The Politics of Protest [week 10]

The Left: the Old, the New, and the Far

Characteristics of Old Left politics (by 1960s)

• 1. Industrial workers and trades unions as key motor forces of change

Characteristics of Old Left politics (by 1960s)

• 2. Emphasis on economic explanation• Condemnation of

capitalism

Characteristics of Old Left politics (by 1960s)

• 3. Politics parties as chief organisational vehicles

Characteristics of Old Left politics (by 1960s)

• 4. Belief in ‘progressive’ reform from above

Characteristics of Old Left politics (by 1960s)

• 5. Depression, war and Stalinism• Key reference points

Even after practically half a century, my throat contracts as I recall the almost intolerable

tensions under which we lived month after month, the unending moments of decision

about what to say and do on which our future lives seemed to depend, the friends now clinging together or facing one another

bitterly as adversaries.

Eric Hobsbawm

Two key events from 1956

1. Hungarian Uprising2. The Suez Crisis

The Old Left and New Left – key difference 1

• Old Left:- Claimed to represent proletariat

• New Left:- Adapted Marx to conceive new

social groups as force for change

The Old Left and New Left – key difference 2

• Old Left:- Emphasised economic explanation

• New Left:- Emphasis on culture

The Old Left and New Left – key difference 3

• Old Left:- Political parties as vehicles for change

• New Left:- Believed in creation of counter-

institutions

The Old Left and New Left – key difference 4

• Old Left:- Belief in inevitability of socialism

• New Left:- Emphasised importance of

continuous revolt

The Old Left and New Left – key difference 5

• Old Left:- Experiences of trauma and defeat

• New Left:- General sense of prosperity and

expanding horizons

C Wright Mills

Herbert Marcuse

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