Section 1: Defining Anarcho-Syndicalism 1a. Where does the term “Anarcho-Syndicalism” come from, and what does it mean?
The term “Anarcho-Syndicalism” probably originates in Spain, where, according to Murray Bookchin, anarcho-syndicalist characteristics were present in the labour movement from the early 1870’s — decades before they appeared anywhere else. [1] “Anarcho-Syndicalism” refers to the theory and practise of revolutionary industrial unionism developed in Spain and also later France and elsewhere towards the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. The use of such a long and syllable-intesive word to describe a radical social movement stems from the need in the countries where it first developed to distinguish itself from its reformist counterparts. “Sindicalismo” in Spanish, for example, simply means “Unionism”; the addition of the “Anarco” prefix denotes the libertarian branch of the union movement, or that which aims not only at day-to-day improvements in working conditions under capitalism, but also eventually at a fundamental improvement in the social distribution of d
