Syndicalism and the Influence of Anarchism in France, Italy and Spain Ralph Darlington, Salford Business School, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT Phone: 0161-295-5456 Email:
[email protected] Abstract Following the Leninist line, a commonly held assumption is that anarchism as a revolutionary movement tends to emerge in politically, socially and economically underdeveloped regions and that its appeal lies with the economically marginalised lumpenproletariat and landless peasantry. This article critically explores this assumption through a comparative analysis of the development and influence of anarchist ideology and organisation in syndicalist movements in France, Spain and Italy and its legacy in discourses surrounding the nature of political authority and accountability. Keywords: syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism, revolution, unionism, France, Spain, Italy. Introduction Many historians have emphasised the extent to which revolutionary syndicalism was indebted to anarchist philosophy in general and to Bakunin in particular, with some - 1 - even using the term ‘anarcho-syndicalism’ to describe the movement. 1 Certainly within the French, Italian and Spanish syndicalist movements anarchists or so-called ‘anarcho-syndicalists’ were able to gain significant, albeit variable, influence. They were to be responsible in part for the respective movements’ rejection of political parties, elections and parliament in favour of direct action by the unions, as well as their conception of a future society in which, instead of a political