For a long time the left has highlighted the emerging problems of the neoliberal counter-revolution. Persuasive analysis of the backgrounds of different but interconnected crisis have been developed. But what is less developed is the capability of the left to present concrete steps how to change the world we live in today. Although many of us may have a vision about the future structure of our societies, the question is how to go from the here and now towards more equal and sustainable societies in the future.
Entry Projects to a Politics of Solidarity: A Radical Practice Test of Counter-hegemony in Times of the Crisis of Neo-liberal Financial Market Capitalism
November 23rd, 2010
By Michael Brie, Director of the Institute of Social Analysis, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (Berlin)
An analysis of Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony reveals a “magic square” which societal forces must form in order to successfully challenge the ruling structure in a counter-hegemonic manner: The first side of that square is the emergence of the possibility for a new and higher societal stage of productivity. The old power and property structures must have proven themselves as chains binding the new productive forces. The second concerns individual life opportunities. “Society” or “classes” do nothing; rather, it is always concrete people in concrete groups who take the risk of dissident action, or of refusal, upon themselves. The third is the necessary interconnection of conflicting interests, a historic compromise which links very different or even contrary classes and social groups. The fourth is that none of this is possible without a new moral foundation, a superior system of values.
Sinistra, Ecologia e Libertà
October 30th, 2010
First national congress of the Italian left Party Sinistra, Ecologia e Libertà (SEL) (Left, Ecology and Freedom) in Florence, 22-24 October 2010
The Congress formalized the birth of the party Sinistra, Ecologia and Libertà, therefore merging the founding parties and movements, cooperating since 2009 ( Movimento per la Sinistra ( from PRC), Uniti per la Sinistra (from PdCI), a part of the Greens, Sinistra Democratica). Numbers: more than 1000 delegates representing 42,000 SEL members. Note that the high number of SEL members was highly facilitated by membership’s online procedure.
Another Europe is Possible – The GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament
October 21st, 2010
The green-left group in the European Parliament is an alliance of MEP from 12 European countries and 17 parties. What are the characteristics of the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament, what does “confederalism” mean to them and what is the relationship between the GUE/NGL group and the European Left Party?
Within Europe, the parties of the radical left are united in overlapping forms of cooperation. With over 30 members and observers the most inclusive among them is certainly the European Left Party (EL) which is currently counting down to its 3rd congress in Paris in December. The Paris Congress is expected to adopt a Joint Action Platform for resistance and alternatives in Europe, concrete lines of actions that six years after the founding of the EL shall move the European left parties towards a new level of cooperation.
Europe Must Become Conscious of its Own Culture
July 14th, 2010
Von Luciana Castellina – I would like to start my talk with a remark which has no direct connection to CULTURE, but I think we can’t do without a somewhat dramatic observation: We are currently experiencing the decline of Europe and of the role of Europe. The dynamic is gone; the citizens don’t understand the European Union.
Video of Lecture by Luciana Castellina
July 14th, 2010
“Europe Must Become Conscious of its Own Culture” , Lecture by Luciana Castellina (in French), RLS Brussels, December 2009.
Luciana Castellina is a communist, journalist, author, and a former Member of the European Parliament.
The Left in Government in Latin America and Europe
July 9th, 2010
“The Left in Government II: Latin America and Europe Compared” – RLS-Conference in Brussels, 27-29 June 2010
Political activists from Latin America and Europe met for the second time in recent days at the invitation of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Brussels to discuss their experience with participation in government. At the first conference, the opinion had been unanimous: Yes, despite some disappointing results, such as those in France and Italy, the left could not resist the challenge of assuming governmental responsibility. The recent second conference was to serve to deepen the discussion. How is the left reacting to the worldwide crisis? What strategic concepts are they following? Are there political topic areas, in which the left is implementing new ideas? What about such issues as participatory justice, ecology, deepening democracy, or an alternative financial architecture?
A Different Government is Possible! Beyond the Centre-left Governments in Europe
June 28th, 2010
By Michael Brie, Institute of Social Analysis, RLS
1. A NEW STRATEGIC SITUATION
The short social-democatic decade and the return of the conservatives
After the German parliamentary elections in 1998, thirteen of fifteen governments of the then member countries of the European Union were led by social democrats; Spain and Ireland were the only exceptions. Within a decade, this picture has been reversed completely. The centre-left in Europe is everywhere on the defensive.
Self-criticism on the part of the left of its last twenty years is the necessary point of departure for real renewal. For the life goals, the political convictions and the style of politics of the most important leaders were no longer of the left, the results of their politics no longer had any connection to leftist goals, and the cooperative base for a common left formation had disintegrated. To put it bluntly, this left no longer knew what it wanted. It no longer wanted what it could do. It could no longer do what would have been good for itself and for the country.
The Crisis of Capitalism and Post-capitalist Horizons
May 3rd, 2010
By Pedro Páez Pérez – A century ago, Rosa Luxemburg stated that the historical dilemma humankind faced at that time was either socialism or barbarism. The current global crisis underscores emphatically the need to create the objective and subjective conditions to guarantee a solution that enriches and projects the best of human experience from the last centuries. It is a responsibility incumbent upon the progressive forces to immediately create a resolute programme which will permit political consolidation, while at the same time blocking the emerging neo-fascist agenda and opening the way for major transformations.
Is Socialist Politics Possible from a Position in Government?
May 3rd, 2010
Is Socialist Politics Possible from a Position in Government? Five objections by Rosa Luxemburg and five offers for a discussion – By Michael Brie
Participation by the left in governments dominated by other forces has always been controversial. Primarily, five objections to government participation by the left have been formulated, to the effect that: (1) capitalism cannot be changed fundamentally; (2) only a revolution can solve the basic problems; (3) the state is only the instrument of political power of the economically dominant class; (4) government participation inevitably weakens the left; and (5) by its participation in government, the left makes the continuation of rightist politics possible in the first place.
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