Fascism is much in the news. In Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey and elsewhere, we read reports of the rise of right-wing nationalist-populism, while, in the Middle East, “Islamo-fascism” is blamed for vicious and unending wars. In the United States, Donald Trump is now routinely dismissed as a #fascist. Is the US falling into the same deadly pattern so evident elsewhere? Continue reading
Towards This Generation’s New Left
Every generation develops its own New Left. This is a natural process as proponents struggle to come to grips with new challenges and old failures. Continue reading
Learning to Dance with My Lectern
I started blogging a couple of years ago because I felt passionately about a particular topic – rejuvenation of the democratic left – and felt I had something useful to say.
But, as a blogger, my greatest handicap was my life’s work as a lecturer. I’ve come to realize that, to succeed, I need to spurn the lectern or at least learn to dance with it. Continue reading
Is Canada’s ‘Leap Manifesto’ Too Radical?
The press attacks on the LeapManifesto when it was considered by the New Democratic Party piqued my interest. “A Hard Left Turn to Nowhere,” thundered the National Post. Barrie McKenna of the Globe & Mail proclaimed that “The Leap Manifesto is a Prescription for Ruin.” Macleans lamented “How to Kill the NDP.” Some columnists concluded that the “loony left” had captured the party (even though the party had not endorsed the manifesto). What is all the fuss about? Continue reading
Why Identify with Left-Wing Politics?
“A young person who isn’t a socialist hasn’t got a heart; an old person who is a socialist hasn’t got a head.” Is this true?
This old adage suggests that an attachment to the left is merely a romantic and naïve phase that should eventually pass as we mature and gain a more “realistic” understanding. Realism from this viewpoint involves the acceptance that There is No Alternative (TINA) to presently-existing capitalism and liberal democracy, that the most we can expect is some minor tinkering.
But this conservative viewpoint is unconvincing for two reasons. Continue reading
Camus, the Absurd and the Arab Other
NOTES FOR A LECTURE
Introduction
Camus’ THE OUTSIDER is a novel of ideas set in colonial Algeria about 1942. To understand this novel’s deep meaning, we can usefully begin by considering its dramatic ending. Continue reading
Where Lies the Heart of Darkness?
Notes For a Lecture
A. INTRODUCTION
The central conundrum at the heart of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is: Why does Marlowe, the narrator, so admire the brutal Kurtz, as do others in the story [such as the Russian trader, the general manager]? Continue reading
Pursuing a Passion for the Possible
Albert Hirschman’s challenge to social scientists in A Bias for Hope (1971) to embrace a “passion for the possible” has largely been ignored in the mainstream disciplines. That is a pity for, in this age of high anxiety and disaffection, don’t we desperately need perspectives that transcend the limiting confines of liberal democracy and the commodification of everything? Continue reading
Interview with Richard Sandbrook on Reinventing the Left
Ali Burak Guven (ABG): What was your motivation for writing Reinventing the Left?
To be honest, I never set out to write such an ambitious book. I originally conceived the project as a critique of neoliberal development doctrine. But one thing led to another, and my inclination to move beyond critique to the central question of “what might be done” came to the fore. This, to my mind, raised the issue of the viability and promise of the democratic left. Continue reading
Socialism: A Journey, Not a Pre-determined Destination
An article by #MichaelWalzer (Dissent, Summer 2010) offers a clear and practical understanding “of the only #socialism we will ever know.” Striking off in a new direction, he purposely elides the distinction between “socialism” and “social democracy” while adopting a critical stance toward both. He rightly emphasizes the progressive nature of the goals of the latter – participatory democracy, regulated markets, and a universalistic welfare state – even though we need to be very critical of the actual practice of current social democratic parties in the West. Although many readers will feel that there must be more to it than that, Walzer advances the view that movements aimed at extending the three goals and defending existing achievements is actually what a practicable socialism is all about. I agree. Continue reading