History of Labour Movements: From Luddism to Anarchism

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

EARLY LABOUR MOVEMENTS

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain, where workers first organized themselves into groups to pressure factory owners and governments. Working together in harsh conditions, workers saw the labour movement as the only way to improve their situation.

• Luddism: In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, new technologies made skilled workers lose their jobs in the textile industry. In response, some of them destroyed factory machines. This developed into the Luddite movement.
• Chartism: The first organized labour movement with political goals. Between 1838 and 1848, this movement had millions of supporters and presented its People's Charter to the British Parliament. The movement demanded labour rights and universal suffrage, as at that time workers could not vote.
• Trade unions: At the beginning of the 19th century, workers formed mutual aid societies, which helped members in case of illness or unemployment. The right of assembly was first granted in Great Britain in 1824, and after that, the first trade unions appeared. These associations of workers demanded better salaries, shorter workdays, an end to child labour, etc. Their main means of pressure was the strike, in which workers refused to work until certain demands were met.

MARXISM AND ANARCHISM

Marxism is named after one of its founders, the German philosopher Karl Marx. Together with Friedrich Engels, Marx published the Communist Manifesto in 1848. According to Marxism, there was a class struggle between oppressors and the oppressed in industrial societies. The bourgeoisie were the oppressors because they owned the means of production and exploited workers for profit. The oppressed were the workers, who sold their only possession, their labour.

Marx proposed a revolution to destroy capitalism and give power to workers. There would first be a stage of proletarian dictatorship, in which the state would control society. Then a communist society could be established, without social classes or private property. At that point, the state would disappear. Marx also believed that labour parties and trade unions should participate in politics. In consequence, socialist parties were developed from 1875.

The Frenchman Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and the Russian Mikhail Bakunin were the founders of anarchism. Anarchists opposed any form of state and hoped to replace it with voluntary associations. They believed in collective use of property and rejected political parties and elections. Instead, they favored trade unions and strikes as revolutionary instruments.