De Leonism
De Leonism, occasionally known as
Marxism-Deleonism, is a form of
Marxism developed by
Daniel De Leon.
De Leon combined the rising theories of
Syndicalism in his time with
orthodox Marxism. According to De Leonist theory, militant
Industrial Unions (specialized
trade unions) are the vehicle of
class struggle. Industrial Unions serving the interests of the "
proletariat" (
working class) will bring about the change needed to establish a
socialist system. How this differs from
Anarcho-Syndicalism is that, according to De Leonist thinking, a revolutionary political party is also necessary to fight for the proletariat on the political field.
According to the De Leonist theory, workers would simultaneously form
Socialist Industrial Unions in the workplaces, and a socialist political party which would organize in the political realm. Upon achieving sufficient support for a victory at the polls, the political party would be voted into office, giving the De Leonist program a mandate from the people. It is assumed that at that point, the Socialist Industrial Unions will have attained sufficient strength in the
workplaces for workers there to take control of the means of production.
The De Leonist victory at the polls would be accompanied by a transfer of control of the factories, mines, farms and other
means of production to workers councils organized within the industrial unions. De Leonists distinguish this event from the
general strike to take control of the workplaces advocated by anarcho-syndicalists, and refer to it instead as a
general lockout of the ruling class, although in reality the two concepts are very similar.
The existing government would then be replaced with a government elected from within the Socialist Industrial Unions, and the newly elected socialist government would quickly enact whatever constitutional amendments or other changes in the structure of government needed to bring this about. Workers on the shop floor would elect local shop floor
committees needed to continue production, and representatives to local and national councils representing their particular industry.
Workers would also elect representatives to a central
congress, called an
All-Industrial Congress, which would effectively function as the
national government. These representatives would be subject to a
recall vote at any time. De Leonism would thus reorganize the national government along industrial lines with representatives elected by industry, not by geographic location.
De Leonism lies outside the
Leninist tradition of
communism. Its adherents are generally opposed to the policies of the former
Soviet Union, as well as those of the
People's Republic of China, and other
Communist states, and do not consider them socialist, but rather
state capitalist. The highly
decentralized and
democratic nature of the proposed De Leonist government is in contrast to the
democratic centralism of
Marxism-Leninism and what they see as the
dictatorial nature of the Soviet Union. De Leonists believe their proposed system of government, not the
vanguardism of Marxism-Leninism, is the true representation of what
Karl Marx meant by a "
dictatorship of the proletariat".
Vladimir Lenin initially acknowledged the influence of Daniel De Leon's theories during the setting up of
Soviets (workers' councils) after the
October Revolution of
1917, but also criticized De Leonism as one of several
left communist tendencies which he considered unworkable (see, for example, Lenin's book
Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder).
The success of the De Leonist plan depends on achieving majority support among the people both in the workplaces and at the polls, in contrast to the Leninist notion that a small
vanguard party should lead the working class to carry out the revolution. De Leonism is criticized by some other Marxists for this reason, and the term "
impossibilists" has sometimes been applied to De Leonists, implying that their chance of success is nil.
De Leonist political parties have also been criticized for being overly
dogmatic and
sectarian. Despite their rejection of Leninism and vanguardism, De Leonism also lies outside the
Democratic Socialist and
Social Democratic tradition. Daniel De Leon and other De Leonist writers have issued frequent polemics against democratic socialist movements, especially the
United States Socialist Party, and consider them to be "
reformist" or "
bourgeois socialist." De Leonists have traditionally refrained from any activity or alliances viewed by them as trying to reform
capitalism, such as
social justice movements, preferring instead to concentrate solely on the twin tasks of building support for a De Leonist political party and organizing Socialist Industrial Unions. They have had little success at either, and De Leonist political parties remain quite small.
*
Socialist Labor Party (USA)*
New Union Party*
Impossibilism*
DeLeonism.org*
Industrial Workers of the World
