A-Infos (en) The Union Makes Us Strong? II (from Organise!)

["Peregrine (David)" <peregrine@cybergal.com>]

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The Union Makes Us Strong? II
Syndicalism: a Critical Analysis Part 2
Taken from Organise 47 (Winter 97/98)
Magazine of the Anarchist Communist Federation

BY 1936 BOTH the anarchist and syndicalist movements found themselves, if
not either in exile or underground, then as minority organisations. Victims
of the twin assault of the capitalist state and Bolshevism, the Industrial
Workers of the World had been reduced to a shadow of their former strength;
the International Working Men's Association's largest affiliates, with the
exception of the Spanish CNT, had been effectively smashed by Fascism,
marginalised or had retreated into open reformism (for example the Swedish
Workers Central organisation).

The specific anarchist organisations still operating found their voices
increasingly drowned out by the hollow noise of Stalinism and their
marginalisation reflected the general political defeat of the working class
during the inter-war years. So, when the Spanish Civil War and Revolution
broke out in July 1936 all the hopes of libertarian revolutionaries became
focused upon events in Spain and the actions taken by the Spanish working
class.

The Spanish Revolution

The situation in Spain was exceptional in that organised Stalinism was
marginal and exercised little influence amongst the working class up until
1936. Rather, anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists constituted the only
credible alternative to the social democrats of the Partido Socialista
Obrero. The PSO could combine revolutionary rhetoric with a wholly
reformist and constitutionalist practice and the division in Spanish
working class politics could broadly be drawn as being between
revolutionary libertarianism (the anarchists and the CNT) and reformist
authoritarianism (the PSO and the Union General de Trabadores). When the
reactionary military, led by General Franco, rose against the bourgeois
republic on July 19th, 1936, the response of the government was inaction
whilst the workers of the CNT were amongst the first to employ armed
resistance.

In many important centres and in the countryside where the attempted coup
had been defeated or the military had remained loyal to the Republic, the
libertarian workers movement, which almost everywhere had taken the most
important initiatives, was the master of the situation. The rank and file
of the CNT and others, inspired by the potential for liberation, began to
put a form of collectivisation of the factories and land into practice,
which, given the circumstances, could only fall short of libertarian
communism, but showed the creative and organisational potential of the
working class.

However, by the end of the year representatives of the CNT had taken
positions in the Republican Government and had effectively called off the
class war in favour of 'anti-fascist unity' for the sake of victory in the
war. The formerly minuscule Spanish Communist Party had become a major
governmental player, the collectives and the workers militia organisations
began to come under attack and the revolution looked like being strangled
at birth. The response of those who wished to carry on with the revolution
was the 'May Days' insurrection in Barcelona in 1937, itself the product of
another provocation, this time by Stalinists, against CNT workers at the
Telephone Exchange. Workers once again fought for control of the streets
only this time they found themselves undermined by the leadership of the
CNT.

The Failure of the Anarchists

The actions of the CNT in joining the Government, of betraying the
revolution, are often flung in the face of anarchists by Leninists (who
themselves wouldn't hesitate to join any government given half a chance).
Usually this is given as evidence of the 'End of Anarchism' as a
revolutionary theory/movement. Certainly, the Spanish experience does
signify the end of a certain type of anarchism. But the blame for the class
collaboration and betrayal really does not simply lie at the door of the
CNT. After all, despite the union's long-standing relationship with
anarchism, it remained a union whose structures had developed an autonomy
of their own and a bureaucracy which had a life of its own, regardless of
its democratic nature. The unions susceptibility to reformism and
incorporation had been exposed during the 1920s when a tendency emerged
which opposed the influence of anarchism within the union. In 1931 this had
resulted in a split, creating the moderate anarcho-syndicalist 'opposition
unions'. Eventually, some of these 'moderate elements' formed a
parliamentarist, reformist Syndicalist Party.

The FAI

Partially In opposition to this tendency, and the earlier attempts during
the 20s by Leninists to 'bolshevize' the union, the Spanish anarchists
founded a specific anarchist organisation, the Federacion Anarquista
Iberica, in 1927. The FAI was to work mainly inside the CNT, to reinforce
its libertarian orientation, but existed as an organisation in its own
right, with its own press and its own organisational culture. The FAI
viewed the CNT as the main means towards the libertarian communist
revolution and Faistas were commonly the most ardent CNT militants. By 1936
the CNT and FAI were, along with the Libertarian Youth, the component parts
of what was collectively known as the libertarian movement. The vast
majority of the FAI defended the entry of the CNT into government, indeed,
'anarchist' Minister of Justice, Garcia Oliver was himself regarded as a
particularly hard-line faista. Comparatively few anarchists rejected such
collaboration and even fewer posed an alternative. The most coherent of
these were the group known as the Friends of Durruti, militants of both the
CNT and FAI, who realised that the involvement of 'anarchists' in
government had been an inexcusable mistake and that the revolution had in
fact been effectively curtailed by the forces which many thought would lead
it. In their words; "Democracy defeated the Spanish People, not Fascism".
(see Stormy Petrel pamphlet Towards a Fresh Revolution' for further
writings by and about the Friends of Durruti). We can conclude, with the
Friends of Durruti, that apolitical anarchism failed in Spain, that is the
belief that the State and political power can be ignored/circumnavigated
rather than smashed and replaced with the power of the working class.

World War 2 and After

The defeat of the Spanish revolution and the crushing of the CNT under the
Franco dictatorship was closely followed by the Second World War and
temporary eclipse of anarcho and revolutionary syndicalism. The depth of
defeat felt by libertarian revolutionaries during this period was almost
unfathomable. It led some leading anarcho-syndicalists such as Rudolf
Rocker, into supporting the allies against Nazi Germany whilst many Spanish
anarchists in exile actually fought for the allied armies in the, somewhat
naive, hope that with the defeat of Italy and Germany, 'Fascist' Spain
would be 'liberated'. Other anarcho-syndicalist militants conducted a
fearless guerrilla campaign against the Franco regime, many paying with
their lives. But, following the war, the syndicalist movement was more
marginalised than ever. A social democratic consensus was taking shape in
the Western World and the Cold War was at its height. Syndicalist and
anarchist groups remained tiny throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s,
mainly 'holders of the sacred flame' with only occasional impact within the
class struggle. Things began to change with the upsurge in class struggle
in Europe towards the end of the 1960s, particularly the events in France
in 1968 and later in Italy. Slowly, the syndicalist organisations began to
re-emerge as workers began showing an interest in alternatives to Stalinism
and social democratic stodge. The death of Franco in 1976 and the
'democratisation' of Spain saw the accelerated development of the formerly
illegal CNT. The USI was relaunched in Italy and towards the end of the
1970s the I.W.A. once more became a functioning International, albeit one
mainly composed of propaganda groups.

Syndicalism Today

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the so-called 'socialist' countries
and the death-crisis of organised Stalinism, anarchist ideas and forms of
organisation have experienced a marked growth, not least in Eastern Europe
where often the anarchists are the only 'left' current of any size. In
Africa, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent, areas where there has
been little previous libertarian tradition, anarchist and
anarcho-syndicalist movements are emerging.

The revolutionary and anarcho-syndicalist current has seen the most rapid
growth and even the Industrial Workers of the World are (modestly)
expanding once again. This development is obviously welcome, as it reflects
a re-awakening of revolutionary potential amongst the working class, but it
is not without its problems. The question to be asked is "Is the
syndicalist method the way forward?". Amongst the anarchists who have
embraced syndicalism there are critical voices and some feel the need to
develop new ways of organising and thinking. Some have realised the need to
connect with other working class movements away from the existing
structures, for example the activities of the USI in the COBAS (committees
of the base) in Italy. Some have seen a need to 'adapt' syndicalism to
community and interest organisation. Others, however, have tended to defend
a very traditional, workerist, vision of 'building the (anarcho)
syndicalist union' as the answer to everything and reject criticism of the
syndicalist method as 'Marxist' or anti-organisational.

To Be Continued...


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