Sorelianism is advocacy for or support of the ideology and thinking of French revolutionary

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

Georges Sorel Georges Eugène Sorel (; ; 2 November 1847 – 29 August 1922) was a French social thinker, political theorist, historian, and later journalist. He has inspired theories and movements grouped under the name of Sorelianism. His social and ...

. Sorelians oppose bourgeois democracy, the developments of the 18th century, the secular spirit, and the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, while supporting classical tradition.Sternhell et al., p. 78. A revisionist interpretation of

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

, Sorel believed that the victory of the proletariat in class struggle could be achieved only through the power of myth and a general strike. To Sorel, the aftermath of class conflict would involve rejuvenation of both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. With the seeming failure of syndicalism, in 1910 he announced his abandonment of

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

literature and claimed in 1914, using an aphorism of Benedetto Croce that "socialism is dead" due to the "decomposition of Marxism". Sorel became a supporter of Maurrassian

integral nationalism Integral nationalism (french: nationalisme intégral) is a type of nationalism that originated in 19th-century France, was theorized by Charles Maurras and mainly expressed in the ultra-royalist circles of ''Action Française''. The doctrine is ...

beginning in 1909, which he considered as having similar moral aims to syndicalism despite being enemies materially. In this sense, Sorelianism is considered to be a precursor to

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

. However, he became disillusioned with these ideas with

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and from 1918 until his death in 1922 he would be a supporter of the then Russian Revolution and

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

, which he considered a revival of syndicalism.

Concepts

General strike and syndicalist society

Although starting out as a Marxist, Sorel eventually rejected the Marxist elevation of history as determined. He considered the challenge of the rising social sciences to be new moral criterion.

Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Soci ...

had believed that a just society could only come about through action, and in particular opposition to an enemy; following this line Sorel believed that

class war Class War is an anarchist group and newspaper established by Ian Bone and others in 1983 in the United Kingdom. An incarnation of Class War was briefly registered as a political party for the purposes of fighting the 2015 United Kingdom gener ...

between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie would result from a general strike,Midlarsky, p. 93. which, together with the betterment of living conditions, he considered distinct from the mere aim of state distribution, and as the material and moral essence of Marxism and Socialism. However, he had problems with Proudhon, and Sorel seems to have sought to detach it of its idealism, as Proudhon had detached justice from power play; that is, from class relations. Otherwise only minimally influencing him, in admiration of

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...

Sorel held that an imperialist working class would establish a new aristocracy, "organizing relations among men for the benefit of its sovereignty" and as a sole source of law. However, he believed that proletarian violence would strengthen the bourgeoisie, and focused on the moral regeneration of society and the rescue of civilization rather than only the working-class, considering socialism a means for revolutionary transformation of society rather than a movement of the proletariat or a movement with a specific social structure.Sternhell, p. 17.

Individualism and myth

Sorel believed there to be a close relation between conflict and freedom. Inspired by liberal institutions and the pluralist writings of

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

, Sorel denounced imitation of the military corps, extolling a warrior-individualism which he compared to the "American spirit", "animated with the spirit of liberty." He opposed the "splendid isolation" of totalitarian movements connecting all activities to party fronts. Sorel considers the myth of the general strike a social basis for authority providing coherence to syndicalism. Against

's Superman he compares the general strike with the "apocalyptic myths" or "Yankee Protestantism" of the practical, individualistic American settler ready for any venture. He considered that neither the former nor the latter impinge upon the freedom of the individual. Against the idea of centralized Imperium he espouses a

ian balance and devotion to the weak based on family love, which he believed needed to be part of the warrior ethic. Combined with an ethic of labour, it was this that would enable freedom.

Class conflict and class rejuvenation

Sorel advocated the separation of groups in society, including support of the syndicalist model of a society where the proletarian workers would be autonomous and separate from bourgeois industrialists. Sorel refused the idea of negotiation between the classes during the period of struggle between the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. However, Sorel believed that it was the proletariat's task to awaken the bourgeoisie from intellectual stupor to recover its morality, "productive energy", and "feeling of its own dignity" that Sorel claimed had been lost because of democratic ideals.Christensen et al., p. 18. Hence, Sorel believed that class conflict would in the end result in the rejuvenation of both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

Revision of Marxism, claims of "decomposition of Marxism" by Blanquism and positivism

Sorel focused on the ethical dimension of

, claiming its utility for historical analysis and a means for transforming society. However, Sorel criticized the deterministic, materialist, and mechanist components of Marxism. Sorel criticized vulgar interpretations of Marxism for being unfaithful to Marx's real intentions. Sorel claimed that Marx was not materialist at all, noting that Marx did not regard psychological developments of people as part of the economic process. Sorel noted that Marx described the necessary ideological superstructure of societies: law, the organization of the state, religion, art, and philosophy. As a result, Sorel claimed that "no great philosophy can be established without being based on art and on religion". Sorel claimed that although Marx had initially denounced

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...

while supporting

Blanquism Blanquism refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui (1805–1881) which holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. Ha ...

, that Marx later synthesized ideas from both Blanquism and Proudhonism together. Sorel claimed that Marxism had undergone a crisis in the 1880s and the 1890s when major socialist parties were being founded in France. Sorel viewed non-Proudhonian socialism as being wrong-headed and corrupt, as being inherently oppressive. Sorel claimed that a "decomposition of Marxism", as referring to the major goals and themes of the ideology, was being caused by Marx's Blanquist elements and

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

positivist elements. Proudhonism was in Sorel's view, more consistent with the goals of Marxism than Blanquism which had become popular in France, and Sorel claimed that Blanquism was a vulgar and rigidly deterministic corruption of Marxism.

Sorelianism and French integral nationalism

Interest in Sorelian thought arose in the French

political right Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, auth ...

, particularly by French

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-par ...

of ''

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

'' and his supporters.Sternhell et al., p. 82. While Maurras was a staunch opponent of Marxism, he was supportive of Sorelianism for its opposition to

liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

. Maurras famously stated "a socialism liberated from the democratic and cosmopolitan element fits nationalism well as a well made glove fits a beautiful hand". In the summer of 1909, Sorel endorsed French integral nationalism and praised Maurras. Sorel was impressed by the significant numbers of "ardent youth" that enrolled in ''Action Française''. Sorel's turn to nationalism resulted in his disregarding of Marx in favour of the views of

. In 1910, Sorel along with ''Action Française'' nationalists

Édouard Berth Édouard Berth (1875–1939) was a theorist of French syndicalism Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through str ...

and

Georges Valois Georges Valois (real name ''Alfred-Georges Gressent''; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was a French journalist and national syndicalist politician. He was a member of the French Resistance and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. ...

agreed to form a journal titled ''La Cité française'' that would promote a form of

national-socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

, however this was abandoned. Afterwards, Sorel supported another nationalist newspaper, ''L'Indépendence'' and began writing anti-Semitic content claiming that France was under attack from "Jewish invaders". In 1911, on the issue of Sorelian syndicalism, Valois announced to the Fourth Congress of ''Action Française'' that "It was not a mere accident that our friends encountered the militants of syndicalism. The nationalist movement and the syndicalist movement, alien to another though they may seem, because of their present positions and orientations, have more than one common objective." During his association with

French nationalism French nationalism () usually manifests as cultural nationalism, promoting the cultural unity of France. History French nationalism emerged from its numerous wars with England, which involved the reconquest of the territories that made up Fr ...

, Sorel joined Valois in the ''

Cercle Proudhon ''Cercle Proudhon'' (; French for Proudhon Circle) was a national syndicalist political group in France. The group was inspired by Georges Sorel, Charles Maurras and a selective reading of anarchist theorist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. History Founded ...

'', an organization that Valois declared to provide "a common platform for nationalists and leftist antidemocrats".Sternhell, p. 11. The organization recognized both Proudhon and Sorel as two great thinkers who had "prepared the meeting of the two French traditions that had opposed each other throughout the nineteenth century: nationalism and authentic socialism uncorrupted by democracy, represented by syndicalism". ''Cercle Proudhon'' announced that it supported the replacement of bourgeois ideology and democratic socialism with a new ethic of an alliance of nationalism with syndicalism, as those "two synthesizing and convergent movements, one at the extreme right and the other at the extreme left, that have begun the siege and assault on democracy". ''Cercle Proudhon'' supported the replacement of the liberal order with a new world that was "virile, heroic, pessimistic, and puritanical—based on the sense of duty and sacrifice: a world where the mentality of warriors and monks would prevail". The society would be dominated by a powerful

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

proletarian elite that would serve as an aristocracy of producers, and allied with intellectual youth dedicated to action against the decadent bourgeoisie.

Sorelianism and Italian Fascism

Upon Sorel's death, an article in the Italian Fascist doctrinal review ''Gerarchia'' edited by Benito Mussolini and Agostino Lanzillo, a known Sorelian, declared "Perhaps fascism may have the good fortune to fulfill a mission that is the implicit aspiration of the whole oeuvre of the master of syndicalism: to tear away the proletariat from the domination of the Socialist party, to reconstitute it on the basis of spiritual liberty, and to animate it with the breath of creative violence. This would be the true revolution that would mold the forms of the Italy of tomorrow."

Notable adherents

Aside from Sorel himself, there were a number of adherents of Sorelianism in the early 20th century. Sorel was a mentor to

Hubert Lagardelle Hubert Lagardelle (8 July 1874 – 20 September 1958) was a pioneer of French revolutionary syndicalism. He regularly authored reviews for the Plans magazine, was co-founder of the journal Prélude, and Minister of Labour in the Vichy regime. ...

who, like Sorel, supported the segregation of social classes and who despised the bourgeoisie, democracy, democratic socialism,

parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

, and

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

. Antonio Gramsci was influenced by the Sorelian views of social myth. Based on influence from Sorel, Gramsci asserted that Italy and the West have suffered from crises of culture and authority due to the "wave of materialism" and the inability of liberalism to achieve consensus and hegemony over society. Sorel was a major influence on the early works of

György Lukács György Lukács (born György Bernát Löwinger; hu, szegedi Lukács György Bernát; german: Georg Bernard Baron Lukács von Szegedin; 13 April 1885 – 4 June 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, critic, and aesth ...

, though Lukács later dismissed Sorel as petty bourgeoisie. Sorel influenced Greek philosopher

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March (Old Style and New Style dates, OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greeks, Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in ni ...

in Kazantzakis' belief of strife as being creative while viewing peace as decadent. José Carlos Mariátegui was a Sorelian who claimed that

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

was a Sorelian and Nietzschean hero. Benito Mussolini, when he was a Marxist, held various positions towards Sorelianism at times. Mussolini stated that he became a syndicalist during the 1904 Italian general strike; his close contact with syndicalists dates to 1902. Mussolini reviewed Sorel's ''Reflections on Violence'' in 1909 and supported Sorel's view of consciousness as being a part of protracted struggle, where people display uplifting and self-sacrificing virtues akin to the heroes of antiquity.Gregor, p. 96. Mussolini also supported the Sorelian view of the necessity of violence in revolution. He followed Sorel in denouncing humanitarianism and compromise between revolutionary socialists and

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

socialists and bourgeois democrats. By 1909, Mussolini supported elitism and anti-parliamentarism, and became a propagandist for the use of "regenerative violence". When Sorelians initially began to come close to identifying themselves with nationalism and

monarchism Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

in 1911, Mussolini believed that such association would destroy their credibility as socialists.Gregor, p. 123.

References

Citations

Works cited

* Peter Bien. ''Kazantzakis: politics of the spirit, Volume 2''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2007. * Hans Dam Christensen, Øystein Hjort, Niels Marup Jensen. ''Rethinking art between the wars: new perspectives in art history''. Aarhus, Denmark: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2001. * Jean L. Cohen, Andrew Arato. ''Civil society and political theory''. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994. * Stephen Gill. ''Power and resistance in the new world order''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. * Anthony James Gregor, University of California, Berkeley. ''Young Mussolini and the intellectual origins of fascism''. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1979. * John Hellman. ''The communitarian third way: Alexandre Marc's ordre nouveau, 1930–2000''. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002. * Douglas R. Holmes. ''Integral Europe: fast-capitalism, multiculturalism, neofascism''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. * Manus I. Midlarsky. ''Origins of Political Extremism: Mass Violence in the Twentieth Century and Beyond''. Cambridge University Press, 2011. * Ofelia Schutte. ''Cultural identity and social liberation in Latin American thought''. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1993. * John Stanley. ''Mainlining Marx''. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2002. * * Zeev Sternhell. ''Neither right nor left: fascist ideology in France''. 2nd edition. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1986. * Zeev Sternhell, Mario Sznajder, Maia Ashéri. ''The Birth of Fascist Ideology: From Cultural Rebellion to Political Revolution''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994. * Robert Stuart. ''Marxism and National Identity: Socialism, Nationalism, and National Socialism during the French fin de siècle''. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2006. Fascism Marxism Political ideologies Eponymous economic ideologies Eponymous political ideologies Revolutionary Syndicalism National syndicalism {{interwiki extra, qid=Q2353993