Draft:Georges Sorel
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| Suppress the dissenters Fascism |
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| Bundle of rods |
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| —Georges Sorel[1] |
Georges Eugène Sorel (November 2, 1847 in Cherbourg; August 29, 1922 in Boulogne-sur-Seine) was a French social philosopher known for his theories and political ideas, collectively known as Sorelianism.[2]:99 He is best known for his criticism on elitism and opposition to liberal democracy as well as his support for political violence. Sorel is primarily considered the a pioneer of syndicalism
, but is also - along with Vilfredo Pareto - considered to be a trailblazer of fascism as well.[3][4] Sorel’s syndicalist and fascist ideas would eventually be fused into fascist syndicalism.[5][6]
Background[edit]
Sorel was born in Cherbourg, France, to a family of oil and soda merchants. He would move to Paris in 1864 to attend the Collège Rollin and then École Polytechnique in 1865. After graduating, he went on to work as a engineer for the French government in 1869. After having worked for well over a decade, he started studying again. Then, in the 1890s, he would discover Karl Marx, which led him down the socialism rabbit hole.
Around mid-to-late 1890s, he began giving lectures about the unity and struggle of the labor unions, with a bent towards anti-parliamentarianism and direct action, which was welcomed by intellectuals and workers of the time. He would side with Alfred Dreyfus during the notorious, Dreyfus affair, but would be ultimately disappointed by the incident's outcome.
Sorel then tried to examine and rectify what he considered to be the weaknesses of Marxist theory. He eventually came up with a form of Marxist reformism, which rejected historical materialism, dialectical materialism, and proletarian internationalism.[2]:68-69 This was partly in opposition to Eduard Bernstein's reforms (that would birth social democracy), which Sorel saw as "right-wing". Furthermore, Sorel did not believe in the "inevitability of history" of orthodox Marxism, but believed that a carefully crafted "myth" would lead the masses to unified action. Thus, Sorel's guiding principle was to disrupt capitalism through general strikes, boycotts, and sabotage, and to bring about workers' control of the means of production.
Sorel also sought theoretical support from works of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (an anarchist skeptical of bourgeois democracy) and learned from Henri Bergson (because of course) and Eduard von Hartmann the importance of "myth" and the opposition to "scientific materialism". He also revived the Jacobin tradition, seeing the French society being needed to "bring about change through coercion". Sorel also praised the Charles Maurras (far-right figure) of the Action Française for Maurras' attack on bourgeois democracy. Sorel also characterized "the state of permanent war" as a class struggle/revolution.
Analysis[edit]
As Marxist[edit]
Although Sorel was considered a Marxist intellectual from 1890s to his death, his fidelity to the actual Marxist tradition has been scrutinized in retrospect. On one hand, he was on friendly terms with Arthur Labriola, the father of Italian Marxism, and wrote a preface to Labriola's essay on the "materialist concept of history" when it was translated into French. Furthermore, in the appendix to the fifth edition of his major work, Reflexions sur la Violence (1908), he wrote an essay entitled "Pour Lenine" in which he defended Lenin's boycott of the Constituent Assembly and proclaimed socialism, and praised the 1917 Russian Revolution. However, Lenin himself despised Sorel and his writings.[7]:35-40
As fascist pioneer[edit]
Sorels works were highly praised by Vilfredo Pareto and Benedetto Croce, and his ideas had a tremendous influence on Catholic and anti-democratic politics (such as Carl Schmitt), especially Fascism. Mussolini stated that Sorel was "the spiritual father of Fascism," "[his] teacher," and that "[he owes] the most to Sorel."[8][7]:35-40 Walter Benjamin's "Zur Kritik der Gewalt" ("Critique of Violence", 1921) was also influenced by Sorel's Reflections on Violence.
Works[edit]
TBA
References[edit]
- ↑ Jacob L. Talmon, The Myth of the Nation and the Vision of Revolution: The Origins of Ideological Polarization in the 20th Century, University of California Press (1981) p. 451. Sorel’s March 1921 conversations with Jean Variot, published in Variot’s Propos de Georges Sorel, (1935) Paris, pp. 53-57, 66-86 passim
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sternhell, Zeev; Sznajder, Mario; Ashéri, Maia (1994). The Birth of Fascist Ideology: From Cultural Rebellion to Political Revolution. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691044866.
- ↑ BORKENAU, Franz, "Sorel, Pareto, Spengler: Three Fascist Philosophers." In "Horizon" Vol. V. No. 30 (June, 1942).
- ↑ Fascism: A Reader's Guide : Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. (1978). University of California Press. Pages 321, 352, 364, 367
- ↑ Gregor, A. James (2014). Italian Fascism and Developmental Dictatorship. Princeton University Press. p. 172. ISBN 9781400855254.
- ↑ Ohana, P. D. (2016). Nihilist Order: The Intellectual Roots of Totalitarianism. Liverpool University Press. ISBN: 9781836241034. Page 60
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Versluis, Arthur (2006). The New Inquisitions: Heretic-Hunting and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Totalitarianism. Oxford University Press. p. 35-40. ISBN 9780195345629.
- ↑ Delzell, C. F. (1971). Mediterranean Fascism 1919–1945. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN: 9781349002405. Page 3