New lefts : the making of a radical tradition

Author:Terence Renaud (Author)

Summary:This book traces the history of neoleftism from its antifascist roots in the first half of the twentieth century, to its postwar reconstruction in the 1950s, to its explosive reinvention by the 1960s counterculture. Renaud demonstrates why the left in Europe underwent a series of internal revolts against the organizational forms of established parties and unions. He describes how small groups of militant youth such as New Beginning in Germany tried to sustain grassroots movements without reproducing the bureaucratic, hierarchical, and supposedly obsolete structures of social democracy and communism. Neoleftist militants experimented with alternative modes of organization such as councils, assemblies, and action committees. However, Renaud reveals that these same militants, decades later, often came to defend the very institutions they had opposed in their youth. Providing vital historical perspective on the challenges confronting leftists today, this book tells the story of generations of antifascists, left socialists, and anti-authoritarians who tried to build radical democratic alternatives to capitalism and kindle hope in reactionary times. --From publisher description

Print Book, English, 2021

Edition:View all formats and editions

Publisher: Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2021

Genre:History

Physical Description:xiii, 343 pages ; 24 cm

ISBN:

9780691220796, 9780691220819, 0691220794, 0691220816

OCLC Number / Unique Identifier:1240575459

Subjects:

1900-1999

Europe

Extrémistes de gauche Europe Histoire