/318/ The Dead Left ft. Steve Hall & Simon Winlow
Added 2023-01-31 07:01:00 +0000 UTCOn the death of the left.
We talk to Steve Hall and Simon Winlow, social scientists in the northeast of England, about their new book, The Death of the Left: Why We Must Begin From the Beginning Again.
Is the left indeed dead, and what killed it? The turn to culture undoubtedly plays a part, but was the left wrong to turn to liberty, as Hall & Winlow argue? How can we turn back to political economy and what would that politics look like? And if there is to be a future radical movement for and by the working class, would social democracy be its lodestar?
Links:
- /65/ Bunga Gets Ultra-Real ft. Steve Hall
- /111/ Big Money Talk: The Case for MMT ft. Bill Mitchell
- /68/ Big Money Talk: The Case against MMT ft. Doug Henwood
Comments
I find the idea that the left is dead very hyperbolic. I reminds me of the claim that Elena-Louisa Lange made that the Left is the new ‘ruling class’. Both claims speak to a frustration at the contemporary left, but I think both positions are incorrect and unhelpful. However, I thought Hall and Winlow’s attempt to define the left and historicize it was, on the whole, quite useful. Their discussion of the ‘institutions of the left’ and the achievements of the ’45 Labour government really highlighted what’s been lost, and why the contemporary left’s acquiescence to identity politics and representation has had such a limited appeal to communities that have lost everything. I think that their analysis of the Left’s history would benefit with more a of a focus on the question of leadership. Going back at least as far as the German SPD, and the founding of the Labour Party, the majority current has always been reformist, in the sense that they believed Capitalism could be reformed and lead toward a socialist society. Likewise, there have been Marxist currents that see the need for overthrowing Capitalism, perhaps the most successful of which was the Militant Tendency in the 1980s. As the reformist current has adapted itself to capitalism, it makes sense that reformism during the post-war boom could offer so much (NHS, Welfare State) than the reformists of our current era, who have completely bought into a stagnant capitalism, where the only reforms they can offer are largely identity based and have no bearing on raising material conditions. The last point I wanted to make was on the Corbyn movement. Rather than being a last gasp of life, with both Winlow and Hall declaring the Left to now be thoroughly dead, does it not indicate that there is a desire for socialist ideas? They characterized the whole movement as PMC which, if true, is still in keeping with the history of the left. After all, one of the main thing keeping working class people out of politics is time. The students, lecturers, podcasters generally have more time on their hands so are often overrepresented in these movements. The problem is that the ideas and demands of the PMC are so often at odds with the working class. So, this again comes back to a question of having the right leadership with a program that can speak to the masses on questions of political economy rather than cultural issues. So, to sum up, I think the Left is not dead but has always been frustrating, contradictory and plagued by bad leadership. Surely that’s a better starting point than a position of defeat?
Martin Hall
2023-02-04 11:32:30 +0000 UTCChris Cutrone vs Phil Cunliffe debate episode would absolutely kick ass.
Eli S
2023-02-02 20:28:01 +0000 UTCPlatypus has been proclaiming the death of the left since 2006. How come you don’t engage with them on this podcast?
Dead Flag Blues
2023-02-02 18:24:08 +0000 UTC
