[Transcriber's note: It is noted that on page 92 "From December 1, 1894, to September 12, 1892, 329 francs 75 centimes was collected;" that the dates are not sequential. The word _sabotage_ has been consistently placed in italics. Individual correction of printers' errors are listed at the end.] STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Volume XLVI] [Number 3 Whole Number 116 SYNDICALISM IN FRANCE BY LOUIS LEVINE WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PROFESSOR FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS SECOND REVISED EDITION OF "The Labor Movement in France" AMS PRESS NEW YORK COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 116 COPYRIGHT 1912 BY LOUIS LEVINE The series was formerly known as _Studies in History, Economics and Public Law_. Reprinted with the permission of Columbia University Press From the edition of 1914, New York First AMS EDITION published 1970 Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Number: 76-127443 International Standard Book Number: Complete Set ... 0-404-51000-0 Number 116 ... 0-404-51116-3 AMS PRESS, INC. New York, N.Y. 10003 The term syndicalism sounds strange to an English reader. Its equivalent in English would be Unionism. A syndicat is a union of workingmen, on a trade or on an industrial basis, for the defense of economic interests. Revolutionary Syndicalism, however, has a broader connotation than the etymology of the term would suggest. A critical analysis of existing institutions, a socialist ideal, and a peculiar conception of revolutionary methods to be used for the realization of the ideal--are all contained in it. Revolutionary Syndicalism appears, therefore, as a phase of the general movement towards a reorganization of society on socialist principles.[1] [1] The term "socialist" is here used in a wide sense to include all varieties, even communistic anarchism. Revolutionary Syndicalism cannot be treated, however, exclusively as a phase of the evolution of Socialism. As the term suggests, it is also a development of the French Labor Movement. The organization which represents Revolutionary Syndicalism in France is the General Confederation of Labor (_La Confédération Générale du Travail_, generally referred to as the C. G. T.)--the central organization of the labor unions or syndicats in France. The history of Revolutionary Syndicalism coincides almost entirely with the history of the General Confederation, and it may be said that its future is entirely bound up with the destinies of this organization.