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The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are:
Workers’ solidarity means that anarcho-syndicalists believe all workers, no matter their race, gender, or ethnic group, are in a similar situation in regard to their bosses ( Class consciousness). Furthermore, it means that, within capitalism, any gains or losses made by some workers in their relation to bosses will eventually impact all workers. Therefore, in order to liberate themselves, all workers must support one another in their class conflict.
Anarcho-syndicalists believe that only direct action — that is, action concentrated on directly attaining a goal, as opposed to indirect action, like electing a representative to a government position — will allow workers to liberate themselves.
Moreover, anarcho-syndicalists believe that workers’ organizations — the organizations which struggle against the wage system and which, in anarcho-syndicalist theory, will eventually form the basis of a new society — should be self-managing. They should not have bosses or “business agents”; rather, the workers should be able to make all the decisions which affect them amongst themselves.
Rudolf Rocker was one of the most popular voices in the anarcho-syndicalist movement. He outlined a view of the origins of the movement, what it sought, and why it was important to the future of labor in his pamphlet Anarcho-Syndicalism. Hubert Lagardelle wrote that Pierre-Joseph Proudhon laid out the fundamental theories of anarcho-syndicalism, through his repudiation of both capitalism and the state, his flouting of political government, his idea of free, autonomous economic groups, and his view of struggle, not pacifism, as the core of man.The International Workers Association is an international anarcho-syndicalist federation of various labor unions from different countries. The Industrial Workers of the World, a once-powerful, still active, and now re-growing labor union, is considered a leading organ of the anarcho-syndicalist philosophy in the United States. The SpanishAnarchism, the political philosophy advocating a libertarian society without centralized power, historically gained the most popularity and influence in Spain, especially in the seventy or so years before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil Wa Confederación Nacional del TrabajoThe Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo ("National Confederation of Labour" or "CNT"), founded in Barcelona, Spain, in 1910, was at one time that country's largest labor organization. It is the main Anarchist organization in Spain. It was prominent in comb played and still plays a major role in the Spanish labor movement; it was also an important force in the Spanish Civil WarTeruel, east of Madrid. For an article about the 1820-1823 civil war in Spain, see: Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823 The Spanish Civil War ( 1936 1939) was the result of complex political differences between the Republicans — supporters of the government of t.
The anarcho-syndicalist orientation of many early American labor unions played an important role in the formation of the American political spectrum. The United States is the only industrialized ("first world") country that does not have a major labor-based political party. See It Didn’t Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States, Seymour Martin Lipset and Gary Marks, BooksEnthsiast.com.
Rudolf Rocker, wrote in Anarcho-Syndicalism:
See also: general strikeA general strike is a strike action by an entire labour force in a city, region or country. In the late 19th century, the growing international labour movements advocated general strikes for industrial or political purposes. General strikes are effective, syndicalismSyndicalism is a political and economic ideology which advocates giving control of both industry and government to labor union federations. Syndicalisme is a French word meaning "trade unionism". This milder version of syndicalism was overshadowed by revo