Syndicalism is a working-class movement that aims to destroy modern capitalism and its institutions, using unions as a tool to create a more idealized society. It differs from traditional socialist thinking and is compatible with private property. Historically strongest in Spain, syndicalism faced a major blow with the rise of Franco. In the US, the International Workers of the World represented unionism, with a commitment to grassroots organizing. Anarcho-syndicalism seeks to eliminate the root cause of injustice and hierarchy in the world.
Syndicalism is a movement of the working class, aimed at destroying modern capitalism and its institutions. Syndicalism focuses on using unions as a tool to both undermine what are considered selfish capitalist interests and to begin to create the structures that will take over many of the government roles in a more idealized society.
The modern trade unionism movement began in the late 19th century, but did not take off until the early 20th century. Syndicalism can, in many ways, be contrasted with the more traditional socialist thinking of the time, which viewed political agitation as the best way to bring about social change. While unionism is in no way opposed to political action, followers of the movement tend to see union agitation as a more direct method of bringing about immediate changes in the status quo.
There are three modern movements that have a common thread of equal sharing of resources: communism, socialism and trade unionism. Communism is notable for its desire to do away with private property entirely, with a command government distributing resources and eventual public ownership of most things. Likewise, socialism rejects private property. Syndicalism, however, is compatible with the ideology of private property, which simply requires that ownership of the means of production be shared and the output of the production vessel be equally shared, as well as profit.
Syndicalism was perhaps historically strongest in Spain, especially in the era surrounding the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Franco. Much of syndicalism’s great victories occurred in this era, and many of the most influential writings within the philosophy came from Spain at the time. When Franco and the combined fascist powers finally defeated the syndicalist and anarchist forces in Spain, it was seen as a major blow against syndicalism itself.
In the United States, unionism was best represented by the International Workers of the World, the IWW, commonly called the Wobblies. The IWW reached its peak in the early 1920s, with an estimated 100,000 members and the claimed support of hundreds of thousands of other workers operating in solidarity. The IWW differed from many other unions of the time in its commitment to grassroots organizing, rather than the more traditional union structure of empowering a group of leaders who would negotiate for the larger union. Ultimately, the IWW faced a large-scale schism over which policies would best advance their agenda, with one faction wishing to focus more on political agitation and another faction pushing the unionism agenda, with an action direct and striking as the main agent of change.
While syndicalism can technically refer to almost any form of hardline syndicalism, it is generally understood in the modern context to refer to anarcho-syndicalism. Anarcho-syndicalism is a liberation-based philosophy of syndicalism, which seeks to regain control of the means of production, not simply as a means to more adequately distribute wealth, but as a way to eliminate what is perceived to be the root cause of injustice and hierarchy in the world, leading to a more just society.
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