|
Texts :: theory |
|
Fernand Pelloutier and Revolutionary Syndicalism |
|
by Jeremy Jennings |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"'Social life', Pelloutier argued, 'can be reduced to the organisation of production'. Freed from poverty and social and political oppression, the workers would develop a completely new morality. Competition and envy would be replaced by co-operation and a sense of social duty. The 'society of the future' would, above all, be characterised by 'the voluntary and free association of producers'. The central question faced by Pelloutier was: how could such a society be brought into existence? The socialist and republican traditions in France offered a range of alternatives. Pelloutier rejected them all and set about developing his own strategy for the emancipation of the working class." |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
The General Strike |
|
by Ralph Chaplin |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"Every intelligent person now realizes that there is something radically wrong with the social system under which we are living. Everyone, excepting the beneficiaries of this system, agrees that something ought to be done about it. The trouble is that people at present seem unable to agree on any common program of action. Some accept their unhappy lot with a patience and fortitude worthy of a better cause, others theorize ineffectually and do little, while still others complain bitterly and strike out blindly. Nearly everyone rushes hither and tither seeking escape but without having any clear-cut objective in view . . . The argument for the General Strike is based on the persistent and very logical working class conviction that the ruling class will refuse to permit itself to be dispossessed by any power weaker than its own and that public opinion, political action and insurrection therefore will not be permitted to be developed or used to any appreciable extent. It is further based on the firm belief that Labor alone can save the world from chaos during and following the period of transition. As long as the production of goods under any system depends on the disciplined solidarity of the producing class it is evident that this solidarity alone is capable of stopping the operations of the old order or of starting and continuing those of the new." |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
Introducing Anarcho-Syndicalism |
|
by Bill Meyers |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"Anarcho-syndicalism, properly implemented on a worldwide scale, can increase the supply of necessities to people most in need while reducing the destruction of the earth to the point the earth can heal. Just as important, it can do this in a humane manner that allows individuals and communities greater social and cultural freedom. The question is, can we get there fast enough, or even at all? Can we create an anarcho-syndicalist society before the earth is destroyed by capitalism?" |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
Libertarian Communism |
|
by Isaac Puente |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"Libertarian Communism is a society organised without the state and without private ownership. And there is no need to invent anything or conjure up some new organization for the purpose. The centres about which life in the future will be organised are already with us in the society of today: the free union and the free municipality." |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
Making Anarchist Revolution Possible |
|
by Arthur J. Miller |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"When the organized power of the people is greater than the organized power of the ruling class then our revolution would take place through a social general strike. That social general strike would be the complete refusal, in industries, communities and in all means, of cooperation with capitalism and the State, and of providing goods and services to capitalism and the State, along with the organized protection of our revolution. Capitalism and the State cannot exist without our cooperation with the ruling class. We feed them, we provide the services they need, our communities are controlled by our cooperation with them, we are everywhere, even in the homes of the ruling class. There is nowhere for them to run, we are everywhere, there is nowhere to hide, we are everywhere. We will starve the ruling class out of existence; let them eat their money and deeds of property. " |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
My Social Credo |
|
by G.P. Maximoff |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"I believe that it behooves every honest individual to urge the toiling masses not to let the flames of revolution be extinguished. On the contrary, their orbit should be widened, through a stimulated alertness and independence and the creation of free labour institutions. These should be of a type suitable to take into the workers' own hands, on the overthrow of capitalism, the organisation of a free life upon the just principles of dignified work." |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory : documents |
|
One Big Union |
|
by Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"The purpose of the IWW is to establish union democracy in our everyday life on the job. Its practical policies are directed towards that end, and are essential to its achievement. They are determined by two basic principles: solidarity, and democracy within the union. It is necessary to avoid any practises that will interfere with the unity of our class, and it is even more necessary to make sure that the union, instead of running its members, is run by them. To leave democracy out of an organisation such as the IWW would leave it a device for fascism, and tremendous handicap to labour. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Trotsky, Lenin and their heirs and cohorts found it necessary to herd labour into an organisation very much of that sort. The mighty weapon of the One Big Union must be wielded by us, not over us." |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
The Origins of the Union Shop |
|
by Tom Wetzel |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"American leftists typically assume that the "union shop" is definitely a valuable asset to workers. It could be argued that this position implicitly accepts the bureaucratic outlook. For, it assumes that the union has a value independent of its usefulness to the workers themselves and that it should be maintained no matter whether the workforce is sufficiently motivated on its own to keep it going. Moreover, the favorable view of the union shop ignores the role that it played in converting the unions into organs of employer discipline over the workers." |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
The Party of Labour |
|
by Emile Pouget |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
"The Party of Labour is what it says it is, the banding together of the workers into one homogeneous bloc; the autonomous organisation of the working class into an aggregate operating on the terrain of the economy; by virtue of its origins, its essence, it shuns all compromise with bourgeois elements . . . The Party of Labour is a party of interests. It takes no account of the opinions of its component members: it acknowledges and co-ordinates only the interests - be they material or moral or intellectual - of the working class. Its ranks are open to all of the exploited regardless of their political or religious views." |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
Texts :: theory |
|
The Policy of the International |
|
by Mikhail Bakunin |
03 Sep 2005
|
|
". . . there is still too great a difference in the level of industrial, political, intellectual, and moral development among the working masses in various countries for it to be possible today to unite them around a single political, anti-religious program. To suggest such a program for the International and to make it an absolute condition for admission to that Association, would be to establish a sect, not a worldwide association, and it would destroy the International. |
|
Read the full article...
|
|
