Ideology
Anarcho-SyndicalismFar left
Organizes society through revolutionary labor unions that would run industry directly, coordinate through federations of workplaces, and use strikes and direct action to replace both capitalism and the state.
Core ideas
- Trade unions are both the tool for winning better conditions now and the seed of a future society.
- The state and capitalism are to be abolished together, not one after the other.
- Workers should run production and distribution themselves through self-management.
- Political parties and parliamentary politics are rejected as corrupting the labor movement.
- Strikes, boycotts and sabotage, ending in a general strike, are the preferred means.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
On this site it sits at the far Freedom end of the government axis (govt 0 on Security/Freedom) and clearly toward the Collectivize end of the economy axis (econ 80 on Collectivize/Privatize). Diplomacy (dipl 50) and society (scty 50) are dead centre, so the stance says nothing about nationalism or tradition. The test does not read keywords or labels. It measures how far your scores on the four axes are from each ideology's values, and the smallest distance wins.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
History
The idea grew out of the anti-authoritarian wing of the International Workingmen's Association and the revolutionary syndicalism of the French labor movement, whose unions federated in the General Confederation of Labour. It was set out as a distinct tendency at the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam in 1907, convened by Christiaan Cornelissen. Its supporters founded the International Workers' Association in 1922. Its high point came during the social revolutions of the 1930s, when anarchist unions ran parts of local economies. Political defeat then began a long decline, and by the end of the twentieth century syndicalist unions were being set up again.
Associated thinkers
- Christiaan Cornelissen
Common misunderstandings
- It is not simply anarcho-communism. Both reject the state, but this tradition puts unions at the center of the strategy, while anarcho-communism rests on communes and free distribution.
- It is not anti-organization. It builds large, disciplined federations of unions; what it rejects is political parties and rule from above.
Related ideologies
Is Anarcho-Syndicalism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Anarcho-Syndicalism?
An anarchist model that centers trade unions as the vehicle for class conflict. Unions win gains now, then take over production through a general strike, abolishing the state and capitalism and putting workers' self-management in their place.
Is Anarcho-Syndicalism left or right?
It is placed far left. It wants workers' control of industry and the end of private ownership of production. A single left-right line misses what sets it apart, which is rejecting the state as firmly as capitalism.
Anarcho-Syndicalism vs anarcho-communism?
Both want a stateless, classless society. Anarcho-syndicalism organizes through trade unions and treats the union as the future unit of production. Anarcho-communism centers communes and distribution by need, and is less tied to labor unions.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Anarcho-Syndicalism?
It measures the distance between your scores on the economy, government, diplomacy and society axes and the values stored for each of the 38 ideologies. The closest set of four values is the one reported.