Georges Sorel’s revolutionary syndicalism vs. councilism

[criticalrealist]

Can someone explain the differences between Georges Sorel’s revolutionary syndicalism and councilism (council communism)? Sorel’s approach, as Marxist, is different from anarcho-syndicalism.

[Ale Brider]

I think the main difference is that Sorel was an idealist and an ultra-voluntarist, while councilism is generally quite the opposite, it is so strongly about spontaneity and the self-organizing of workers in the middle of the struggle that they rejected Lenin not just because of the concept of the vanguard party, but also because the voluntarism of Lenin's politics. At least as far as my understanding goes. So in a council communist view, the councils and comittees of workers are the product of the revolutionary struggle itself. They are the "natural" organizing forms, unlike the parties (some hybrid councilists may accept a party under certain circumstances but the general view is that parties are not fit to lead a revolution, because if they do, USSR happens).

As for Sorel, apart from this great antagonism of voluntarism versus determinism, I don't know much. But I would hardly call anything Marxist that comes from Sorel (even he was certainly not an anarchist in his analysis).