Syndicalism Industrial Unionism And Socialism

Excerpt from Syndicalism, Industrial Unionism and Socialism In December, 1912, and January, 1913, by invitation of one of the Brooklyn branches of the Socialist Party, I delivered a series of five lectures on Syndicalism. Some of the lectures I repeated in a number of other places. It had long been in my mind to discuss some of the more important phases of Syndicalist philosophy and tactics from the point of view of a Marxian Socialist who holds to the policies of the international Socialist movement, so that the invitation to deliver the lectures was welcome because it afforded a convenient opportunity for fulfilling my plan. By way of introduction to this little volume, I cannot do better than add to the foregoing account of its history the brief apologia with which I prefaced the first lecture. "As will presently appear, I am not a believer in Syndicalism. Much of my life has been spent in combating its principles. For that reason I shall be the more careful to keep all taint of partizanship from my statement of its principles and aims, however much I may afterward assail them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Based on a 1908-1909 series of lectures delivered by John Spargo (1876-1966), a leading socialist writer of the period. Spargo admits that he disagrees with syndicalist views, but he does admit that syndicalism is better than capitalism. He presents the history of syndicalism, the rise of the IWW, what industrial unionism really should be and, socialism (which Spargo wants to be the ultimate goal). Appendices include Preamble of the IWW, an editorial from "Social Justice" on sabotage, the Jena Resolution on the General Strike, August Bebel on the General Strike, Kautsky on violence, and the Attitude of the French Syndicalists on Violence. Spargo, trained as a stonecutter, but became a lay Methodist minister, became identified with the socialists in England in early life, became a leader in the English labor movement; and served on the Executive Council of the Social Democratic Federation. Spargo immigrated to America in 1901 and was thereafter a longtime member of the National Executive Committee of the American Socialist Party. He regarded Bolshevism as an "inverted form of Czarism." He edited socialist periodical, The Comrade, became involved in child labor issues; helped promote laws on child and woman labor, and moved to Vermont in 1909.He remained active in socialist circles, but moved to the right over World War I, and with Samuel Gompers and George Creel, founded the American Alliance for Labor and Democracy, in favor of American involvement in the war. He gradually became outspoken advocate of free-market capitalism. His major publications include The Bitter Cry of Children (1906) and Karl Marx: His Life and Work (1909).

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, amidst an extraordinary international upsurge in strike action, the ideas of revolutionary syndicalism developed into a major influence within the world wide trade union movement. Committed to destroying capitalism through direct industrial action and revolutionary trade union struggle, the movement raised fundamental questions about the need for new and democratic forms of power through which workers could collectively manage industry and society. This study provides an all-embracing comparative analysis of the dynamics and trajectory of the syndicalist movement in six specific countries: France, Spain, Italy, America, Britain and Ireland. This is achieved through an examination of the philosophy of syndicalism and the varied forms that syndicalist organisations assumed; the distinctive economic, social and political context in which they emerged; the extent to which syndicalism influenced wider politics; and the reasons for its subsequent demise. The volume also provides the first ever systematic examination of the relationship between syndicalism and communism, focusing on the ideological and political conversion to communism undertaken by some of the syndicalist movement's leading figures and the degree of synthesis between the two traditions within the new communist parties that emerged in the early 1920s.

A selection of writings, some sympathetic, some hostile, on the political and economic theory of syndicalism--the anarchist strategy of using revolutionary unions to seize control of the workplace and build a socialist system from the bottom up. Contains the complete texts of "Reflections on Violence," by Georges Sorel, "The New Unionism," by Andre Tridon, "Proposed Roads to Freedom," by Bertrand Russell, and "Syndicalism, Industrial Unionism, and Socialism, by John Spargo.

Fourteen essays on the revolutionary syndicalist alternative in the workers' movement from the 1880s to World War II.