It is also not always easy to detect the importance of syndicalist views in all this and, indeed, Mates has to admit that the "revolutionaries remained on the periphery, largely isolated from the ILP-Ied mass rank-and-file movements and working instead on the Herculean task of building their own revolutionary alternatives." (231) Indeed,
syndicalism was marginalized by the ILP.
In pursuing such a course, revolutionary
syndicalism would find itself in league with political nationalists.
In his criticisms, he proposed an abrupt rupture with the "political tradition" through his theories that denounced nationalism as an ideology capable of disguising the populist character of politics in Brazil, and his conceptual formulations that focused on the inefficiency and the subordinated position of the left wing, represented by the Brazilian Communist Party in relation to official
syndicalism. He criticized them for not breaking with the political structure of the time, which was founded on alliances between the middle classes and traditional oligarchies.
Subsequent chapters examine the social history of the Francophone anarchist circles in London from 1880 to 1914 and the mixed response of the exiles (isolation/internationalization), their militancy (print propaganda and clubs) during this "golden age of practical and strategic internationalism," the realities behind their supposed terrorist activities, and their role in the move towards more restrictive immigration and asylum policies in Britain as well as broader shifts within anarchism in the prewar years, notably the turn of many to
syndicalism (73).
Because of recent publication of previously unpublished work in France, Febvre has been rediscovered (Crouzet and Febvre, 2012; Febvre, 2012; Lecuir, 2012) not only as a historian, but also as a socialist concerned with revolutionary
syndicalism and with a cosmopolitan construction of French identity, all of which is relevant for the debates on present postcolonial social and cultural problems in France and in its banlieues (Mbembe, 2011).
Even outside of this "glorious period," anarchism and its union offshoots, anarcho- and revolutionary
syndicalism, was (and is) an important current.
Influenced by national
syndicalism and anti-Muslim hysteria, far-right leaders and groups are happily combining right-wing positions with elements of left-wing politics and anti-immigrant groupings in a bid to defeat mainstream political elites, depict Europeans as victims of "rapacious" Muslim immigrants, and propel fascist political parties to triumphs.
Corruption, bureaucracy, and aggressive
syndicalism did not help either.
She is the wife of a well-known French journalist, and she herself used to be a violent upholder of
Syndicalism over the Channel.
Beaulieu examines the interactions between numerous ideologically and ethnically distinct "socialist" groups (a somewhat inappropriate label since the second half of the book focuses on communism and
syndicalism) dedicated to the "transformation of society into one that was more equitable for the working masses" (62).
Corporatism as we experience it, in Phelps' telling, owes more to the continental European intellectual strands that came together in Benito Mussolini's
syndicalism. This form of an economy still resounds with us today because of its emphasis on the community over the individual and the promise of security over "the perils from market competition, the instability of jobs, and the rudderlessness of industry" [p.
Emma Goldman defined
syndicalism as organisation that advocated at revolutionary philosophy of labour conceived...in the actual struggle and experience of the workers themselves'.
Case studies analyze the history and influence of anarchism and
syndicalism in colonial and postcolonial contexts (and thus within the larger context of late 19th and early 20th century imperialism and globalization) from the 1870s to the 1930s.
Synopsis: During the first two decades of the twentieth century the ideas of revolutionary
syndicalism developed into a major influence within the trade union movement.
