Abstract
Fernand Pelloutier can, in the words of Pierre Monatte, be ‘justly regarded as the father of revolutionary syndicalism’.1 Born in 1867, Pelloutier came to syndicalism via provincial radical republicanism and then orthodox Marxism. By profession a journalist, his break with Guesdism took place in 1892 when he, along with Aristide Briand, jointly defended the use of the general strike. As secretary of the Fédération des bourses du travail from 1895 (at the age of only 27) until his death in 1901 he went part of the way towards creating the organisational basis of an autonomous working-class movement and in his books and numerous articles he outlined the rudiments of syndicalism as a distinct ideology. He also provided the syndicalist movement with an example of dedication and commitment that few, if any, were subsequently to surpass.2
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Notes
P. Monatte, ‘Fernand Pelloutier et Aristide Briand’, RP, 308, August–September, 1947, p. 129.
C. Chambelland, ‘La grève générale, thème de la pensée de F. Pelloutier et d’ A. Briand’, L’Actualité de l’histoire, 18, May 1957, pp. 18–27 and 19, October 1957, pp. 1–12; P. Delesalle, ‘Fernand Pelloutier’, TN 23 March 1901, pp. 1–2.; E. Dolléans, ‘Fernand Pelloutier’ L’Homme réel, 19 July 1935, pp. 36–42;
F. Foulon, Fernand Pelloutier (Paris: 1967);
J. Julliard, Fernand Pelloutier et les origines du syndicalisme d’action directe (Paris: 1971);
P. Monatte, review of Maurice Pelloutier, Fernand Pelloutier, VO, 59–60, March 1911, pp. 449–52; P. Monatte, ‘Fernand Pelloutier et Aristide Briand’, RP, August–September, 1947, pp. 129–37;
P. Monatte, ‘La jeunesse de Pelloutier’, RP, 475, September 1962, pp. 13–18;
A. Spitzer, ‘Anarchy and Culture: Fernand Pelloutier and the Dilemma of Revolutionary Syndicalism’, International Review of Social History, 8, 1963, pp. 379–88;
G. Yvetot, ‘Fernand Pelloutier’ VO, 40, May 1911, pp. 577–93 and 41, June 1911, pp. 641–58. The work by Julliard contains both a commentary on Pelloutier’s work and an extensive selection of his writings. Where possible references to Pelloutier’s writings will cite the Julliard edition as this is the most easily available source. Julliard’s book, without the texts by Pelloutier, was republished in 1985.
In January 1899 the paper became Le Monde ouvrier. See J. Julliard, ‘L’Ouvrier des deux mondes’, Cahiers Georges Sorel, 5, 1987, pp. 3–9.
See J. Maitron, Le Mouvement anarchiste en France (Paris: 1975), I, pp. 206–61.
E. Pouget, ‘A roublard, roublard et demi’, in R. Langlois (ed.), Le Père Peinard (Paris: 1976), pp. 34–41.
See, for example, the numerous articles on this issue in Le Libertaire from 1899 onwards and see especially L. Grandidier, ‘Anarchistes et syndicalistes’, 5 November 1899;
M. Pélerin, ‘Syndicats et anarchistes’, 14 March 1900;
G. Yvetot, ‘Syndicats et anarchistes’, 18 March 1900.
A. Lorulot, ‘Anarchistes ou syndicalistes’, in A. Lorulot and G. Yvetot, Le Syndicalisme et la transformation sociale (Paris: 1909). This text contains a series of articles by Lorulot and Yvetot which outline their contrasting views on this issue. The articles were first published in Le Libertaire at the end of 1905.
ESRI, Les Anarchistes et les syndicats (Paris: 1898).
For a discussion of Pouget’s life and ideas before 1901 see E. P. Fitzgerald, Emile Pouget, the Anarchist Movement and the origins of revolutionary trade-unionism in France (Yale University Ph.D. thesis, 1973).
For a critique of the ‘groupe d’affinité’ see E. Pouget, Le Syndicat (Paris: 1905), p. 9.
P. Delesalle, L’Action syndicale et les anarchistes (Paris: 1900).
See P. Delesalle, La Confédération Générale du Travail (Paris: 1907), pp. 16–19;
P. Delesalle, Les bourses du travail et la CGT (Paris: 1909), p. 45.
P. Delesalle, ‘Encore l’unité’, VduP, 1 June 1902. Delesalle and Niel produced a series of articles exploring this issue in La Voix du peuple during May and June 1902. Pouget was of the view that unity had not destroyed the federalist structure of the syndicalist movement; see E. Pouget, ‘Le Congrès syndical de Bourges’, MS, XIV, 1904, pp. 38–41.
E. Pouget, Le Syndicat, pp. 10–13. See also P. Delesalle, La Confédération Générale du Travail, pp. 19–20 and G. Yvetot, ABC syndicaliste (Paris: 1908), pp. 26–7.
See P. Delesalle, Les bourses du travail et la CGT, pp. 45–50; P. Delesalle, ‘Les bourses du travail et leurs difficultés actuelles’, MS, XXIII, 1908, pp. 161–70;
G. Yvetot, ‘Fernand Pelloutier’, VO, 40, 1911, p. 586. For the view of Griffuelhes see V. Griffuelhes, ‘L’Acte de contrition d’un repenti’, L’Action directe, 29 January 1908.
V. Griffuelhes, ‘L’Action syndicaliste (Paris: 1908), p. 3.
E. Dolléans, Histoire du mouvement ouvrier (Paris: 1948), II, p. 118.
P. H. Hutton, The Cult of the Revolutionary Tradition: The Blanquists in French Politics 1864–1893 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: 1981).
V. Griffuelhes, ‘Les Grèves et le syndicalisme français’, MS, XIX, 1906, pp. 249–55.
V. Griffuelhes, ‘Les Caractères du syndicalisme français’, in H. Lagardelle (ed.), Syndicalisme et socialisme (Paris: 1908), pp. 55–8; V. Griffuelhes, ‘Sur une délégation’, VduP, 4 February 1906. Michels wrote regularly for Le Mouvement socialiste but see R. Michels, ‘Le syndicalisme et le socialisme en Allemagne’, in H. Lagardelle (ed.), Syndicalisme et socialisme, pp. 21–8 and ‘Lettre de Victor Griffuelhes à Roberto Michels’, Cahiers Georges Sorel, 4, 1986, p. 60.
P. Delesalle, Aux travailleurs — la grève (Paris: 1900), pp. 3–9.
The phrase ‘disappearance of the wage-earner and employer’ was frequently used to describe the goal of the syndicalist movement. See for example P. Delesalle, La Confédération Générale du Travail, p. 22 and P. Delesalle, Les Deux Méthodes du syndicalisme (Paris: 1903), p. 2.
For a discussion of Merrheim’s views see N. Papayanis, Alphonse Merrheim: The Emergence of Reformism in Revolutionary Syndicalism 1871–1925 (Dordrecht: 1985), pp. 59–70
and C. Gras, ‘Merrheim et le capitalisme’, Le Mouvement social, 63, 1968, pp. 143–63.
See especially E. Pouget, Le Parti du travail (Paris: 1905).
V. Griffuelhes, ‘Des Professions libérales’, VduP, 29 December 1907. See also P. Monatte, ‘Syndicats de médecins’, VduP, 22 December 1907 and R. Louzon, ‘L’Etat et l’enseignement de médecine’, MS, XXV, 1909, pp. 130–50. Doctors, Louzon argued, ‘do not constitute a class’. For Louis Niel the issue was not as clear-cut; see ‘Mouvement social’, TN, 25 January 1908.
E. Pouget, ‘Pas de politique’, VduP, 15 June 1902 and E. Pouget, Les Bases du syndicalisme (Paris: 1905), pp. 1–2.
E. Pouget, L’Action directe (Paris: 1910), p. 1. See also E. Pouget, ‘L’Unité’, JduP, 22 July 1899.
E. Pouget, ‘Le Congrès syndical de Bourges’, MS, XIV, 1904, p. 62. See also P. Delesalle, ‘Le Congrès de Bourges’, TN, 24 September 1904 and V. Griffuelhes, ‘Le Congrès de Bourges’, Almanach de la révolution pour 1905 (Paris: 1905), pp. 30–33.
E. Pouget, Variations guesdistes (Paris: 1896).
Quoted in J. Maitron, Paul Delesalle (Paris: 1985), p. 107.
A. Merrheim, ‘Un grand conflit social: la grève d’Hennebont’, MS, XX, 1906, pp. 194–218, 347–79.
See J. Julliard, ‘La CGT devant la guerre (1900–1914)’, Le Mouvement social, 49, 1964, pp. 47–62.
G. Yvetot, Le Nouveau manuel du soldat (Paris: 1903); reference to (Paris, 1908), p. 10.
G. Yvetot, Ma Pensée libre (Paris: 1913), p. 19.
G. Yvetot, ‘Enquête sur l’idée de patrie’, MS XVI, 1905, p. 468.
C. Guieysse, ‘Action patriotique et action révolutionnaire’, Pages libres, X, 1905, p. 302.
See also C. Guieysse, ‘Patriotisme démocratique et patriotisme capitaliste’, MS, XVII, 1905, pp. 129–59.
V. Griffuelhes, Voyage révolutionnaire (Paris: 1910)
and V. Griffuelhes, La Grève des délaineurs de Mazzamet (Paris: 1909).
For a discussion of this issue see M. Ferre, Histoire du mouvement syndicaliste révolutionnaire chez les instituteurs (des origines à 1922) (Paris: 1955).
For a succinct expression of these views see M. T. Laurin, ‘L’Enseignement primaire et le prolétariat’, MS, XIX, 1906, pp. 212–27;
M. T. Laurin, ‘Les Ecoles syndicales’, MS, XXV, 1909, pp. 40–8;
L. Jouhaux, ‘Le Monopole de l’enseignement et le socialisme’, MS, XXVII, 1910, pp. 66–70
and H. Lagardelle, ‘L’Ecole et le prolétariat’, MS, XX, 1906, pp. 185–8.
See M. T. Laurin, Les Instituteurs et le syndicalisme (Paris: 1908).
See P. Delesalle, ‘Les Instituteurs et les syndicats’, TN, 23 December 1905; C. Guieysse, ‘Syndicats de fonctionnaires’, Pages libres, X, 1905, pp. 465–8;
M. T. Laurin, ‘Les Instituteurs et les Bourses du travail’, MS, XXXIII, 1908, pp. 120–4;
M. T. Laurin, ‘La Faillite de l’enseignement primaire’, MS, XXXIV, 1908, pp. 374–7; Un groupe d’instituteurs, ‘Ce que nous voulons’, VduP, 17 March 1907. The journal L’Ecole émancipée, first published in October 1910, provided a forum for the discussion of these ideas.
G. Yvetot, ‘L’Ecole syndicale’, L’Ecole émancipée, I, 28 January 1911, p. 1.
Ibid., pp. 1–2; E. Pataud and E. Pouget, Comment nous ferons la révolution (Paris, 1909), pp. 224–30. Part of Yvetot’s article consisted of a reprint of his contribution to the 1908 debate at Marseille. For a more complete discussion of syndicalist educational principles see the articles contributed by Albert Thierry to La Vie ouvrière in 1912.
These articles were reprinted in A. Thierry, Réflexions sur l’éducation (Paris: 1923), pp. 3–135.
For the development of this argument see R. Louzon, ‘L’Ouvriérisme dans les mathématiques supérieures’, VO, IV, 1912, pp. 320–5.
G. Yvetot, ‘L’Ecole syndicale’, L’Ecole émancipée, I, 1 October 1910, pp. 4–5.
See also M. T. Laurin, ‘Les Ecoles syndicales’, MS, XXV, 1909, pp. 40–8 and H. Lagardelle, ‘Les Ecoles syndicales’, La Révolution, 18 February 1909.
P. Delesalle, ‘La Crise de l’apprentissage’, MS, XXIII, 1908, pp. 245–6. For a more extensive discussion of this issue see the ‘Enquête ouvrière sur la crise de l’apprentissage’, MS, XXIII, 1908, pp. 241–67, 321–40, 401–17; XXIV, 1908, pp. 96–8, 278–84; XXV, 1909, pp. 100–7, 290–9.
J. Julliard, ‘Le Syndicalisme révolutionnaire et les grèves’, Le Mouvement social, 65, 1968, pp. 55–69.
E. Pouget, ‘Action directe’, in V. Griffuelhes and L. Jouhaux (eds), Encyclopaedic du mouvement syndicaliste (Paris: 1912), p. 13. See also E. Pouget, L’Action directe. Two journals created by syndicalist militants bore the title L’Action directe.
Griffuelhes made explicit the connection between a rejection of the idea of God and the advocacy of direct action in V. Griffuelhes and L. Niel, Les Objectifs de nos luttes de classe (Paris: 1909). Griffuelhes’ contribution to this volume covered pp. 11–40. It was printed separately under the title Le Syndicalisme révolutionnaire (Paris: 1909).
E. Pouget, ‘Le Sabotage’, La Sociale, 26 July 1896; E. Pouget, ‘Le Sabott-age’, Le Père Peinard, 19 September 1896; E. Pouget, Le Sabotage (Paris: 1910).
H. Lagardelle, ‘La Formation du syndicalisme en France’, MS, XXX 1911, p. 163
and G. Sorel, ‘Le Syndicalisme révolutionnaire’, MS, XVII, 1905, pp. 276–7.
E. Pouget, Le Sabotage (Paris: 1910), p. 16.
E. Pouget, Le Sabotage (Paris: 1910), pp. 64–8.
E. Pouget, ‘La Conquête de la journée de huit heures’, MS, XV, 1905, pp. 357–80; ‘Les Résultats du mouvement du premier mai’, MS, XIX, 1906, pp. 269–88; ‘En attendant la révolution’, VduP, 20 August 1906; ‘L’Agitation pour les huits heures’, L’Avant-garde, 23 April 1905.
V. Griffuelhes, ‘A Propos d’un livre’, VO, I, 1909, pp. 274–5 and E. Pouget, ‘L’élève Pouget au prof. Jaurès’, GS, 1 December 1909.
Proudhon held similar views on punishment: see A. Ritter, ‘Godwin, Proudhon and the Anarchist Justification of Punishment’, Political Theory, 3, 1975, pp. 69–87.
M. Leroy, La Coutume ouvrière (Paris: 1913).
For a discussion of these issues see A. Ritter, Anarchism: A Theoretical Analysis (Cambridge: 1980).
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Jennings, J. (1990). Fernand Pelloutier and Revolutionary Syndicalism. In: Syndicalism in France. St Antony’s. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08876-8_2
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