o_195qg5dto17o4rbc85q1ge61i84a.pdf

anarchy 109
well-tested fields of action raise important questions about scope of
anarchy, democratic decision-making and, picking up the point
from the previous chapter, the potential to realize liberty in
community.
anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalists argue that there is direct and intimate relationship
between the struggle against capitalism and the organization of
anarchy. For Ferdinand Pelloutier, the founder of the school,
syndicalism was a vehicle for anarchy. Anarchists, he argued, should
not wait for a revolutionary situation before developing alternative
economic systems. To the contrary, if they were to succeed in
organizing production and distribution, workers should develop
these systems in the body of capitalism. The commitment to build an
anarchist alternative to capitalism through syndicalist organization
remains the central tenet of the modern anarcho-syndicalist movement.
The British Section of the International Workers Association,
the Solidarity Federation (SolFed), encourages association in
‘locals’. Locals provide a platform for anti-racist, anti-sexist and
environmental campaigns in both community and workplace. They
spread information in meetings, through bulletins, leaflets and the
web, thus encouraging the development of more locals. In the workplace,
members of locals working in the same sector form ‘networks’
to promote worker solidarity and improve working conditions. And
the aim of this activity is to build the framework for anarchy:
As Locals and Networks grow, they practise community and
workers’ self-management. Eventually, industries will be run by
producers and consumers. In other words, by workers (in
Networks) and people in the wider community (Locals) who want
the goods and services they provide. And this is not flight of fancy or
text-book dream. As the solidarity movement grows in members
and influence, so does the scope for action. 35
Assessments of anarcho-syndicalism have often revolved around
the experience of the Spanish Confederación Nacional del Trabajo
(CNT), especially in the period leading up to and including the
Civil War (1936–39). There are several reasons for this. First, the
CNT is one of only a few revolutionary syndicalist organizations to
identify with anarchism. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth