Solidarity was probable the most infleuntial libertarian socialist group of the 60s and early 70s. Heavily influenced by the French group Socialism ou Barbarie, it emerged from the Socialist lkabour League. Making an abrupt break with trotskyism, Solidarity insisted that the revolution must be the work of the working class itself. Their magazines carried regular reports and analysis of workers struggles, often based on reports and conversations with the workers involved.
Solidarity's statement of principles, As We See It, remains a vital contribution to libertarian theory. It includes the following statement, which neatly sums up what the role of revolutionaries remains:
"Meaningful action, for revolutionaries, is whatever increases the confidence, the autonomy, the initiative, the participation, the solidarity, the equalitarian tendencies and the self-activity of the masses and whatever assists in their demystification. Sterile and harmful action is whatever reinforces the passivity of the masses, their apathy, their cynicism, their differentiation through hierarchy, their alienation, their reliance on others to do things for them and the degree to which they can therefore be manipulated by others - even by those allegedly acting on their behalf."
We have attempted here to put together a collection of their material. Some is hosted on this site, some of the links take you to other sites. We would be grateful for any information about other Solidarity texts available online so that we can add them below.
May 68 The revolutionary upheavals that shook Europe.
The Bolsheviks and Workers Control This link will take you to the excellent Libcom web site. One of Solidarity's major books, it describes and analyses the Bolsheviks destruction of workers power after the October 1917 Revolution.
Third Worldism or Socialism. The introduction to the Solidarity pamphlet Ceylon the JVP Uprising. A cogent argument against supporting national liberation struggles.
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