Anarcho-Syndicalism

Summary

Anarcho-Syndicalism grew from the anarchist movement's shared sense that Marxism and its strategies did not align with anarchism, and that trying to work with Marxists was not an effective strategy.

Kropotkin, his followers, and many other anarchists believed that the anarchist movement needed to focus on building strong labor unions with horizontal power structures.

They theorized that forming these revolutionary workers' unions as a form of direct action, and ditching the Marxist structure of international political groups and parties, was a more practical, direct way to make real change.

Timeline

1. 1901

   FORA founded

   The Argentine Regional Workers' Federation is founded, becoming a major anarcho-syndicalist union in South America.

2. 1905

   Industrial Workers of the World

   The IWW forms around industrial unionism, direct action, and the idea of one big union.

3. 1910

   CNT founded

   The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo becomes a major anarcho-syndicalist union in Spain.

4. 1919

   Barcelona general strike

   The CNT leads a massive strike in Catalonia, winning the eight‑hour day and demonstrating the power of revolutionary syndicalism.

5. 1936

   Spanish collectivizations

   Workers and peasants collectivize workplaces and land in parts of revolutionary Spain.

6. 1922/1951

   International Workers' Association

   Anarcho-syndicalist unions coordinate internationally; the IWA is later refounded after wartime devastation.

7. 2020s

   Rank-and-file organizing

   Workplace militancy and independent unions keep direct-action labor strategy relevant.

History

After decades of conflict with Marxists over whether elections, political parties, and state power could be used for liberation, the anarchist movement collectively arrived at the conclusion that the working class needed to build its own horizontal power outside and against the state. Anarcho‑syndicalism was the strategic expression of that insight. Kropotkin, his followers, and many other anarchists believed that the movement needed to focus on building strong labor unions, organizations that were themselves run horizontally through democratic assemblies and federations, as the direct instruments of revolutionary struggle.

They theorized that forming revolutionary workers’ unions as a form of “direct action,” and ditching the Marxist structure of international political groups and parties, was a more practical, direct way to make real change. Instead of capturing state power, the workers would organize the economy themselves, from the shop floor up, and use the general strike, paired when necessary with outright insurrection, to bring capitalism to a halt. They believed that if this idea spread and more and more workers organized labor unions this way, all the unions could unite to dismantle capitalist rule and replace it with these horizontal structures that would already be set up through the process.

This strategy was expanded upon and attempted in many different places around the world and became known as “Anarcho‑Syndicalism.” In the early twentieth century, anarcho‑syndicalist unions grew massively: the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) organized across the United States and beyond; the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) became the backbone of the Spanish working class; the Argentine FORA and other Latin American syndicalist movements demonstrated that the model was not confined to Europe. The Spanish Revolution (1936–39) saw the most sweeping application of anarcho‑syndicalist theory, as workers and peasants spontaneously collectivized industry and agriculture in areas controlled by the anarchist militias and unions.

Even after the defeat of the Spanish revolution and the consolidation of state‑socialist and capitalist systems in the post‑war period, anarcho‑syndicalism did not disappear. It persisted as a current within the labor movement, influencing wildcat strikes, independent union drives, and contemporary rank‑and‑file militancy.