Left-originated syndicalism became a powerful organizing tool of the fascist right

Evidence

Unfortunately, as Georges Sorel (1974) suggested in his brilliant Reflections on violence, first published in 1908, it was possible to inven.t m’yths that might have a consuming power over class politics. SyndIcalIsm of the sort that Sorel promoted originated as a parti­ CIpatory movement of the left, deeply antagonistic to all forms of state power, but evolved into a corporatist movement (attractive to someone like Le Corbusier in the 1930s) that became a powerful organizing tool of the fascist right. In so doing it was able to appeal t<;> certain myths of a hierarchically ordered but nevertheless parti­ Clpatory and exclusive community, with clear identity and close socƾal. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 262

Categorization

• XREF: The left-to-fascist inversion of participatory myths connects to the core rival-periodization comparison — how cultural forms get captured by shifting political-economic configurations. — connects to: French fascism drew on syndicalist and anti-bolshevik movements rooted in ex-servicemen; Italian anarcho-syndicalist leaders moved from radicalism into fascism via nationalism. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2157; Dominant authoritarians migrating through leftist movements skew revolutions toward dictatorship (+5 more)
• SEED: An article angle: how participatory, anti-state movements of the left keep getting structurally captured by reactionary nationalisms — a recurring historical and contemporary pattern.
• QUESTION: What mechanism made this myth-inversion so easy — and does it recur with today’s decentralized movements?

Broader Connections

• French fascism drew on syndicalist and anti-bolshevik movements rooted in ex-servicemen #exemplifies (0.90)
• Italian anarcho-syndicalist leaders moved from radicalism into fascism via nationalism. #expands (0.85) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2157
• Dominant authoritarians migrating through leftist movements skew revolutions toward dictatorship #complicates (0.75)