148-783: The Old Left is an informal umbrella term used to describe the various left-wing political movements in the Western world prior to the 1960s. Many of these movements were Marxist movements that often took a more vanguardist approach to social justice ; focused primarily on labor unionization and social class in the West. Generally, the Old Left, unlike the New , focused more on economic issues than cultural ones. The Old Left often overlooked social matters such as abortion, drugs, feminism, gay rights, environmentalism, and immigration. While some parties within
296-460: A caretaker government was formed to lead the country to a second, snap election. In the June election , Syriza regressed to 17.83%, 2.24% lower than its May results, with ND losing only 0.23%, in an election marred by low turnout. Even though Syriza did retain second place-and official opposition status, Tsipras resigned as party leader 4 days after the election, stating that he would remain involved in
444-451: A mixed economy with an empowered public sector and a thriving private sector . Centre-left policies tend to favour limited state intervention in matters pertaining to the public interest . In several countries, the terms far-left and radical left have been associated with many varieties of anarchism , autonomism and communism . They have been used to describe groups that advocate anti-capitalism and eco-terrorism . In France,
592-474: A German socialist rival. Schweitzer had been arrested in a park on a morals charge and not only did Marx and Engels refuse to join a committee defending him, they resorted to the cheapest form of bathroom humor in their private comments about the affair". In 1933, Joseph Stalin added Article 121 to the entire Soviet Union criminal code, which made male homosexuality a crime punishable by up to five years in prison with hard labor. The precise reason for Article 121
740-568: A capitalist bourgeois ideology. Marxists were responsible for organizing the first International Working Women's Day events. The women's liberation movement is closely connected to the New Left and other new social movements which openly challenged the orthodoxies of the Old Left. Socialist feminism as exemplified by the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women and Marxist feminism , spearheaded by Selma James , saw themselves as
888-587: A central feature of political debates on the Left. During the French Revolution, nationalism was a key policy of the Republican Left. The Republican Left advocated for civic nationalism and argued that the nation is a "daily plebiscite" formed by the subjective "will to live together". Related to revanchism , the belligerent will to take revenge against Germany and retake control of Alsace-Lorraine , nationalism
1036-584: A concern for those in society whom its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others as well as a belief that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished through radical means that change the nature of the society they are implemented in. According to emeritus professor of economics Barry Clark, supporters of left-wing politics "claim that human development flourishes when individuals engage in cooperative, mutually respectful relations that can thrive only when excessive differences in status, power, and wealth are eliminated." Within
1184-489: A cycle of introversion is closing. In November 2023, SYRIZA was polling in third place for the first time in over eleven years. In early December 2023, those that split from the party formed the New Left party. The 2024 European parliament election was the first electoral test for Stefanos Kasselakis as leader of the party, and the first set of European Elections since Brexit . Syriza failed to increase its percentage from
1332-570: A desire for greater economic equality and workers rights with demands for environmental protection. Democratic socialist Bolivian president Evo Morales has traced environmental degradation to capitalist consumerism , stating that "[t]he Earth does not have enough for the North to live better and better, but it does have enough for all of us to live well". James Hansen , Noam Chomsky , Raj Patel , Naomi Klein , The Yes Men and Dennis Kucinich hold similar views. In climate change mitigation ,
1480-720: A distinction is made between the centre-left and the left represented by the Socialist Party and the French Communist Party and the far-left as represented by anarcho-communists , Maoists and Trotskyists . The United States Department of Homeland Security defines "left-wing extremism" as groups that "seek to bring about change through violent revolution, rather than through established political processes". Similar to far-right politics , extremist far-left politics have motivated political violence , radicalization , genocide , terrorism , sabotage and damage to property,
1628-474: A firing squad, and children were deprived of any religious education outside of the home. Today in the Western world , those on the Left generally support secularization and the separation of church and state. However, religious beliefs have also been associated with many left-wing movements such as the progressive movement , the Social Gospel movement, the civil rights movement , the anti-war movement ,
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#17328442254741776-423: A force within left-wing politics. The influential Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , published amidst the wave of revolutions of 1848 across Europe, asserted that all of human history is defined by class struggle . They predicted that a proletarian revolution would eventually overthrow bourgeois capitalism and create a stateless , moneyless and classless communist society . It
1924-411: A lead in opinion polls, but its anti-austerity position worried investors and eurozone supporters. The party's chief economic advisor, John Milios , downplayed fears that Greece under a Syriza government would exit the eurozone while shadow development minister George Stathakis disclosed the party's intention to crack down on Greek oligarchs if it wins the election. In the election, Syriza defeated
2072-549: A left-wing response to The Limits to Growth model that predicted catastrophic resource depletion and spurred environmentalism, postulating that capitalist technologies were the key cause responsible for environmental degradation, as opposed to human population pressures. Environmental degradation can be seen as a class or equity issue, as environmental destruction disproportionately affects poorer communities and countries. Several left-wing or socialist groupings have an overt environmental concern and several green parties contain
2220-637: A municipal councillor for the municipality of Athens , as party president on 10 February 2008. Alavanos retained the parliamentary leadership of Syriza, as Tsipras was not at that time a member of parliament. Tsipras achieved considerable popularity with the Greek electorate, which led to a surge in support for Syriza in opinion polls, up to 18 percent of the vote at its peak. At the end of June 2008, Start – Socialist Internationalist Organisation (Greek: Ξεκίνημα – Σοσιαλιστική Διεθνιστική Οργάνωση, Xekínima – Sosialistiké Diethnistikí Orgánosi ) announced that it would join
2368-721: A part of the Left by their contemporaries. Feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft was influenced by Thomas Paine . Many notable leftists have been strong supporters of gender equality such as Marxist philosophers and activists Rosa Luxemburg , Clara Zetkin and Alexandra Kollontai , anarchist philosophers and activists such as Virginia Bolten , Emma Goldman and Lucía Sánchez Saornil and democratic socialist philosophers and activists such as Helen Keller and Annie Besant . However, Marxists such as Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, and Alexandra Kollontai, who are supporters of radical social equality for women and have rejected and opposed liberal feminism because they considered it to be
2516-482: A part of the Left that challenges male-dominated and sexist structures within the Left. The connection between left-wing ideologies and the struggle for LGBTQ rights also has an important history. Prominent socialists who were involved in early struggles for LGBTQ rights include Edward Carpenter , Oscar Wilde , Harry Hay , Bayard Rustin and Daniel Guérin , among others. The New Left is also strongly supportive of LGBTQ rights and liberation, having been instrumental in
2664-404: A plan to have a shared list in the next legislative election in 2027. Major supporters of this are Nikos Pappas from Syriza and Haris Doukas from PASOK. On 7 September 2024, 100 members of the party's central committee tabled a censure motion against Stefanos Kasselakis after he had rejected their initial request for new elections. The members who submitted the motion blamed the leader for
2812-563: A position within the political mainstream that accepts capitalism and a market economy. The terms far-left and ultra-left are used for positions that are more radical , more strongly rejecting capitalism and mainstream representative democracy , instead advocating for a socialist society based on economic democracy and direct democracy , representing economic, political and social democracy. The centre-left includes social democrats , social liberals , progressives and greens . Centre-left supporters accept market allocation of resources in
2960-601: A radical alternative, stating that "The body we are establishing is a pluralistic body, open to the existence of different ideological, historical and value sensitivities and currents of thought. It is anchored by class in the labor and wider popular movement, but also with explicit feminist and ecological goals. It is already gathering forces and currents of the communist, radical, renewalist, anti-capitalist, revolutionary and libertarian Left of all shades, left-wing socialists, democrats, forces of left-wing feminism and radical ecology. Because it respects and considers differences like
3108-434: A refusal to entertain the subject, and from Engels open hostility to the individuals involved". This is because in private Engels criticized male homosexuality and related it to ancient Greek pederasty , saying that "[the ancient Greeks] fell into the abominable practice of sodomy [ Knabenliebe , meaning 'boy love" or pederasty ] and degraded alike their gods and themselves with the myth of Ganymede ". Engels also said that
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#17328442254743256-456: A ruling elite of individuals) while it prepares a population for capitalist exploitation. Within anarchism, this subject has been extensively discussed by Rudolf Rocker in his book titled Nationalism and Culture and by the works of Fredy Perlman such as Against His-Story, Against Leviathan and The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism . The failure of revolutions in Germany and Hungary in
3404-530: A stance hostile to immigration, promoting policies that would preserve the ethnic homogeneity of the country. Australian Prime Minister John Curtin , who was part of the Australian Labor Party , reinforced the White Australia Policy and said the following in his defense: "This country shall remain forever the home of the descendants of those people who came here in peace in order to establish in
3552-674: A strong socialist presence. The Green Party of England and Wales features an eco-socialist group, the Green Left , which was founded in June 2005. Its members held several influential positions within the party, including both the former Principal Speakers Siân Berry and Derek Wall , himself an eco-socialist and Marxist academic. In Europe, several green left political parties such as the European United Left–Nordic Green Left combine traditional social-democratic values such as
3700-404: A temporary state between the capitalist state of affairs and a communist society . Marx defined the proletariat as salaried workers, in contrast to the lumpenproletariat , who he defined as the outcasts of society such as beggars, tricksters, entertainers, buskers, criminals and prostitutes. The political relevance of farmers has divided the left. In Das Kapital , Marx scarcely mentioned
3848-614: Is bourgeois nationalism . Some Marxists, together with others on the left, view nationalism , racism (including antisemitism) and religion as divide and conquer tactics used by the ruling classes to prevent the working class from uniting against them in solidarity with one another. Left-wing movements have often taken up anti-imperialist positions. Anarchism has developed a critique of nationalism that focuses on nationalism's role in justifying and consolidating state power and domination. Through its unifying goal, nationalism strives for centralisation (both in specific territories and in
3996-450: Is a centre-left to left-wing political party in Greece . It was founded in 2004 as a political coalition of left-wing and radical left parties, and registered as a political party in 2012. A democratic socialist , progressive party, Syriza holds a pro-European stance. Syriza also advocates for alter-globalisation , LGBT rights , and secularism . In the past, SYRIZA
4144-489: Is in some dispute among historians. The few official government statements made about the law tended to confuse homosexuality with pedophilia and was tied up with a belief that homosexuality was only practiced among fascists or the aristocracy . The law remained intact until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and was repealed in 1993. Gay men were sometimes denied membership or expelled from Communist parties across
4292-471: Is not a man at all. And any man who tries to stigmatize the Australian community as racist because they want to preserve this country for the white race is doing our nation great harm ... I reject, in conscience, the idea that Australia should or ever can become a multi-racial society and survive." Left-wing Labor members perceived unrestricted immigration as a ploy by owners to drive down wages, resulting in
4440-421: Is sometimes used to justify hostility towards supranational organizations. Left-wing nationalism can also refer to any form of nationalism which emphasizes a leftist working-class populist agenda that seeks to overcome exploitation or oppression by other nations. Many Third World anti-colonialist movements have adopted leftist and socialist ideas. Third-Worldism is a tendency within leftist thought that regards
4588-627: Is used for social and cultural politics. In the United Kingdom during the 1980s, the term hard left was applied to supporters of Tony Benn such as the Campaign Group and those involved in the London Labour Briefing newspaper as well as Trotskyist groups such as Militant and the Alliance for Workers' Liberty . In the same period, the term soft left was applied to supporters of
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4736-465: The 2023 legislative election and failed to win any provinces. Due to the fall in support for New Democracy , Syriza managed to close the difference in vote share between the two largest parties from over 20% in the legislative elections to 13.3%. The weakened position of the government and the failure of PASOK to re-establish itself as the principal opposition led to talks of a united centre-left between PASOK and Syriza, who are currently considering
4884-568: The Bible . In the late 19th century, the Protestant Social Gospel movement arose in the United States which integrated progressive and socialist thought with Christianity through faith-based social activism. Other left-wing religious movements include Buddhist socialism, Jewish socialism and Islamic socialism. There have been alliances between the left and anti-war Muslims , such as
5032-640: The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation have rejected this move and continue to focus exclusively on working class as the Old Left. In 2015, KKE voted against the Civil Partnerships Bill proposed by Syriza , responding: "With the formation of a socialist-communist society, a new type of partnership will undoubtedly be formed—a relatively stable heterosexual relationship and reproduction". Militant
5180-969: The Democratic and Republican parties, or as synonyms for liberalism and conservatism , respectively. Since the Right was populist, both in the Western and the Eastern Bloc , anything viewed as avant-garde art was called leftist across Europe, thus the identification of Picasso's Guernica as "leftist" in Europe and the condemnation of the Russian composer Shostakovich 's opera ( The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District ) in Pravda as follows: "Here we have 'leftist' confusion instead of natural, human music". The spectrum of left-wing politics ranges from centre-left to far-left or ultra-left . The term centre-left describes
5328-593: The President of Greece to try to form a government but failed, as he could not muster the necessary number of parliamentarians. Subsequently, Tsipras rejected a proposal by the president to join a coalition government with the centre-right and centre-left parties. For the second legislative election held on 17 June, Syriza re-registered as a single party (adding the United Social Front moniker) as its previous coalition status would have disqualified it from receiving
5476-581: The Republicans and Eugène Etienne , the president of the Parliamentary Colonial Group. After the antisemitic Dreyfus Affair in which officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely convicted of sedition and exiled to a penal colony in 1894 before being exonerated in 1906, nationalism in the form of Boulangism increasingly became associated with the far-right. The Marxist social class theory of proletarian internationalism asserts that members of
5624-651: The Respect Party and the Stop the War Coalition in Britain. In France, the left has been divided over moves to ban the hijab from schools, with some leftists supporting a ban based on the separation of church and state in accordance with the principle of laïcité and other leftists opposing the prohibition based on personal and religious freedom. Social progressivism is another common feature of modern leftism, particularly in
5772-568: The Revolutions of 1848 . They proposed the following policies: the abolition of private property in land and inheritance ; introduction of a progressive income tax ; confiscation of rebels' property; nationalization of credit , communication, and transport; expansion and integration of industry and agriculture; enforcement of universal obligation of labour; and provision of universal education and abolition of child labour . The text ends with three decisive sentences, reworked and popularized into
5920-747: The Roman Catholic Church and supporting atheism and the separation of church and state , ushering in a policy known as laïcité . Karl Marx asserted that "religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people ". In Soviet Russia, the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin originally embraced an ideological principle which professed that all religion would eventually atrophy and resolved to eradicate organized Christianity and other religious institutions. In 1918, 10 Russian Orthodox hierarchs were summarily executed by
6068-543: The Saint-Imier International and later the International Workers' Association (IWA–AIT) . The Second International (1888–1916) became divided over the issue of World War I . Those who opposed the war, among them Vladimir Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg , saw themselves as further to the left. In the United States, leftists such as social liberals , progressives and trade unionists were influenced by
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6216-618: The Second Republic was an attempt by the Left to re-assert itself after the 1848 Revolution , but only a small portion of the population supported this. In the mid-19th century, nationalism , socialism , democracy and anti-clericalism became key features of the French Left. After Napoleon III 's 1851 coup and the subsequent establishment of the Second Empire , Marxism began to rival radical republicanism and utopian socialism as
6364-520: The Third Estate ) generally sat to the left of the presiding member's chair in parliament while the ones in favour of the royal veto privilege sat on its right. That habit began in the original French National Assembly . Throughout the 19th century, the main line dividing Left and Right was between supporters of the French republic and those of the monarchy 's privileges. The June Days uprising during
6512-490: The Western world include strong opposition to the death penalty , torture , mass surveillance , and the war on drugs , and support for abortion rights, cognitive liberty , LGBTQ rights including legal recognition of same-sex marriage , same-sex adoption of children, the right to change one's legal gender , distribution of contraceptives , and public funding of embryonic stem-cell research . The desire for an expansion of social and civil liberties often overlaps that of
6660-516: The centre-left , especially social democrats who adopted the Third Way . Left-wing politics are typically associated with popular or state control of major political and economic institutions. Other leftists believe in Marxian economics , named after the economic theories of Karl Marx . Some distinguish Marx's economic theories from his political philosophy, arguing that Marx's approach to understanding
6808-618: The displacement of Keynesianism and post-war social democracy . One of the first actions of Ed Miliband , the Labour Party leader who succeeded Blair and Brown, was the rejection of the New Labour label and a promise to abandon the Third Way and turn back to the left. However, Labour's voting record in the House of Commons from 2010 to 2015 indicated that the Labour Party under Miliband had maintained
6956-538: The eurozone , its chairman Alexis Tsipras has declared that the "euro is not my fetish". The Vice President of the European Parliament and Syriza MEP Dimitrios Papadimoulis stated that Greece should "be a respectable member of the European Union and the euro zone", and that "there is absolutely no case for a Grexit ". Tsipras clarified that Syriza "does not support any sort of Euroscepticism", though
7104-565: The feminist Women for Another Europe (Greek: Γυναίκες για μια Άλλη Ευρώπη, Gynaíkes gia mia Álli Evrópi ) list. The crisis ended in December 2004 with the 4th convention of Synaspismos, when a large majority within the party voted for the continuation of the coalition. This change of attitude was further intensified with the election of Alekos Alavanos, a staunch supporter of the coalition, as president of Synaspismos, after its former leader, Nikos Konstantopoulos , stepped down. The coalition
7252-645: The left–right political spectrum , Left and Right were coined during the French Revolution , referring to the seating arrangement in the French National Assembly . Those who sat on the left generally opposed the ancien régime and the Bourbon monarchy and supported the Revolution, the creation of a democratic republic and the secularisation of society while those on the right were supportive of
7400-413: The libertarian movement. Public education was a subject of great interest to groundbreaking social progressives such as Lester Frank Ward and John Dewey , who believed that a democratic society and system of government was practically impossible without a universal and comprehensive nationwide system of education. Various counterculture and anti-war movements in the 1960s and 1970s were associated with
7548-466: The welfare state through industrial democracy and the social market to the nationalization of the economy and central planning , to the anarcho-syndicalist advocacy of a council-based and self-managed anarchist communism . During the Industrial Revolution , leftists supported trade unions . At the beginning of the 20th century, many leftists advocated strong government intervention in
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#17328442254747696-476: The working class should act in solidarity with working people in other countries in pursuit of a common class interest , rather than only focusing on their own countries. Proletarian internationalism is summed up in the slogan: " Workers of the world, unite! ", the last line of The Communist Manifesto . Union members had learned that more members meant more bargaining power. Taken to an international level, leftists argued that workers should act in solidarity with
7844-670: The " proletariat can and must build the socialist society in one country". In April 1925, Nikolai Bukharin elaborated on the issue in his brochure titled Can We Build Socialism in One Country in the Absence of the Victory of the West-European Proletariat? , whose position was adopted as state policy after Stalin's January 1926 article titled On the Issues of Leninism (К вопросам ленинизма)
7992-399: The 1918–1920 years ended Bolshevik hopes for an imminent world revolution and led to the promotion of the doctrine of socialism in one country by Joseph Stalin . In the first edition of his book titled Osnovy Leninizma ( Foundations of Leninism , 1924), Stalin argued that revolution in one country is insufficient. By the end of that year in the second edition of the book, he argued that
8140-453: The 1960s and the 1970s he became known as the pre-eminent theorist of the New Left and the student movements of West Germany, France and the United States. Left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism , often in opposition to social hierarchy as a whole or certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politics typically involve
8288-537: The 1970s onwards, environmentalism became an increasing concern of the left, with social movements and several unions campaigning on environmental issues and causes. In Australia, the left-wing Builders Labourers Federation , led by the communist Jack Mundy, united with environmentalists to place green bans on environmentally destructive development projects. Several segments of the socialist and Marxist left consciously merged environmentalism and anti-capitalism into an eco-socialist ideology. Barry Commoner articulated
8436-526: The 19th and 20th centuries. In addition, the term left-wing has also been applied to a broad range of culturally liberal social movements, including the civil rights movement , feminist movement , LGBT rights movement , abortion-rights movements , multiculturalism , anti-war movement and environmental movement as well as a wide range of political parties . The following positions are typically associated with left-wing politics. Left-leaning economic beliefs range from Keynesian economics and
8584-471: The 3% threshold and had no parliamentary representation. Tsipras renewed Syriza's previous coalition agreement with ANEL, giving the new government 155 seats out of 300 in parliament. On 26 May, following losses in the 2019 European Parliament election and the concurrent local elections, Tsipras announced a snap election . During the legislative election in September, the party was defeated by ND. Following
8732-454: The 50 "bonus" seats given to the largest polling party under the Greek electoral system. Although Syriza increased its share of the vote to just under 27%, ND polled 29.8% and claimed the bonus. With 71 seats, Syriza became the main opposition party to a coalition government composed of ND, PASOK, and DIMAR. Tsipras subsequently formed a Shadow Cabinet in July 2012. In July 2013, a Syriza congress
8880-469: The British Labour Party who were perceived to be more moderate and closer to the centre, accepting Keynesianism . Under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown , the Labour Party adopted the Third Way and rebranded itself as New Labour in order to promote the notion that it was less left-wing than it had been in the past to accommodate the neoliberal trend arising since the 1970s with
9028-953: The Coalition of the Radical Left in January 2004. The parties that had formed the Coalition of the Radical Left in January 2004 were the Coalition of Left, of Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos or SYN), the Renewing Communist Ecological Left (AKOA), the Internationalist Workers Left (DEA), the Movement for the United in Action Left (KEDA), which was a splinter group of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Active Citizens, which
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#17328442254749176-482: The Earth. This principle is reflected in much of the historical left-wing thought and literature that came afterwards, although there were disagreements about what this entailed. Both Karl Marx and the early socialist philosopher and scholar William Morris arguably had a concern for environmental matters. According to Marx, "[e]ven an entire society, a nation, or all simultaneously existing societies taken together, are not
9324-554: The Greek parliament, a resignation that was withdrawn a few days later. In the 2009 Greek legislative election held on 4 October, Syriza won 4.6% of the vote (slightly below its 2007 showing), returning thirteen MPs to the Hellenic Parliament. The incoming MPs included Tsipras, who took over as Syriza's parliamentary leader. In June 2010, Ananeotiki (Reformist Wing) of radical social democrats in Synapsismós split away from
9472-654: The Left Platform (Greek: Αριστερή Πλάτφορμα, Aristerí Plátforma ) led by Panayiotis Lafazanis, which wanted to leave the door open to quitting the euro, secured 30% (60) of the seats on Syriza's central committee. A modest success was also claimed by the Communist Platform (Greek section of the International Marxist Tendency ), who managed to get two members elected to the party's central committee. In its founding declaration, Syriza presented itself as
9620-448: The Left is also divided over how to effectively and equitably reduce carbon emissions as the center-left often advocates a reliance on market measures such as emissions trading and a carbon tax while those further to the left support direct government regulation and intervention in the form of a Green New Deal , either alongside or instead of market mechanisms. The question of nationality , imperialism and nationalism has been
9768-485: The New Left. Unlike the earlier leftist focus on labour union activism and a proletarian revolution, the New Left instead adopted a broader definition of political activism commonly called social activism . The New Left in the United States is associated with the hippie movement , mass protest movements on school campuses and a broadening of focus from protesting class -based oppression to include issues such as gender , race and sexual orientation . The British New Left
9916-418: The Old Left eventually embraced gay rights, influenced by movements like Eurocommunism , others remained focused on only advocating for the working class, like the Communist Party of Greece and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation . The Old Left frequently opposed immigration, viewing it as a strategy employed by employers to lower wages. The emergence of the New Left, which initially originated in
10064-404: The Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( Greek : Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία , romanized : Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía ), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( / ˈ s ɪ r ɪ z ə / , Greek : ΣΥΡΙΖΑ [ˈsiriza] ; a pun on the Greek adverb σύρριζα , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"),
10212-451: The Republic of Moldova (PCRM) holds similar positions. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) supported an anti-gay law in 2013. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) voted against the introduction of same-sex civil unions in 2015, but has also criticized homophobia and discrimination in general. The New Left arose first among dissenting intellectuals and campus groups in
10360-700: The South Seas an outpost of the British race." Arthur Calwell , another Old Leftist who led the Australian Labor Party in the 1960s, strongly defended the White Australia Policy and said the following: "I am proud of my white skin, just as a Chinese is proud of his yellow skin, a Japanese of his brown skin, and the Indians of their various hues from black to coffee-coloured. Anybody who is not proud of his race
10508-415: The Syriza Central Committee who resigned following the announcement of the snap elections in September 2015. Since 2015, the group has been the main internal opposition to Tsipras' leadership, and has also used an alternative name, the "Umbrella". On 11 November 2023, after a very tense meeting of the Central Committee, 45 members of the Central Committee belonging to Umbrella announced their withdrawal from
10656-643: The UK, witnessed a shift away from the focus on class struggle and Marxist views of labor. New Left theorists like Herbert Marcuse emphasized instead the liberation of human sexuality. The Old Left originated in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution . At a time when few countries even had universal suffrage, the Old Left focused primarily on labor unions and social class . Their stances were economically left-wing, but largely ignored issues commonly linked to cultural liberalism . Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto in 1848, during
10804-511: The United Kingdom and later alongside campuses in the United States and in the Western bloc . The German critical theorist Herbert Marcuse is referred to as the "Father of the New Left". Marcuse rejected the theory of class struggle and the Marxist concern with labor . According to Leszek Kołakowski , Marcuse argued that since "all questions of material existence have been solved, moral commands and prohibitions are no longer relevant". He regarded
10952-542: The United States, where social progressives played an important role in the abolition of slavery , the enshrinement of women's suffrage in the United States Constitution , and the protection of civil rights , LGBTQ rights , women's rights and multiculturalism . Progressives have both advocated for alcohol prohibition legislation and worked towards its repeal in the mid to late 1920s and early 1930s. Current positions associated with social progressivism in
11100-562: The abolition of the capital punishment ; some Old Leftists outright oppose the New Left positions on these issues. Since the mid-1970s with the advent of revisionist movements such as Eurocommunism (and earlier in the Anglosphere, the New Left), some parties on the far left in the West have begun to adopt homosexual rights from the New Left as part of their platform while parties in the East such as
11248-444: The above to be its wealth, it recognizes the possibility of different political considerations and provides ground for both these sensitivities and these considerations to be cultivated seamlessly and represented in the internal democracy, always aiming at promotional compositions. The organization we are establishing is an organization that systematically takes care of the theoretical understanding of social and historical development and
11396-441: The action of these terrorist organizations. No one has been terrorized by the 17 November Group . On the contrary, the Greek people have been terrified by too many other policies". SYRIZA and Dritsas retracted that statement later on. On the issue of SYRIZA's stance towards the terrorist organization 17N , the party has also been criticised as people who are or were affiliated with the party have testified as defense witnesses during
11544-453: The anti- capital punishment movement and Liberation Theology . Early utopian socialist thinkers such as Robert Owen , Charles Fourier and the Comte de Saint-Simon based their theories of socialism upon Christian principles. Other common leftist concerns such as pacifism , social justice , racial equality , human rights and the rejection of capitalism and excessive wealth can be found in
11692-624: The coalition on 22 August 2007. On 2 September, the Areios Pagos refused to include the title of DIKKI in the Syriza electoral alliance, saying that the internal procedures followed by DIKKI were flawed. This was criticized by Syriza and DIKKI as inappropriate interference by the courts in party political activity. On 27 November 2007, Alavanos announced that, for private reasons, he would not be seeking to renew his presidency of Synaspismos. The 5th party congress of Synaspismos elected Alexis Tsipras ,
11840-406: The coalition. During the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament election in Greece , Syriza, amid turbulent internal developments, saw its poll share decrease to 4.7%, with the result that only one Syriza candidate (Nikos Hountis) was elected to the European Parliament. This caused renewed internal strife, leading to the resignation of former Synaspismos president Alekos Alavanos from his seat in
11988-463: The coalition. The frame of the crisis within SYRIZA was the reluctance of Synaspismos to adopt and maintain the political agreement for a clear denial of centre-left politics . Three months after the 2004 legislative election, Synaspismos chose to run independently from the rest of the coalition for the 2004 European Parliament election in Greece and some of the smaller parties of the coalition supported
12136-877: The developing world such as the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico, the Abahlali baseMjondolo in South Africa and the Naxalites in India have argued that the First World and the Second World Left takes a racist and paternalistic attitude towards liberation movements in the Third World. The original French Left was firmly anti-clerical , strongly opposing the influence of
12284-484: The division between First World and Second World developed countries and Third World developing countries as being of high political importance. This tendency supports decolonization and national liberation movements against imperialism by capitalists. Third-Worldism is closely connected with African socialism , Latin American socialism , Maoism , pan-Africanism and pan-Arabism . Several left-wing groups in
12432-517: The early 1980s, specifically within the context of reaction to the financial support given to gay rights groups by the Greater London Council under the leadership of Ken Livingstone . While Militant was present in Labour Party women's sections, claiming forty delegates attended the Labour Party women's conference in 1981, it opposed feminism which declared that men were the enemy, or the cause of women's oppression. The Old Left sometimes took
12580-482: The early soviet government), a law which would not be revoked until 1993 after the dissolution of the USSR . The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality is unequivocal on Marx and Engels view of homosexuality, stating in volume 2: "There can be little doubt that, as far as they thought of the matter at all, Marx and Engels were personally homo-phobic , as shown by an acerbic 1869 exchange of letter on Jean-Baptiste von Schweitzer ,
12728-422: The economy is independent of his advocacy of revolutionary socialism or his belief in the inevitability of a proletarian revolution . Marxian economics do not exclusively rely on Marx and draw from a range of Marxist and non-Marxist sources. The dictatorship of the proletariat and workers' state are terms used by some Marxists, particularly Leninists and Marxist–Leninists , to describe what they see as
12876-554: The economy, preferring social ownership and local control in which a nation of decentralized regions is united in a confederation . The global justice movement , also known as the anti-globalisation movement and the alter-globalisation movement, protests against corporate economic globalisation due to its negative consequences for the poor, workers, the environment, and small businesses. Leftists generally believe in innovation in various technological and philosophical fields and disciplines to help causes they support. One of
13024-404: The economy. Leftists continue to criticize the perceived exploitative nature of globalization , the " race to the bottom " and unjust lay-offs and exploitation of workers. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the belief that the government (ruling in accordance with the interests of the people) ought to be directly involved in the day-to-day workings of an economy declined in popularity amongst
13172-423: The failure on June 2023 Greek legislative elections , leader Alexis Tsipras resigned, elections were held , and Stefanos Kasselakis assumed the presidency in September 2023. Dissatisfaction with Kasselakis led the party to a prolonged internal crisis, resulting in a motion of no confidence and new elections scheduled for November 2024. Although Syriza was launched in 2004, before that year's legislative election,
13320-485: The famous call for solidarity, the slogan " Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains". Communism was first implemented in the Soviet Union by the Bolsheviks , led by Vladimir Lenin . Unlike the New Left , the Old Left puts less emphasis on social issues such as identity politics , intersectionality , abortion , drugs , feminism , gay rights , environmentalism , immigration and
13468-409: The first decade of Soviet rule, before Joseph Stalin attacked ecologists and the science of ecology, purged environmentalists and promoted the pseudoscience of Trofim Lysenko during his rule up until his death in 1953. Similarly, Mao Zedong rejected environmentalism and believed that based on the laws of historical materialism, all of nature must be put into the service of revolution. From
13616-550: The following election and outlined the basis for the political alliance. The coalition of 2007 has also expanded from its original composition in 2004. On 20 June 2007, the KOE announced its participation into the coalition. On 21 August, the environmentalist Ecological Intervention (Greek: Οικολογική Παρέμβαση, Oikologikí Parémvasi ) also joined, and the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI) also announced its participation in
13764-485: The foremost left-wing advocates was Thomas Paine, one of the first individuals since left and right became political terms to describe the collective human ownership of the world which he speaks of in Agrarian Justice. As such, most of left-wing thought and literature regarding environmentalism stems from this duty of ownership and the aforementioned form of cooperative ownership means that humanity must take care of
13912-408: The formation of militant organizations, political repression , conspiracism , xenophobia , and nationalism . In China, the term Chinese New Left denotes those who oppose the economic reforms enacted by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s and 1990s, favour instead the restoration of Maoist policies and the immediate transition to a socialist economy. In the Western world , the term New Left
14060-542: The founding of the LGBTQ rights movement in the aftermath of the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Contemporary leftist activists and socialist countries such as Cuba are actively supportive of LGBTQ+ people and are involved in the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and equality. In politics, the term Left derives from the French Revolution as the political groups opposed to the royal veto privilege ( Montagnard and Jacobin deputies from
14208-547: The globe during the 20th century as most Communist parties followed the social precedents set by the Soviet Union. The Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) is a party which strongly opposes LGBT rights in Moldova and works with nationalist, right-wing and religious movements to counter the "promotion of vice spread with the help of the US in Moldova"; the Party of Communists of
14356-456: The incumbent ND and became the largest party in the Hellenic Parliament, receiving 36.3% of the vote and 149 out of 300 seats. Tsipras was congratulated by French president François Hollande who stressed Greco-French friendship, as well as by leftist leaders all over Europe, including Pablo Iglesias Turrión of Spain's Podemos and Katja Kipping of Germany's Die Linke . German government official Hans-Peter Friedrich said: "The Greeks have
14504-422: The international proletariat in order to further increase the power of the working class. Proletarian internationalism saw itself as a deterrent against war and international conflicts, because people with a common interest are less likely to take up arms against one another, instead focusing on fighting the bourgeoisie as the ruling class . According to Marxist theory, the antonym of proletarian internationalism
14652-526: The larger European Social Forum , the Space also provided the ground from which several of the member parties and organizations launched the Greek Social Forum. The defining moment for the birth of Syriza came in the 2004 legislative election. Most of the participants of the Space sought to develop a common platform that could potentially lead to an electoral alliance . This led to the eventual formation of
14800-499: The largest of the coalition parties, which led to a lot of tension within the coalition. After the 2004 legislative election, the smaller parties accused Synaspismos of not honoring an agreement to have one of its members of parliament resign so that Yannis Banias of the AKOA could take his seat. Tension built up and resulted in the split of the Internationalist Workers Left and the formation of Kokkino (Red), both of which remained within
14948-553: The late 1990s, such as the Kosovo War , privatizations of state businesses , and social and civil rights. The Space provided the ground from which participating parties could work together on issues such as their opposition to the neoliberal reform of the pension and social security systems, and the new anti-terrorism legislation , a review of the role of the European Union and a redetermination of Greece's position in it, and
15096-651: The latter the official opposition . The main constituent element of the original coalition was Synaspismos , a democratic socialist party, but Syriza was founded with a goal of uniting left-wing and radical left groups. Syriza is influenced by the democratic road to socialism associated with Nicos Poulantzas , but is broadly inclusive of various schools of democratic socialist thought intersecting with Marxism , market socialism , and Trotskyism ; as well as social democrats , Maoists and Marxist-Leninists . Additionally, despite its secular ideology, many members are Christians who are anti-clerical and opposed to
15244-545: The leadership of labor unions often being skeptical of expanded immigration. As late as 2015, Bernie Sanders criticized open borders a " Koch brothers proposal", although he later switched to the more New Left position welcoming to immigration. Communist leaders and intellectuals took many different positions on LGBT rights issues. Marx and Engels wrote little on the subject; Marx in particular rarely commented on sexuality in general. Writing for Political Affairs, Norman Markowitz writes: "Here, to be frank, one finds from Marx
15392-529: The local elections was less clear-cut, due to the number of non-party local tickets and independents contending for office. Syriza's main success was the election of Rena Dourou to the Attica Regional governorship with 50.8% of the second-round vote over the incumbent Yiannis Sgouros. Its biggest disappointment was the failure of Gabriel Sakellaridis to win the Athens Mayoralty election, being beaten in
15540-519: The owners of the earth. They are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath it in an improved state to succeeding generations". Following the Russian Revolution, environmental scientists such as revolutionary Alexander Bogdanov and the Proletkult organisation made efforts to incorporate environmentalism into Bolshevism and "integrate production with natural laws and limits" in
15688-443: The party and formed Popular Unity to contest the snap elections. The grouping was led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis . Syriza as a unitary party was formed through the merger of the following parties. The order of presentation is chronological based on the year of joining SYRIZA. Thodoris Dritsas , a member of SYRIZA and ex-minister, drew criticism when he declared that "no one has been terrorized, I believe, by
15836-478: The party betrayed its voters and those abroad who had seen a radical promise in the party. Author and communist activist Helena Sheehan wrote that "Syriza was a horizon of hope. Now it is a vortex of despair." Having lost his majority in parliament, Tsipras resigned as Prime Minister on 20 August 2015, and called for fresh elections on September 20. Although polls suggested a close contest between Syriza and ND, Syriza led ND by 7%, winning 145 seats; LE polled below
15984-505: The party was seen by some observers as a soft Eurosceptic force for advocating another Europe free of austerity and neoliberalism . Since governing, the party took a more pro-Europeanist stance, saying that its regulatory reforms, while remaining in the Eurozone, enabled the government, in the words of Filippa Chatzistavrou, "to better address negative externalities and spillovers between Greece and other EU Member States." By 2019, Syriza
16132-406: The party with the intention of founding a Green party , later founding the party Kosmos . On 23 November 2023, nine MPs, one MEP, and 57 central committee members announced their withdrawal from the party. Among them, were former minister Efi Achtsioglou , the main opponent of Kasselakis in the internal party elections, and other former ministers. Commenting on the split, Kasselakis stressed that
16280-486: The party's internal opposition called him alt-right, Donald Trump and Pepe Grillo, leading to their expulsion from the party. At the Central Committee meeting, Kasselakis again attacked the party organs and the entire internal opposition, leading to the departure of Umbrella, the party's left-wing tendency, 45 Central Committee members, and two MPs. On 16 November, MEP Petros S. Kokkalis announced his departure from
16428-444: The party's shift to the right and further electoral decline. The next day the proposal was supported by 163 members out of a total of 300 and Stefanos Kasselakis was declared out of office. New Syriza leadership elections will be held on 24 November 2024. As of 9 November, the leadership candidates are MP Pavlos Polakis , Sokratis Famellos , MEP Nikolas Farantouris and former mayor/actor Apostolos Gletsos . After his candidature
16576-573: The party, at the same time leaving Syriza. This reduced Syriza's parliamentary group to nine MPs. The four MPs who left formed a new party, the Democratic Left (DIMAR). In a move of voters away from the parties which participated in the coalition government under the premiership of Lucas Papademos in November 2011, Syriza gained popular support in the opinion polls, as did the KKE and DIMAR. Opinion polls in
16724-404: The party. Stefanos Kasselakis was elected leader, defeating Efi Achtsioglou in the second round. After winning the leadership election, Kasselakis said that he wanted Syriza to emulate the U.S. Democratic Party and move to the centre-left . Upon taking office, Kasselakis began a redefinition of the party's positions. He rejected many of the old leftist positions of the party and formulated
16872-616: The party. Among them are former ministers such as Euclid Tsakalotos , Nikos Filis , Dimitris Vitsas , Panos Skourletis , Thodoris Dritsas , Andreas Xanthos , and the former Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Nikos Voutsis . The majority (9 MPs 1 MEP) of which later formed the New Left Party The Left Platform were a faction within Syriza, positioned ideologically on the far-left of the party. In August 2015, 25 Left Platform MPs within Syriza left
17020-476: The placement along the political spectrum in a given time and place. At the end of the 18th century, upon the founding of the first liberal democracies , the term Left was used to describe liberalism in the United States and republicanism in France, supporting a lesser degree of hierarchical decision-making than the right-wing politics of the traditional conservatives and monarchists . In modern politics,
17168-416: The preparation of the Greek participation at the 27th G8 summit in 2001. Even though it was not a political organization, but rather an effort to bring together the parties and organizations that attended, the Space gave birth to some electoral alliances for the 2002 Greek local elections , the most successful being the one led by Manolis Glezos for the super-prefecture of Athens - Piraeus . As part of
17316-417: The previous PASOK governments, in particular the party's outlook from 1974 to 1981. The Group of 53, also known as 53+, are a faction within Syriza. The group was founded in mid-2014 and stands ideologically between the Left Platform and Tsipras's core backers. Both Euclid Tsakalotos and Gabriel Sakellaridis are members of the group. Another member of the group was Tassos Koronakis, the former secretary of
17464-513: The privileges of the state-sponsored Church of Greece . From 2013, the coalition became a unitary party, although it retained its name with the addition of United Social Front. Syriza had been characterized as an anti-establishment party, whose success had sent "shock-waves across the EU ". Although it has abandoned its old identity, that of a hard-left protest voice, becoming more left-wing populist in character, and stating that it would not abandon
17612-480: The pro-pederast movement "cannot fail to triumph. Guerre aux cons, paix aus trous-de-cul [war on the cunts, peace to the arse-holes] will now be the slogan". Engels also referred to Dr. Karl Boruttau as a Schwanzschwule ("gay prick") in private. In fact, in the Soviet Union , male homosexuality was considered a crime after its re-criminalization during the Stalinist era (it had previously been decriminalised by
17760-617: The realization of man's erotic nature as the true liberation of humanity, which inspired the utopias of Jerry Rubin and others. Between 1943 and 1950, Marcuse worked in U.S. government service for the Office of Strategic Services (predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency ) and criticized the ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the book Soviet Marxism: A Critical Analysis (1958). After his studies, in
17908-461: The result, Syriza moved into opposition . Following a full, four year term as the official opposition and despite polls suggesting a difference of 6 to 7% between Syriza and ND, Syriza lost the May election by a wide margin of 20.7%, retaining second position. As ND was unable to form a parliamentary majority, owing to the simple proportionality system passed by Syriza in 2016 that required 47% or more,
18056-588: The right to vote for whomever they want. We have the right to no longer finance Greek debt." The Financial Times and Radio Free Europe reported on Syriza's ties with Russia and extensive correspondence with the Russian political scientist Aleksandr Dugin . Early in the SYRIZA-led government of Greece, the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tsipras concluded a face-to-face meeting by announcing an agreement on boosting investment ties between
18204-593: The roots of the process that led to its formation can be traced back to the Space for Dialogue for the Unity and Common Action of the Left (Greek: Χώρος Διαλόγου για την Ενότητα και Κοινή Δράση της Αριστεράς, Chóros Dialógou gia tin Enótita kai Koiní Drási tis Aristerás ) in 2001. It was made up of various organizations of the Greek political left , that, despite different ideological and historical backgrounds, held common ground in several important issues that had arisen in Greece in
18352-498: The run-up to the May 2012 election showed Syriza with 10–12% support. The minor Unitary Movement (a PASOK splinter group) also joined the coalition in March 2012. In the first legislative election held on 6 May, the party polled over 16% and quadrupled its number of seats, becoming the second largest party in parliament, behind New Democracy (ND). After the election, Tsipras was invited by
18500-409: The same distance from the left as it did under Blair. In contrast, the election of Jeremy Corbyn as the Labour Party leader was viewed by scholars and political commentators as Labour turning back toward its more classical socialist roots, rejecting neoliberalism and the Third Way whilst supporting a democratic socialist society and an end to austerity measures. Syriza The Coalition of
18648-484: The second ballot by Giorgos Kaminis with 51.4% to his 48.6%. On 13 September 2014, Syriza unveiled the Thessaloniki Programme, a set of policy proposals containing its central demands for economic and political restructuring. The Hellenic Parliament failed to elect a new President of State by 29 December 2014, and was dissolved. A snap legislative election was scheduled for 25 January 2015. Syriza had
18796-431: The source for a better kind of social revolution . This view has been criticized by several Marxists , especially Trotskyists , who characterized this approach as "substitutionism" which they described as a misguided and non-Marxist belief that other groups in society could "substitute" for and "replace" the revolutionary agency of the working class. Many early feminists and advocates of women's rights were considered
18944-462: The subject. Mikhail Bakunin thought the lumpenproletariat was a revolutionary class, while Mao Zedong believed that it would be rural peasants, not urban workers, who would bring about the proletarian revolution . Left-libertarians , anarchists and libertarian socialists believe in a decentralized economy run by trade unions , workers' councils , cooperatives , municipalities and communes, opposing both state and private control of
19092-489: The term Left typically applies to ideologies and movements to the left of classical liberalism , supporting some degree of democracy in the economic sphere . Today, ideologies such as social liberalism and social democracy are considered to be centre-left , while the Left is typically reserved for movements more critical of capitalism , including the labour movement , socialism , anarchism , communism , Marxism and syndicalism , each of which rose to prominence in
19240-439: The theoretical education of its members. It draws on Marxist and more broadly emancipatory thought and its history and tries to elaborate it further, making use of every important theoretical contribution." Local elections and elections to the European Parliament were held in May 2014. In the 2014 European Parliament election in Greece on 25 May, Syriza reached first place with 26.5% of vote, ahead of ND at 22.7%. The position in
19388-440: The theory of socialism in one country. European social democrats strongly support Europeanism and supranational integration within the European Union , although there is a minority of nationalists and Eurosceptics on the left. Several scholars have linked this form of left-wing nationalism to the pressure generated by economic integration with other countries, often encouraged by neoliberal free trade agreements. This view
19536-581: The traditional institutions of the Ancien Régime. Usage of the term Left became more prominent after the restoration of the French monarchy in 1815, when it was applied to the Independents . The word wing was first appended to Left and Right in the late 19th century, usually with disparaging intent, and left-wing was applied to those who were unorthodox in their religious or political views. Ideologies considered to be left-wing vary greatly depending on
19684-653: The two nations. Tsipras also said that Greece would seek to mend ties between Russia and European Union through European institutions. Tsipras also said that Greece was not in favor of international sanctions imposed on Russia, adding that it risked the start of another Cold War . On 26 January 2015, Tsipras and Independent Greeks (ANEL) leader Panos Kammenos agreed to form a coalition government of Syriza and ANEL, with Tsipras becoming Prime Minister of Greece and Greek-Australian economist Yanis Varoufakis appointed Minister of Finance and Panos Kammenos appointed Minister of Defence . In July 2015, Yanis Varoufakis
19832-500: The view of a modern, patriotic, leftist party. He set himself the goal of unmediated contact with voters, bypassing the party organs. Kasselakis accused many members of the party organs of being bureaucrats who exclude grassroots communication with the party. His business background, his lightning-fast rise, and the publication of his earlier writings supporting Kyriakos Mitsotakis and New Democracy have brought him into conflict with prominent party members and former ministers. Members of
19980-582: The works of Thomas Paine , who introduced the concept of asset-based egalitarianism which theorises that social equality is possible by a redistribution of resources. After the Reconstruction era in the aftermath of the American Civil War , the phrase "the Left" was used to describe those who supported trade unions, the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement . More recently, left-wing and right-wing have often been used as synonyms for
20128-465: Was a Trotskyist entryist group in the British Labour Party , based around the Militant newspaper launched in 1964. According to Michael Crick , its politics were influenced by Karl Marx , Friedrich Engels , Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky and "virtually nobody else". Militant has been cited as an example of left-wing opposition to feminism and gay rights initiatives within the labour movement in
20276-496: Was a political organisation associated with Manolis Glezos , and other independent left-wing groups or activists. Although the Communist Organisation of Greece (KOE) had participated in the Space, it decided not to take part in the Coalition of the Radical Left. In the legislative election, the coalition gathered 241,539 votes (3.3% of the total) and elected six members to parliament. All six were members of Synaspismos,
20424-480: Was an intellectually driven movement which attempted to correct the perceived errors of the Old Left . The New Left opposed prevailing authoritarian structures in society which it designated as " The Establishment " and became known as the "Anti-Establishment". The New Left did not seek to recruit industrial workers en masse, but instead concentrated on a social activist approach to organization, convinced that they could be
20572-539: Was described as a typical left-wing populist party, but this was disputed after its government term and its recent opposition. Syriza is the third largest party in the Hellenic Parliament . Former party chairman Alexis Tsipras served as Prime Minister of Greece from 26 January 2015 to 20 August 2015 and from 21 September 2015 to 8 July 2019. It is a member of the Party of the European Left . Following
20720-409: Was expected to make significant gains in the election, with predictions ranging from 4% to 5% of the electorate. On 16 September, it gained 5.0% of the vote in the 2007 legislative election. Prior to the election, the participating parties had agreed on a common declaration by 22 June. The signed Declaration of the Coalition of the Radical Left outlined the common platform on which it would compete in
20868-545: Was further strengthened by the organization in May 2006 of the 4th European Social Forum in Athens , and by a number of largely successful election campaigns, such as those in Athens and Piraeus, during the 2006 Greek local elections . The coalition ticket in the municipality of Athens was headed by Alexis Tsipras , proposed by Alavanos who declared Synaspismos' "opening to the new generation". Opinion polls had indicated that Syriza
21016-412: Was held to discuss the organisation of the party. Important outcomes included a decision in principle to dissolve the participating parties in Syriza in favour of a unitary party. However, implementation was deferred for three months to allow time for four of the parties which were reluctant to dissolve to consider their positions. Tsipras was confirmed as chairman with 74% of the vote. Delegates supporting
21164-465: Was in this period that the word wing was appended to both Left and Right. The International Workingmen's Association (1864–1876), sometimes called the First International, brought together delegates from many different countries, with many different views about how to reach a classless and stateless society. Following a split between supporters of Marx and Mikhail Bakunin , anarchists formed
21312-410: Was published. This idea was opposed by Leon Trotsky and his supporters, who declared the need for an international " permanent revolution " and condemned Stalin for betraying the goals and ideals of the socialist revolution. Various Fourth Internationalist groups around the world who describe themselves as Trotskyist see themselves as standing in this tradition while Maoist China formally supported
21460-547: Was rejected by the Central Committee and the Extraordinary Congress, Kasselakis exited Syriza and announced the creation of a new party, founding the Movement for Democracy prompting the immediate withdrawal of 4 MPs from Syriza's parliamentary group (Petros Pappas, Kyriaki Malama, Rallia Christidou , Alexandros Avlonitis ), while Theodora Tzakri has also hinted at withdrawal; such a move would leave Syriza with less MPs than PASOK – Movement for Change , rendering
21608-594: Was replaced by Euclid Tsakalotos as Minister of Finance. Following the acceptance of the third memorandum with the institutions on Greece's debt by Tsipras and the Syriza government, 25 Syriza MPs who rejected the terms of the bailout, including the party's Left Platform and the Internationalist Workers Left faction, split to form a new party Popular Unity (Greek: Λαϊκή Ενότητα, Laïkí Enótita , LE). They were led by Panagiotis Lafazanis . Many other activists left Syriza at this time. International supporters of Syriza were divided, as some of its erstwhile backers felt that
21756-672: Was said to have become a mainstream centre-left party, taking advantage of the traditional centre-left PASOK 's collapse. Tsipras stated that his goal was to build a broad progressive front without abandoning the party's core ideology and left-wing coalition. During the party's time in government, SYRIZA practised a soft neoliberal policy of austerity, despite its vocal anti-neoliberalism , which contradicted its pre-electoral pledges, ideological outlook, political practice, and its own history, being stuck in populist rhetoric and what are termed "symbolic politics", unable to preserve its radicalism. Observers' analysis has revealed similarities with
21904-667: Was sometimes opposed to imperialism . In the 1880s, there was a debate between leftists such as the Radical Georges Clemenceau , the Socialist Jean Jaurès and the nationalist Maurice Barrès , who argued that colonialism diverted France from liberating the "blue line of the Vosges ", in reference to Alsace-Lorraine; and the " colonial lobby " such as Jules Ferry of the Moderate Republicans , Léon Gambetta of
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