Sorelianism

Sorelianism is advocacy for or support of the ideology and thinking of French revolutionary syndicalist Georges Sorel. Sorelians oppose bourgeois democracy, the developments of the 18th century, the secular spirit, and the French Revolution, while supporting classical tradition. A revisionist interpretation of Marxism, Sorel believed that the victory of the proletariat in class struggle could be achieved only through the power of myth and a general strike. To Sorel, the aftermath of class conflict would involve rejuvenation of both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. With the seeming failure of syndicalism, in 1910 he announced his abandonment of socialist literature and claimed in 1914, using an aphorism of Benedetto Croce that "socialism is dead" due to the "decomposition of Marxism". Sorel became a supporter of Maurrassian integral nationalism beginning in 1909, which he considered as having similar moral aims to syndicalism despite being enemies materially. In this sense, Sorelianism is considered to be a precursor to fascism. However, he became disillusioned with these ideas with World War I, and from 1918 until his death in 1922 he would be a supporter of the then Russian Revolution and communism, which he considered a revival of syndicalism. Although starting out as a Marxist, Sorel eventually rejected the Marxist elevation of history as determined. He considered the challenge of the rising social sciences to be new moral criterion. Proudhon had believed that a just society could only come about through action, and in particular opposition to an enemy; following this line Sorel believed that class war between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie would result from a general strike, which, together with the betterment of living conditions, he considered distinct from the mere aim of state distribution, and as the material and moral essence of Marxism and socialism. However, he had problems with Proudhon, and Sorel seems to have sought to detach it of its idealism, as Proudhon had detached justice from power play; that is, from class relations.