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by Earl Ford and William Z Foster, with an introduction by James Barrett
In this pamphlet, Ford and Foster argue that radicals should bore from within the American Federation of Labor and seek to transform it into a genuine, fighting labor movement. We published a lengthy critique in ASR #31, pointing to its authoritarian and reformist spirit. Ford and Foster argue that a militant minority could seize the labor movement, much as the Bolsheviks (who they supported) later seized control of Russia, and lead the “sluggish masses” to freedom. We offer this because of its historical interest; it is in no sense a genuinely syndicalist analysis, rather it was published in an attempt to persuade revolutionary workers to abandon the IWW in order to build the business unions.
Charles H Kerr, 54 pages, paper.