italy,Portugal, Argentina, Mexico, the U.S.A., and Canada.[383]Tis collection includes Torpes article: Syndicalist Inter-nationalism beore World War II with a brie survey o thehistory o the IWA up to 1939. Te obvious value o the book

consists in the act that its editors invited the participationo the leading specialists in the history o syndicalist move-ments in individual countries. At the same time, the storyo the anarcho-syndicalist International is covered in a verygeneral way, and scarcely delves into the concrete momentsin its work and activity; the analysis o ideological discus-sions is virtually absent. Te articles on individual countriesare relatively brie, and vary substantially in the level withwhich various aspects are dealt with; in some cases essentialmoments o the movement are covered in insucient depthor not even mentioned at all.

Tus it can be said that a general history o the rise o theinternational anarcho-syndicalist movement treated as anintegral, global phenomenon and taking into account themutual inuence o international and national actors and

social-revolutionary processes in individual countries hasyet to be written.

383 M. van der Linden and W. Thorpe (eds.), Revolutionary Syndicalism: anInternational Perspective (Aldershot, 1990).