Notes on the History of the International

On September 28, 1864, St. Martin's Hall, in the heart of London, was packed to overflowing with some two thousand workers. They had come to attend a meeting called by English trade union leaders and a small group of companions from the Continent. This meeting gave birth to the prototype of all the main organisations of the workers' movement: the International Working Men's Association. Quickly, the International aroused passions all over Europe. It made class solidarity a shared ideal and inspired large numbers of women and men to struggle for the most radical of goals: changing the world. Thanks to its activity, workers were able to gain a clearer understanding of the mechanisms of the capitalist mode of production, to become more aware of their own strength, and to develop new, more advanced forms of struggle for their rights. When it was founded, the central driving force of the International was British trade unionism, the leaders of which were mainly interested in economic questions. They fought to improve the workers' conditions, but without calling capitalism into question. Hence, they conceived the International primarily as an instrument to prevent the import of manpower from abroad in the event of strikes. Then there were the mutualists, long dominant in France. In keeping with the theories of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, they opposed any working-class involvement in politics, and the strike as a weapon of struggle. The third group in importance were the Communists, opposing the existing system of production and espousing the necessity of political action to overthrow it. At its founding, the ranks of the International also included a number of workers inspired by utopian theories, and exiles having vaguely democratic ideas and cross-class conception who considered the International as an instrument for the issuing of general appeals for the liberation of oppressed peoples.

2014

Thanks to the International, the workers ’ movement was able to gain a clearer understanding of the mechanisms of the capitalist mode of production, to become more aware of its own strength, and to develop new and more advanced forms of struggle. Th e organization resonated far beyond the frontiers of Europe, generating hope that a diff erent world was possible among the artisans of Buenos Aires, the early workers ’ associations in Calcutta, and even the labour groups in Australia and New Zealand that applied to join it. Conversely, news of its founding inspired horror in the ruling classes. Th e idea that the workers too wanted to play an active role in history sent shivers down their spine, and many a government set its sights on eradicating the International and harried it with all the means at its disposal.

Labor History, 2021

The International Working Men’s Association was the prototype of all organizations of the Labor movement. It helped workers to grasp that the emancipation of labour could not be won in a single country but was a global objective. The International spread an awareness in their ranks that they had to achieve the goal themselves, through their own capacity for organization, rather than by delegating it to some other force. And it also promoted the idea that it was essential to overcome the capitalist system itself, since improvements within it, though necessary to pursue, would not eliminate exploitation and social injustice. This article reconsiders the main issues broached or advanced by the International – such as internationalism, labor rights, and the critique of capitalism – in light of present-day concerns. It also includes relevant information about structure and membership of the International, and presents an overview of the main theoretical debates, and discussions about political organization, that have agitated this organization through - out its intense history. With the recent crisis of capitalism, the political legacy of the organization founded in London in 1864 has regained profound relevance, and its lessons are today more timely than ever

2022

A number of developments in the industrial and technological realms happened during the mid and the culmination of the nineteenth century. At the same time, international relations started developing. The growing interdependence of the nations for the satisfaction of their wants was a result of the industrial development as well as of the opening up of new countries. The greatly increased facilities of communication and the presence of the same social problems throughout the world were leading men's thoughts into the international field. The interchange of experiences, the comparison of methods, the formation of international associations, the holding of international conferences in this period marked the new movement. The strength of international feeling amongst the working-class was the realisation that the economic and social problems of the workers in the various countries were similar. The teachings of great leaders, thinkers and Statesmen gave the organised working class ...

International Review of Social History, 1988

SummaryDespite an abundance of literature on the Second International relatively little is known about the work of the International Secretariat of National Trade Union Centres (ISNTUC). Foundect in 1901 by the German and Scandinavian labour leaders, this exclusively trade union International (the forerunner of the post-war International Federation of Trade Unions) included representatives of most of the major labour movements of Europe and the USA. Under German leadership it occupied itself with exclusively trade union issues, a limitation which was contested by revolutionary labour federations. Study of the ISNTUC therefore reveals much about conceptions of internationalism within the internationally organized labour movement.

2019

The conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans compelled Europeans to open new routes for their high profited trade with the East which had been fundamentally damaged. Their sea voyages reached them to unknown spaces for profit-making on both east and west side of the Atlantic. The Mercantilism was momentum and at the same time a theorizing device for their endeavours. Slaves, as commercial commodities and the labour-force, were of the greatest profit and played an undeniable role for the industrialization, the genesis of the Industrial Revolution, and the misery of workers as one of its by-products. In 1919 International Labour Organization was founded as an evolutionary response to the dreadful conditions of workers, and for the strengthening of weakened bases of the liberal economic system.The Conditions and weakness had roots in European expansions and developments. The foundation was also a reactionary measure against the expansion of social uprisings all over the Europ...

2014

To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the International Working Men’s Association, this book pulls together essays and resources useful to readers interested in the foundations of labour movement history as well as in the critique of capitalism. Gordon Bannerman praises Marcello Musto’s chapter for reviving the IWMA from relative obscurity.

Review of International Studies, 2000

The activity of workers' organizations and labour issues is once again on the international relations agenda in fields ranging from labour standards at the WTO, to the terms of regional integration, to corporate codes of conduct, to civil society coalition building. This article argues that the role of the international union movement is transforming from a supporter of US capitalism to a brake on neoliberal industrial relations, to potentially advocating a different form of political economy in alliance with other groups. This transformation has taken place partially because unions have has been expelled from the corridors of power in key states and partially because of their encounter with a series of social movements. The cases of the ICFTU's activity in engaging international organizations and MNCs are used as examples to illustrate this trend. The implications for activity in, and the theory of, the global political economy are potentially significant. of US withdrawal. 7 For its part, US organized labour, as represented by the AFL-CIO, supported the government position by actively undermining foreign labour activity premised upon more confrontational or redistributive principles. 8 During the Cold War era most Western unions participated in what Maier calls the politics of productivity. 9 This refers to the political practice of subsuming class conflict by ensuring growth and productivity gains in the economy. It reflected a belief that proper technical management of the economy would create the conditions for prosperity which would eliminate the need for harmful distributional battles. The origins of the policy can be traced back to the uneasy compromise between labour and business that emerged from the Depression and the war-time experience of planning.