- In full:
- Georges Eugène Sorel
- Born:
- November 2, 1847, Cherbourg, France
- Died:
- August 30, 1922, Boulogne-sur-Seine (aged 74)
Georges Sorel
-
Who was Georges Sorel?
Georges Sorel (1847â1922) was a French socialist and revolutionary syndicalist who created a unique theory regarding the historical role of myth and violence.
Trained as a civil engineer, Sorel became interested in social and economic issues around age 40. By 1892, he retired to study and write, and in 1893, he discovered Marxism. Sorel supported revolutionary syndicalism, which emphasized class struggle. His most famous work, Reflections on Violence (1908), explored myth and violence, where violence represented the rejection of the existing social order.
Sorel's thought was rooted in a moralistic opposition to social decadence. He challenged the notion of inevitable progress and believed that revolutionary action was necessary for a satisfactory social order. Later, he became associated with monarchism and, after the Russian Revolution, expressed support for the Bolsheviks.
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What are some ideas Georges Sorel is famous for?
Georges Sorel was a French revolutionary and socialist thinker known for his theories on myth and violence in social change. Sorel supported revolutionary syndicalism, which emphasized the class struggle's spontaneity.
His most famous idea, from Reflections on Violence, involves the creative role of myth and violence in history. Sorel saw violence as the revolutionary denial of the existing social order. He conceived of the general strike as a "myth" that could inspire action to overthrow capitalism. Sorel's theories were later misused by Benito Mussolini.
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What did Georges Sorel believe about violence in society?
Georges Sorel was a French revolutionary syndicalist who believed in the positive and creative role of myth and violence in historical processes. In his Reflections on Violence, Sorel defines violence as the revolutionary denial of the existing social order, contrasting it with force, which he saw as the state's power of coercion. Sorel saw violence as passion, not necessarily physical acts like bombings, but as a means to stir workers to revolutionary action. He believed a satisfactory social order would be brought about by revolutionary action.
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How did Sorelâs ideas differ from those of other thinkers of his time?
Georges Sorel's ideas set him apart from other socialists of his time because he emphasized the importance of myth and violence in bringing about social change.
Unlike many socialists, Sorel did not believe in inevitable progress or the inherent goodness of human nature. He grew disenchanted with socialist parties, which he felt were too focused on democracy and constitutionalism. Instead, Sorel supported revolutionary syndicalism, a movement that favored the spontaneity of class struggle. He saw violence as a revolutionary denial of the existing social order, a concept that was later misused by Benito Mussolini.
Sorel's unique perspective was that the future is determined by human action and revolutionary action is needed to bring about a satisfactory social order. He viewed the general strike as a "myth" that could inspire people to overthrow capitalism.
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What is Sorelâs concept of 'myth' in politics?
Georges Sorel conceived "myth" as a potent force in the historical process, particularly within revolutionary movements. Sorel did not refer to myth as falsehood but as a symbolic representation of social aspirations, most notably embodied in the syndicalist vision of a general strike.
Sorel saw myth as a means to inspire the working class by creating revolutionary denial of the existing social order. Sorel's concept was later distorted to justify violence, as seen in the case of Benito Mussolini's fascist ideology.
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How have Sorelâs ideas influenced later political movements or thinkers?
Georges Sorel's theories, particularly his ideas on myth and violence, have had a complex and controversial influence on later political movements and thinkers.
Sorel's concept of violence as a revolutionary denial of the existing social order was later perverted and utilized by the Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Sorel's ideas also influenced revolutionary movements. After initially supporting revolutionary syndicalism, Sorel became disenchanted and, with some hesitation, adhered to the monarchist movement Action Française. Sorel later declared himself a supporter of the Bolsheviks.
Sorel's theories also influenced the black militant writers of the 1960s, notably Frantz Fanon.
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Georges Sorel (born November 2, 1847, Cherbourg, Franceâdied August 30, 1922, Boulogne-sur-Seine) was a French Socialist and revolutionary syndicalist who developed an original and provocative theory on the positive, even creative, role of myth and violence in the historical process.
Sorel was born of a middle-class family and trained as a civil engineer. Not until he reached age 40 did he become interested in social and economic questions. In 1892 he retired from his civil-service engineering post and devoted himself to a life of meditation and study. In 1893 he discovered Marxism and began writing the analytical critiques that constitute his most original and valuable achievement.
In 1897 Sorel was a passionate defender of Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish army officer who was wrongly convicted of treason, but he became disgusted with the way the parties of the left exploited âthe Affairâ for their own political advancement. By 1902 he was denouncing the Socialist and Radical parties for advocating democracy and constitutionalism as a road to Socialism. Instead, he enthusiastically supported revolutionary syndicalism, a movement with anarchistic leanings that stressed the spontaneity of the class struggle. His best known work, RĂŠflexions sur la violence (1908; Reflections on Violence), first appeared as a series of articles in Le Mouvement Socialiste early in 1906 and has been widely translated. Here Sorel developed his notions of myth (modeled on the syndicalist vision of the general strike) and of violence. Violence for Sorel was the revolutionary denial of the existing social order, and force was the stateâs power of coercion. (His theory was later perverted and utilized by the Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.)
Throughout Sorelâs thought there runs a moralistic hatred of social decadence and resignation. He attacked the idea of inevitable progress, as developed by 18th-century philosophers, in his work Les Illusions du progrès (1908; âIllusions of Progressâ) and believed that the future was what men chose to make it. Departing from the intellectual tradition of European Socialism, Sorel held that human nature was not innately good; he therefore concluded that a satisfactory social order was not likely to evolve but would have to be brought about by revolutionary action. After 1909 Sorel became disenchanted with the syndicalist movement, and, with some hesitation, he adhered, not without embarrassment and hesitation, to the monarchist movementâAction Françaiseâwhich sought to reestablish a homogeneous and traditional moral order. With the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917, Sorel declared himself for the Bolsheviks, who he thought might be capable of precipitating the moral regeneration of mankind.
Sorel wrote on an extraordinarily broad range of topics, including the Bible, Aristotle, and the decline of Rome, in addition to his writings on Socialism. Among his chief works are LâAvenir socialiste des syndicats (1898; âThe Socialist Future of the Syndicalistsâ), Les Illusions du progrès (1908; âIllusions of Progressâ), and La RĂŠvolution dreyfusienne (1909; âThe Dreyfusard Revolutionâ).