Contemporary Left-Wing Activism Vol 1: Democracy, Participation and Dissent in a Global Context

231 Pages·2018·3.506 MB·English

by  John Michael Roberts (editor), Joseph Ibrahim (editor)

CONTEMPORARY LEFT-WING
ACTIVISM VOL 1
Within many societies across the world, new social and political movements
have sprung up that either challenge formal parliamentary structures of democ-
racy and participation, or work within them and, in the process, fundamentally
alter the ideological content of democratic potentials. At the same time, some
parliamentary political parties have attracted a new type of ‘populist’ political
rhetoric and support base.
This collection, along with its accompanying Volume 2, examines the
emergence of, and the connections between, these new types of left-wing
democracy and participation. Through an array of examples from different
countries, it explains why left-wing activism arises in new and innovative
spaces in society, and how this joins up with conventional left-wing politics,
including parliamentary politics. It demonstrates how these new forms of
politics can resonate with the real-life experiences of ordinary people and
thereby win support for left-wing agendas.
John Michael Roberts is a Reader in Sociology and Communications, Depart-
ment of Social and Political Sciences, Brunel University, UK.
Joseph Ibrahim is Senior Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social Sciences,
Leeds Beckett University, UK.
Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics
Series editors: Thomas Linehan, Brunel University, and
John Michael Roberts, Brunel University
The series Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics has two areas of
interest. First, this series aims to publish books that focus on the history of
movements of the radical Left. ‘Movement of the radical Left’ is here inter-
preted in its broadest sense as encompassing those past movements for radical
change that operated in the mainstream political arena, as with political parties,
and past movements for change that operated more outside the mainstream, as
with millenarian movements, anarchist groups, utopian socialist communities,
and trade unions. Second, this series aims to publish books that focus on more
contemporary expressions of radical left-wing politics. Recent years have been
witness to the emergence of a multitude of new radical movements adept at
getting their voices heard in the public sphere. From those participating in the
Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, community unionism, social media
forums, independent media outlets, local voluntary organizations campaigning
for progressive change, and so on, it seems to be the case that innovative
networks of radicalism are being constructed in civil society that operate in
different public forms.
TheseriesverymuchwelcomestitleswithaBritishfocus,butisnotlimitedto
any particular national context or region. The series will encourage scholars who
contributetothisseriestodrawonperspectivesandinsightsfromotherdisciplines.
Titles include:
The Far Left in Australia since 1945
Jon Piccini, Evan Smith and Matthew Worley (eds.)
Hybrid media activism
ecologies, imaginaries, algorithms
Emiliano Treré
Contemporary Left-Wing Activism Vol 1
Democracy, Participation and Dissent in a Global Context
Edited by John Michael Roberts and Joseph Ibrahim
Contemporary Left-Wing Activism Vol 2
Democracy, Participation and Dissent in a Global Context
Edited by Joseph Ibrahim and John Michael Roberts
For more about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-
in-Radical-History-and-Politics/book-series/RSRHP.
CONTEMPORARY LEFT-
WING ACTIVISM VOL 1
Democracy, Participation and
Dissent in a Global Context
Edited by John Michael Roberts and
Joseph Ibrahim
Firstpublished2019
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CONTENTS
Listoffigures vii
Contributors viii
Acknowledgements xi
1 Democracyandparticipation:liberalandleft-wingperspectives 1
JohnMichaelRoberts
PARTI
Politicalcultureandpublicspheresoftheleft 27
2 OrganizingAttac!Organizationandpoliticalculture
ofAttacinItaly 29
EmanueleAchino
3 TEKELresistanceinTurkey:themakingoftheproletarian
publicsphere 48
GüldenÖzcan
4 Refuse,resist,revolt:cognitivecapitalismandthestruggle
forthegeneralintellect 71
AndréPusey
vi Contents
PARTII
Thestateandsocialmovements 87
5 PeasantrevoltsandpoliticalchangeinSaintLucia:
theriseandfallofpeasantmovements,1952–1957
and1992–1997 89
TennysonS.D.Joseph
6 Thereturnoftheleft?Post-crisissocialmovements,
anti-austerityactivismandsocialpolicyintheUK 109
GregoryWhite
7 Socialmovements,mediaactivismandparliamentary
organization:abriefhistoryofPodemos 127
MarcelloGisondi
8 Twenty-first-centuryBritishanti-capitalism 146
JosephIbrahim
PARTIII
Thestateandleftistparliamentarypolitics 161
9 Prejudiceonthedoorstep:Labouractiviststalkimmigration 163
DavidBates
10 Revivingpopularsovereigntism:theFrenchradicalleft
andthenation-state 181
EnricoReuter
11 TheEuropeanradicalleft:transformationandpoliticalchange 197
MarcoDamiani
Index 212
FIGURES
2.1 Treenodemodel:organization,decision-makingand
votingsystem 41
2.2 NationalCouncilandlocalgroups’decision-making:
majorityvotingandconsensusapproach 43
11.1 ThevaluesoftheEuropeanradicalleft 202
CONTRIBUTORS
EmanueleAchinoreceivedaPhDinMethodologyofSocialResearch(Unimib)by
focusingonsocialmovementsandgenderstudies,andhehasworkedwithcultural
andstructuraltheoreticalbackgroundsovertime.Atpresent,EmanueleisaSenior
LecturerattheC.T.D.O.(Polito)inthefieldofEuropeanstudiesandcultural/urban
anthropology, as well as in project management, fund-raising and networking by
focusingonsocialengagementandbycrossingbordersbetweenacademicfields.
DavidBatesisalecturerinMediaandCulturalStudiesatNewcastleUniversity,
UK,specialisinginrace,class,migrationandculturalstudies.Hehaspreviously
worked as a campaign organiser for the Labour Party and as a youth worker for
North of England Refugee Service.
MarcoDamiani is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of
Political Science of the University of Perugia. He is currently studying the
European political parties through a comparative approach. In particular, his
research deals with the Left and radical left parties in Western Europe and the
European populist parties. He has also studied the European political class and
network analysis applied to the study of political power.
Marcello Gisondi is a researcher in the history of political thought at the
University of Italian Switzerland (USI). He studied philosophy at Ludwig
Maximilian University in Munich and graduated from the University of Naples
Federico II, where he also earned his PhD. His current research focuses on both
the history of populism and its current manifestation in European democracies.
Joseph Ibrahim is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Leeds Beckett University,
UK. His research interests are social movements, political protests and social
Contributors ix
and political theory. He has recently completed projects on the application of
social theory for understanding social movement dynamics, the politics of the
alternative globalization movement, student politics and protests, and social
movement emergence after the global financial crash. He is author of Bourdieu
and Social Movements: Ideological Struggles in the British Anti-capitalist
Movement (Palgrave, 2015).
TennysonS.D.Josephis aSenior Lecturer inPolitical Science attheCave Hill
Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). He attained his PhD at the
University of Cambridge, UK. His publications include General Elections and
Voting in the English-Speaking Caribbean 1992–2005 (co-authored with
Cynthia Barrow-Giles) and Decolonization in St. Lucia: Politics and Global
Neoliberalism, 1945–2010. He is also a weekly contributor to the Daily Nation
newspaper (Barbados). He served briefly as the Administrative Attaché to
the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia (Kenny Anthony) between 2000 and 2003,
and was an Opposition Senator in the Parliament of Saint Lucia for a brief
period in 2007.
Gülden Özcan is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Lethbridge. She co-edited A General Police System: Political
Economy and Security in the Age of Enlightenment (2009) and Capitalism and
Confrontation:CriticalReadings(2012).ShecontributedtoAlternate Routes:A
Journal of Critical Social Research, Moment: Journal of Cultural Studies,
Kampfplatz, and The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization. Her com-
mentaries have appeared in The Bullet (Socialist Project e-bulletin).
André Pusey is a Course Director in the Planning, Housing and Human
Geography group within the School of the Built Environment, Leeds Beckett
University. He previously worked within the School of Geography at the
University of Leeds, where he was involved with the MA in Activism and
Social Change. His research focuses on social movements, urban commons and
social justice. He has previously published on student movements’ experiments
with critical pedagogical alternatives to the marketised university, urban acti-
vists’ attempts to establish autonomous spaces, and militant forms of research.
Enrico Reuter is Lecturer in Public and Social Policy at the Department of
SocialPolicyandSocialWork,UniversityofYork.Hisresearchinterestsarethe
crisis of contemporary democracy, public service reform and labour market
policies, notably regarding vulnerable or precarious forms of work and self-
employment. He tweets about these topics as @ReuterEnrico.
John Michael Roberts is currently a Reader in Sociology and Communications
at Brunel University. He has researched and published on free speech and the
public sphere, digital culture, work and globalisation, voluntary activity, and