Solidarity was probable the most infleuntial libertarian socialist group of the 60s and early 70s. Heavily influenced by the French group Socialism ou Barbarie, it emerged from the Socialist lkabour League. Making an abrupt break with trotskyism, Solidarity insisted that the revolution must be the work of the working class itself. Their magazines carried regular reports and analysis of workers struggles, often based on reports and conversations with the workers involved.

Solidarity's statement of principles, As We See It, remains a vital contribution to libertarian theory. It includes the following statement, which neatly sums up what the role of revolutionaries remains:

"Meaningful action, for revolutionaries, is whatever increases the confidence, the autonomy, the initiative, the participation, the solidarity, the equalitarian tendencies and the self-activity of the masses and whatever assists in their demystification. Sterile and harmful action is whatever reinforces the passivity of the masses, their apathy, their cynicism, their differentiation through hierarchy, their alienation, their reliance on others to do things for them and the degree to which they can therefore be manipulated by others - even by those allegedly acting on their behalf."

We have attempted here to put together a collection of their material. Some is hosted on this site, some of the links take you to other sites. We would be grateful for any information about other Solidarity texts available online so that we can add them below.

As We Don't See It The complete version of As We See It and As We Don't See It, including the revisions from the late-seventies when Solidarity merged with Social Revolution.

A Contribution to the Critique of Marx by John Crump. A joint pamphlet by Solidarity (London) and Social Revolution. Examining the contradictions between Marx's revolutionary communist theory and bourgois revolutionary practice.

The Irrational in Politics An analysis of Wilhelm Reich's politics and an explanation of why we internalise our own repression.

Mutinies by Dave Lamb Mutinies in the armies of the First World War

May 68 The revolutionary upheavals that shook Europe.

Hungary 56 The revolution that destroyed the myth of Stalinist "socialism".

Women in the Spanish Revolution by Liz Willis. The role of women in the Spanish Revolution

The Lordstown Struggle and the Real Crisis in Production"our main concern is to bring to industrial militants and others the specific example of what happened at the General Motors plant in Lordstown (Ohio) during 1971-72. The Lordstown story is a clear example of working class resistance to work itself. This resistance, which we want to describe in some detail, is a very welcome tendency. It must be looked at in a very concrete way, if by socialism we mean something more than just a re-arrangement in the distribution of surplus value, which would leave the technological infrastructure of industry unchanged."

The Workers Opposition by Alexandra Kollontai Opposition to Lenin from within the Bolshevik Party

Theses on The Chinese Revolution by Cajo Brendel

The Bolsheviks and Workers Control This link will take you to the excellent Libcom web site. One of Solidarity's major books, it describes and analyses the Bolsheviks destruction of workers power after the October 1917 Revolution.

Portugal, the Impossible Revolution by Phil Mailer. This link will take you to the Class Against Class website. This book was Solidarity's biggest ever project. It chronicles the workers takeover in Portugal from 1974 - 75.

Third Worldism or Socialism. The introduction to the Solidarity pamphlet Ceylon the JVP Uprising. A cogent argument against supporting national liberation struggles.

The Kronstadt Commune by Ida Mett. Ida Mett's history of the Kronstadt uprising highlights one of the most important yet neglected events of the Russian Revolution. The suppression of the most revolutionary section of the Navy by the Bolsheviks was the final blow to any hope of a genuine revolution based on democratic workers' control. Mett dispels many of the contemporary mistruths put forward by Bolshevik propagandists and includes a number of original sources from the commune.

Recollections of my time in Solidarity . A brief account of four years in Solidarity.