Marxism and Anarchism: Origins of the Labor Movement

Marxism and Socialism

In the mid-nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels denounced the exploitation of the working class and advocated for a workers' revolution to destroy capitalism. Through this revolution, the proletariat would seize political power and establish a state that socializes property. The end of private property would lead to the gradual disappearance of social classes and the state, ultimately achieving an ideal communist society.

From the last third of the nineteenth century, Marxist parties proposed the creation of socialist workers' organizations. Their goal was the realization of the proletarian revolution, but they also defended intervention in political life through participation in elections and national parliaments. Thus, socialists encouraged legislation favorable to workers, such as universal suffrage and the 8-hour workday.

Anarchism

Anarchism assembled a group of thinkers who shared three basic principles:

• Individual Freedom: The exaltation of personal liberty and social solidarity.
• Collective Property: A critique of private property and the defense of collective ownership.
• Rejection of Authority: The total rejection of the state.

Anarchists defended revolutionary action by workers and peasants to destroy the state and create a new egalitarian and collectivist society. They opposed participation in political life and traditional political parties. Some advocated for violent action against the pillars of capitalism, while others sponsored the creation of revolutionary unions to improve working conditions and promote social internationalism.

The International Labor Movement

Marxists and anarchists defended the need to unite the efforts of the global working class to combat capitalism. At the initiative of Marx, the International Workers' Association was created in 1864, joining Marxists, anarchists, and trade unionists. However, deep ideological discrepancies between Marxists and anarchists led to its dissolution around 1876.

In 1889, socialist leaders founded the Second International in Paris. Unlike the first, this was a socialist organization that aimed exclusively at coordinating the programs and actions of different socialist parties. The Second International established key symbols of the labor movement, such as the anthem and the May Day holiday.