Book: Contemporary European Left Party Movement

By Suksam Park

March 24, 2022 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — Neoliberalism, which has been promoted for over 30 years, is an attack of the state and capital on labor and welfare. Precarious workers, youth unemployment, the climate crisis, and disaster capitalism symbolized by COVID-19, negate the legitimacy of this system. 

Although leftists recognize and argue that capital is inflicting pain on countless people, the left remains marginalized and fragmented in most countries.

If capitalism is in crisis and the people’s suffering is severe, why is the left marginalized? What efforts have leftists made, and what should be done? This book started with these questions, leading to a discussion about the existence, situation, and strategies of the current left.

As the title suggests, this book analyses the contemporary European left in its various shapes and situations since the 1990s. The ultimate purpose of the book is the growth of left forces.

Leftists in each country have been divided according to their movement theories. The difference in movement theories is, in the end, a difference in strategies. A systematic understanding of various party movement theories or strategies is an essential task for left activists. Among these strategies is the movement theory of the Radical Left Party. 

Although shapes and situations of the left in each country are different, since the 1990s when the imposition of neoliberalism by globalized capitalism began in earnest, leftists around the world have shared many concerns and tasks. I wrote this book to discuss such concerns and tasks with serious activists in many countries who have not succumbed to capitalism.

The free English version of this book can be downloaded here.