Abstract
This book builds on the author’s earlier (Hudson, 2000) work, European Communism Since 1989. It sets out to analyse the emergence of what Hudson calls ‘The New European Left’ since the apparent demise of the Communist movement. Hudson traces how new European Left parties emerged out of the ‘wreckage’ of the communist movement in both Western and Eastern Europe and their electoral fortunes. The book claims that radical left-wing politics remains relevant in the 21st century and that left parties have become a ‘resilient and effective force’ (p. 98).
Hudson takes a generally positive view of the way in which radical left parties have changed their tactics and policies rather than embracing dissolution or defeatism. Given that the author has sought to establish a new left party in Britain called ‘Left Unity’, readers will not be surprised by the book’s optimistic appraisal of the future of ideologically pluralistic radical left parties. However, the book is also prescient as it was published before the dramatic electoral success of several radical left parties in Europe. The book makes an important contribution in demonstrating how the left has changed by embracing a politics that is more open-minded towards feminism and ecology. Die Linke in Germany is assessed in terms of providing a potential model of programmatic adaptation and electoral success for other European Left parties.
Hudson also makes an important contribution to the growing but as yet underdeveloped literature on radical left parties. The author writes in an engaging and clear way and the book will appeal to readers with an interest in left-wing politics. The book will also be welcomed by scholars of the radical left including historians and political scientists for the rich description it provides on a number of left parties.
The New European Left includes chapters on the electoral fortunes of the radical left, its historic attempts to build a European movement and the emergence of the Party of the European Left (PEL). Chapters also focus on left parties in Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Italy and Scandinavia. These chapters add to the limited literature on the historical development of these parties in English. The book is impressive in terms of studying a broad range of left parties. It identifies a number of similarities and differences that exist in the approaches that contemporary radical left parties take in promoting socialism.
Hudson's analysis provides insights as to how left parties have responded to developments in their national political systems, cuts by social democratic governments as well as globalization and European integration. Chapter 2 charts the regroupment of the European Left and Chapter 3 makes important advances in our knowledge of the development of the PEL. This explains the key programmatic positions and social policies of the PEL. A major strength of the book is its attempt to look beyond Western Europe to provide a pan-European account of the radical left.
The recent electoral success of Syriza in Greece adds support to the book’s claim that ideologically pluralistic left parties offer potential for electoral success. The book presents a conceptualization of the “New European Left”. In doing so, it presents a number of challenges for those studying the radical left. In particular, the book raises questions as to how we should best classify the ideological positions of contemporary radical left parties. Further research is needed to question whether Hudson’s approach provides a better understanding of the radical left than attempts to identify different subgroups of the radical left developed by Luke March’s (2012) Radical Left Parties in Europe.
This book is a great resource for those seeking to learn about the policy positions of left parties. Studies of the programmatic adaptation of radical left parties in Europe have generally struggled to identify whether ‘internal’ party organizational or ‘external’ party system factors have shaped programmatic adaptation. Hudson’s explanations tend to emphasize external factors like changes made by social democracy and globalization. However, some political scientists will desire a more theorized explanation of the factors that have driven programmatic change in left parties. There is also a need for studies that identify the philosophical sources of left party thinking and the theories that they seek to put into practice.
The book concludes with a discussion of the global left, the World Social Forum and antiglobalization movement. Hudson takes important steps in breaking down divisions between two research areas as she sheds light on the relations between left parties and social movements. Critics may argue that Hudson could go further in questioning why radical left parties still generally play a limited role in most European countries, despite their recent successes in Southern Europe. The New European Left makes significant inroads into enhancing our understanding of the politics and performance of several leading left parties. It is an essential read for those studying and researching radical left politics.