Anarcho-Syndicalism New Edition. Preface by Noam Chomsky. Introduction by Nicolas Walter

"Anarcho-Syndicalism" provides readers with an engagiong account of an egalitarian political philosophy that has its roots in Enlightenment thought. Author Rudolph Rocker presents a systematic conception of the development of anarchist thought towards anarcho-syndicalism, writing that "anarchism is not a fixed, self-enclosed social system but rather a definite trend in the historic development of mankind, which, in contrast with the intellectual guardianship of all clerical and governmental institutions, strives for the free unhindered unfolding of all the individual and social forces in life. Even freedom is only a relative, not an absolute concept, since it tends constantly to become broader and to affect wider circles in more manifold ways. For the anarchist, freedom is not an abstract philosophical concept, but the vital concrete possibility for every human being to bring to full development all the powers, capacities, and talents with which nature has endowed him, and turn them to social account. The less this natural development of man is influenced by ecclesiastical or political guardianship, the more efficient and harmonious will human personality become, the more will it become the measure of the intellectual culture of the society in which it has grown." Rocker shows that there is value in studying "trend(s) in the historic development of mankind" that do not articulate a specific and detailed social theory. Although intellectuals and social commentators alike dismiss anarchism as utopian, formless, primitive, or otherwise incompatible with the realities of a complex society, Rocker states that at every stage of history our concern must be to dismantle those forms of authority and oppression that survive from an era when they might have been justified in terms of the need for security or survival or economic development, but that now contribute to -- rather than alleviate - material and cultural deficit. "Anarcho-Syndicalism" remains an amazing intellectual and politcal statement containing a message of egalitarian hope.