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Texts :: critics |
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The Ghost of Anarcho-Syndicalism |
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by Murray Bookchin |
02 Sep 2005
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"What I find disturbing about much anarcho-syndicalist literature is its tendency to claim that anarcho-syndicalism is the alpha and omega of "true" anarchism, in contrast to other libertarian tendencies that involve a broader view of social struggle than one that is largely focused on traditional conflicts between wage labor and capital. Certainly not all anarcho- syndicalists would be unsympathetic to, say, eco- anarchism or a communitarian anarchism that is concerned with confederations of villages, towns, and cities, but a degree of dogmatism and stodgy fixity persists among worker- oriented anarchists that I believe should hardly be characteristic of left libertarians generally." |
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Texts :: critics |
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Deep Ecology, Anarcho-Syndicalism and the Future of Anarchist Thought |
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by Murray Bookchin |
02 Sep 2005
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"In practice, anarchist groups often came into outright conflict with anarchosyndicalist organisations - not to speak of syndicalist organizations, many of which eschewed anarchism. Early in the century, the Spanish anarchocommunists, influenced primarily by Juan Baron and Francisco Cardinal, the editors of Tierra y Libertad, furiously denounced the anarchosyndicalists who were later to forrn the CNT as 'deserters' and 'reformists'. Similar conflicts developed in Italy, France, and the United States, and perhaps not without reason. The record of the anarchosyndicalist movement has been one of the most abysmal in the history of anarchism generally. In the Mexican Revolution, for example, the anarchosyndicalist leaders of the Casa del Obrero Mundial shamefully placed their proletarian 'Red Battalions ' at the service of Carranza, one of the revolution's most bloodthirsty thugs, to fight the truly revolutionary militia of Zapata - all to obtain a few paltry reforms, which Carranza withdrew once the Zapatista challenge had been broken with their collaboration. The great Mexican anarchist Ricardo Flores Magon justly denounced their behaviour as a betrayal. Nor can much be said in defence of the leaders of the CNT in Spain" |
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Texts :: analysis |
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The Importance of Being Idle |
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by Nic Townsend |
29 Aug 2005
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"So you've finished your VCE and suddenly you've found yourself at university. If you're here with expectations of intellectual enlightenment and a fulfilling learning experience, you're about to be disappointed. If you're here with expectations of heavy workloads and lots of late nights studying, then you're in for a pleasant surprise . . . Through my own experiences I have learned the ins and outs of the Way of the Bludger, and as I embark on my final year of study, a feel a responsibility to pass down my knowledge to a new generation of disciples." |
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Texts :: analysis |
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Notes on NAFTA: "The Masters of Man" |
by Noam Chomsky
Previously published: The Nation, March 1993 |
29 Aug 2005
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"Throughout history, Adam Smith observed, we find the workings of "the vile maxim of the masters of mankind": "All for ourselves, and nothing for other People." He had few illusions about the consequences. The invisible hand, he wrote, will destroy the possibility of a decent human existence "unless government takes pains to prevent" this outcome, as must be assured in "every improved and civilized society." It will destroy community, the environment and human values generally -- and even the masters themselves, which is why the business classes have regularly called for state intervention to protect them from market forces." |
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Texts :: analysis |
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Market Democracy in a Neoliberal Order |
by Noam Chomsky
Previously published: Z Magazine |
29 Aug 2005
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"Freedom without opportunity is a devil's gift, and the refusal to provide such opportunities is criminal. The fate of the more vulnerable offers a sharp measure of the distance from here to something that might be called "civilization." While I am speaking, 1000 children will die from easily preventable disease, and almost twice that many women will die or suffer serious disability in pregnancy or childbirth for lack of simple remedies and care.[1] UNICEF estimates that to overcome such tragedies, and to ensure universal access to basic social services, would require a quarter of the annual military expenditures of the "developing countries," about 10% of U.S. military spending. It is against the background of such realities as these that any serious discussion of human freedom should proceed." |
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Texts :: articles |
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What is Anarcho-Syndicalism - Libertarian Reformism, Vanguardism or Revolutionary Unionism? |
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by Peter Principle |
02 Sep 2005
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"We can play a double game in reformist unions, but impossible conditions are expected of a revolutionary union. There has to be room for union autonomy, and for people to make mistakes so that they can learn. As one French comrade once put it: "anarcho-syndicalism is like free speech, useless if you don't practise it." |
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Texts :: theory |
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The General Strike |
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by Ralph Chaplin |
03 Sep 2005
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"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." |
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Texts :: culture |
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Solidarity Forever |
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by Ralph Chaplin |
29 Aug 2005
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Song of the Industrial Workers of the World |
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Texts :: articles |
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Direct Action Against Capitalist Europe! |
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by Red and Black Coordination |
28 Apr 2008
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When, throughout Europe, "leftwing" Governments, as well as rightwing ones have similar policies : public services are broken up and privatised, working conditions are under attack from casualisation, subsidies to the bosses, attacks on the welfare system, and pensions, ... |
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