Marxism, Anarchism & The Workers’ Internationals
Basic Principles of Marxism
The doctrines of Karl Marx were based on the analysis of industrial society and stemmed from the outrage caused by the misery of the working class.
Marx and Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto in 1848, which ended with the famous call: “Workers of all countries, unite!”
Marx’s masterpiece, Das Kapital, analyzed capitalist society and its contradictions.
Key tenets include:
- The engine of history is the economy, which has progressed through several stages: slave, feudal, capitalist, and will eventually reach the communist state.
- The individual is part of their class. One class owns the means of production (capitalists/owners), and another provides only their labor (the exploited/proletariat).
- The only way to end this situation is to advocate for the revolt of the exploited through the solidarity of all workers worldwide.
- The worker must sell their labor to the capitalist (who owns the means of production), who pays them wages. The employer pays the bare minimum for subsistence, especially when labor is abundant.
- Technical progress and machinery create unemployment (“idle hands”), increasing the pool of exploitable labor. This reserve army of labor grows and becomes a potential threat to the system.
- According to this theory, capitalist society will eventually collapse and be replaced by a communist society, in which the means of production belong to the community, and classes will disappear as there will be no owners versus workers.
Anarchism
Anarchism was developed primarily by thinkers such as the Russians Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin.
Key Ideas of Bakunin
- Abolition of the State: Elimination of the state and all forms of power. This led to the term “anarchists.” The state equates to oppression. Bakunin proposed replacing large states with small, autonomous municipalities.
- Abolition of Private Property: To be achieved through reforms or revolution, implementing collective ownership of all assets.
- Equality: Complete equality between men and women. Full democracy with all positions filled through universal suffrage.
- Emphasis on Education: Popular education was a characteristic trait of all anarchists.
- Revolutionary Violence: Advocated for violent acts (“propaganda of the deed”) or terrorism to overthrow capitalist society by disrupting its structure.
Marxism vs. Anarchism
Their differences led to continuous clashes. Marxists believed the state would only disappear in an advanced stage of communism and emphasized discipline and a scientific analysis of reality, which anarchists often rejected. Marxists accepted the formation of workers’ parties and participation in elections, while anarchists rejected political parties but supported the formation of trade unions.
The Workers’ Internationals
By the 1860s, workers’ organizations had acquired national dimensions in different countries, but felt the need to create an organization that fostered international solidarity among all workers. This need arose for two main reasons: first, the social problems faced by the proletariat were similar across countries, and second, employers could break strikes by importing labor from other countries.
The First International (IWA)
In 1864, delegates from various labor organizations across several countries met in London, forming the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA). Karl Marx presented key ideas: that the emancipation of the working class must be conquered by the working classes themselves, and that the working class could not remain indifferent to the conquest of political power. It was agreed to hold annual congresses. The First International was ultimately weakened by ideological conflicts, particularly between Marxists and anarchists.
The Second International
After the dissolution of the First International around 1876, the Second International was founded in Paris in 1889. Recognizing that the centralized structure of the First International had drawbacks, the Second International adopted key principles:
- National Autonomy: Labor organizations in each country would choose their own path, differing from the centralized approach of the First International.
- Political Action: The ultimate objective was seizing political power through workers’ parties, participating in elections, and potentially government. This stance definitively distanced socialists from anarchists within the International.
Socialism increasingly focused on political organization through parties aiming for power and began addressing broader global issues like colonialism and war.