Anarcho-syndicalism

Anarcho syndicalist — Anarcho Syndicalist Symbol

Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. Syndicalisme is a French word, ultimately derived from the Greek, meaning "trade unionism" – hence, the "syndicalism" qualification. Syndicalism is an alternative co-operative economic system. Adherents view it as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society, democratically self-managed by workers.

Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system, regarding it as wage slavery, and state or private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class divisions. Not all seek to abolish money per se. Ralph Chaplin states that "the ultimate aim of the General Strike as regards wages is to give to each producer the full product of his labor. The demand for better wages becomes revolutionary only when it is coupled with the demand that the exploitation of labor must cease. Additionally, anarcho-syndicalists regard the state as a profoundly anti-worker institution. They view the primary purpose of the State as being the defence of private property and therefore of economic, social and political privilege, even when such defence denies its citizens the ability to enjoy material independence and the social autonomy which springs from it. In contrast to other bodies of thought (Marxism-Leninism being a prime example), anarcho-syndicalists deny that there can be any kind of workers' state, or a state which acts in the interests of workers, as opposed to those of the rich and powerful. Reflecting the anarchist philosophy from which it draws its primary inspiration, anarcho-syndicalism holds to the idea that power corrupts. Although anarcho-syndicalism originated close to the beginning of the twentieth century, it remains a popular and active school of anarchism today and has many supporters as well as many currently active organizations. Anarcho-syndicalist trade unionists, being socialist anarchists, vary in their points of view on anarchist economic arrangements from a collectivist anarchism type economic system to an anarcho-communist economic system.

Organizations[]

The Barcelona offices of the CNT.

International Workers Association (IWA-AIT)

Associação Internacional dos Trabalhadores - Secção Portuguesa (AIT-SP) Portugal

Anarho-sindikalistička inicijativa (ASI-MUR) Serbia

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT-AIT) Spain

Confédération Nationale du Travail (CNT-AIT & CNT-F) France

Direct! Switzerland

Federace Sociálních Anarchistù (FSA-MAP) Czech Rep

Federação Operária do Río Grande do Sul - Confederação Operária Brasileira (FORGS-COB-AIT) Brazil

Federación Obrera Regional Argentina (FORA-AIT) Argentina

Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union (FAU) Germany

Konfederatsiya Revolyutsionnikh Anarkho-Sindikalistov (KRAS-IWA) Russia

Федерация на Анархистите в България (FAB) Bulgaria

Mreža anarhosindikalista i anarhosindikalistkinja (MASA) Croatia

Norsk Syndikalistisk Forbund (NSF-IAA) Norway

Priama Akcia (PA-IWA) Slovakia

Solidarity Federation (SF-IWA) Britain

Unione Sindacale Italiana (USI) Italy

Workers Solidarity Alliance USA

FESAL (European Federation of Alternative Syndicalism)

Confederación General del Trabajo de España (CGT) Spain

Ελευθεριακή Συνδικαλιστική Ένωση (ESE) Greece

Freie ArbeiterInnen Union Schweiz (FAUCH) Switzerland

Workers Initiative (IP) Poland

SKT Siberian Confederation of Labour

Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation (Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet, SUF) Sweden

Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden (Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation, SAC) Sweden

Courant Syndicaliste Revolutionnaire (CSR) France

Workers' Solidarity Federation (WSF) South Africa

Awareness League (AL) Nigeria

Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU) Urugua

Anarcho-syndicalism

Organizations[]

See Also[]

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