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Left-conservatism
Political ideology within leftism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Left-conservatism or conservative leftism is a syncretic political ideology that combines left-wing economic stances with social conservatism.
Often manifesting itself in Marxist Old Left parties, left-conservatism places a greater emphasis on collectivism and class struggle rather than cultural issues and identity politics.[1] The ideology supports Marxian economics, socialist economics or Keynesianism but generally holds negative views on the New Left, intersectionality, abortion, drugs, bourgeois feminism, LGBT rights, environmentalism, immigration and the abolition of capital punishment. Some left-conservatives view class struggle as having evolved into a struggle between civilizations.[2]
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Left-conservatism is a syncretic political ideology that synthesizes left-wing economics and a vanguardist approach to social justice with socially conservative stances such as the defense of the family and traditional values, opposition to abortion rights, opposition to immigration, and an opposition to the legalization of drugs, sex work, and certain alcoholic beverages.[3][4][5][6][7] Left-conservatism is often associated with gender-critical feminist, antiglobalist, left-wing populist, and left-wing nationalist political groups. Left-conservative groups typically espouse anti-imperialist, anti-Americanist, anti-Western, Eurosceptic, anti-Zionist, and anti-environmentalist views.[8][9]
The conservative-left is often compared to the Old Left and is influenced by historical Marxist–Leninist movements. The Marxist–Leninist countries of "real socialism" were often characterized by a union of communist and socially conservative policies, which their leaderships dubbed in line with the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels on issues such as homosexuality, bourgeois feminism, patriarchy, abortion, contraception, and prostitution.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] This is contrasted with the New Left of the 1960s, influenced by social liberalism and libertarian socialism and by philosophers such as Herbert Marcuse and C. Wright Mills rather than by Marx and Engels, which rejected involvement with the labor movement and Marxism's historical theory of class struggle in favor of cultural liberation;[18] the conservative-left maintained the positions of the Old Left, emphasizing class conflict, proletarian internationalism, and social conservatism.[19][20][21]
The conservative-left has sometimes been accused of promoting a "red–brown alliance", a unification of the far-left and far-right.[22] In a Rolling Stone Italia article on red-brownism, author Steven Forti noted the left-wing origins of historical fascist and reactionary conservative figures, such as Benito Mussolini and Nicola Bombacci.[23]
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China
The left-conservative faction of the post-reform and opening up Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is represented by the supporters of neoauthoritarianism and Xi Jinping Thought within the party.[24][25] However, CCP's neoauthoritarianism was described as right-wing by Yuezhi Zhao.[26]
France
The views of Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party, have been described as left-conservative.[27] Roussel frames communism as a patriotic French movement, supports nuclear power, and opposes the French welfare state and "handout left".[27]
Germany
In the modern politics of Germany, the term Querfront is often used to refer to movements and ideologies which aim to combine the stances of the economic left and the conservative right. The most notable German Querfront publications are Compact, which is run by former left-wing activist Jürgen Elsässer,[28][29][30] and Manova News, operated by Jens Wernicke.[31][32] During the COVID-19 protests in Germany, left-wingers and conservatives sometimes protested together against the German government's prevention measures.[33]
Sahra Wagenknecht and her Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) political party are noted for their "conservative leftist" outlook.[34][35][36][37][38][39] BSW's program emphasizes a redistributionist economic program and policies favoring the economic interests of the working class while adopting conservative stances on cultural issues.[27] Wagenknecht criticized the democratic socialist Die Linke party for ceasing "to reflect the outlook of poorer Germans" and for intolerant "wokeness".[27]
Greece
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) rejects the ideas of the New Left, generally maintaining left-conservative and Marxist–Leninist positions.[40][41][42] KKE voted against the introduction of same-sex civil unions in 2015, but has also criticized homophobia and discrimination in general.[43][44]
Italy
There existed a left-conservative current in the Italian Communist Party (PCI).[10] Italian poet Pier Paolo Pasolini was expelled from the PCI for his open homosexuality.[45] Pasolini himself would embrace left-conservative criticisms of the 1968 movement in Italy, believing the protests to be the result of the Italian economic miracle and subsequent rise of consumerism, modernity, and the permissiveness of divorce and abortion in Italian society.[46]
In 21st-century Italy, political commentators and politicians Diego Fusaro, Marco Rizzo, and Alessandro Di Battista have expressed left-conservative positions and cited Marxism when explaining their opposition to the LGBT+ movement.[47][48][49][50][51]
Latin America
Numerous left-wing and anti-neoliberal political parties in Latin America have adopted socially conservative positions under the influence of religious socialism, including Free Peru and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.[9]
Workers' Party member and former President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff maintained left-conservative stances on abortion, the legalization of marijuana, and other social issues.[52]
Russia
Political scientist Nikolai Rabotyazhev described Russian left-conservatism as an extension of socialist ideologies writing: "the possibility of the existence of a political phenomenon such as left-wing conservatism is explained by the fact that conservative and socialist ideologies initially had numerous points of contact. Conservatism and socialism, in reaction to the process of modernization, rejected a liberal civilization based on individualism, rationalism, and the power of money."[53]
In Russia, the conservative-left is anchored in left-wing nationalist parties, such as the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), which often mix a strong adherence to Orthodox Christianity and its moral principles with Soviet-style communist stances.[53] The National Patriotic Forces of Russia attempts to unite left-nationalist and right-nationalist political groups in support of KPRF.[54][55][56]
Rabotyazhev describes the Izborsky Club, a Russian conservative think tank, as being imbued with left-conservative thought, describing some members of the think tank as attempting to synthesize the Russian "red" and "white" traditions.[53]
The term "left-wing conservative" was used by the Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin in the founding declaration of his political party For Truth.[57]
United States
In late 2022, American political commentators Jackson Hinkle and Haz Al-Din began advocating for the idea of "MAGA Communism". Hinkle was a supporter of Bernie Sanders and Muammar Gaddafi,[58][59] while Al-Din had held Western Marxist and Bordigist views before embracing Marxism–Leninism.[60][61] Vice described MAGA Communism as a "swirl of social conservatism, patriotism and subversive energy".[62] Hinkle and other supporters of the idea argued that those who care about the American working class should ally with the MAGA movement, which they considered to be the largest anti-establishment movement in the United States, to incite a populist revolution.[63]
Al-Din declared that "Marxism is not woke",[64] while Hinkle stated: "Communism and Marxism historically have been conservative. It's a new era in the West that has made it adhere to liberal-leftist values. This is not true Marxism. It's Marxism funded by George Soros. They don't want communists, left-wing populists, right-wing populists, uniting on common issues to fight the deep state."[62] When Hinkle was questioned on whether he actually supported communism; he said that the United States can learn from the Soviet Union and Communist China, that Marxism–Leninism has historically been conservative, and that what he described as modern communism's "liberal-leftist values" are a perversion "funded by George Soros".[62]
One of the core beliefs of MAGA Communism is opposition to NATO in favor of supporting a "multipolar axis", which is to include Russia, North Korea, and the Iran.[65] MAGA Communists criticize liberal identity politics, denounce American imperialism, and dismiss climate change concerns as "virtue-signaling" and "green fascism". They consider themselves Marxist–Leninists and are opposed to the social-democratic and "woke" left.[65] MAGA Communism also opposes feminism, environmentalism, and the LGBTQ movement; it seeks to combat "negative developments in society", which they list as "the decline of basic masculine virtues", "the rise of a kind of effeminization, especially among men", and "trans terrorists and propagandists".[59] The model of communism followed by MAGA Communists is the one of the Chinese Communist Party.[66] Hinkle stated: "What we're trying to do as MAGA communists is show American youth that yes, communism is good. China is its embodiment, and we should respect them and also try to work with them instead of going to war with them."[67] MAGA Communists consider themselves post-liberal and illiberal,[65] arguing that liberalism is no longer a progressive ideology, but rather became the doctrine of the American ruling class; because of this, MAGA communists declare their support for anti-liberal movements regardless of their political orientation.[68] MAGA Communists also support the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, the government of China, and Palestine, regardless of whether it is Hamas-led or not.[59] MAGA Communists admire Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad, and Kim Jong-Un,[59] as well as Joseph Stalin – because of this, MAGA Communism has been described as a form of Stalinism.[69]
On July 21, 2024, Hinkle and Al-Din announced the launch of the American Communist Party (ACP), which espouses socially conservative views.[70] The Communist Party of the Russian Federation stated that ACP "relies strictly on class struggle, rather than on 'identity politics' – the so-called gender, race, and sexual struggles that are so popular today in America and Western Europe."[71] ACP positions itself as a patriotic and anti-revisionist alternative to the Communist Party USA and other existing American communist parties.
John Fetterman, a senior United States senator from Pennsylvania and member of the Democratic Party, has been described as part the conservative-left for his support of border security and opposition to the American far-left.[27]
United Kingdom
Historically, the Labour Party included a strong socially conservative element. From its inception, the party consisted of a broad coalition of the more progressive middle class intelligentsia and the more socially conservative working classes and trade unions.[72][73] This coalition was enabled by Labour's socialist or social democratic policy agenda and its links to the trade union movement in the era of mass union membership, which enabled the inclusion of socially conservative voices in the party, particularly social conservatives in the working class who saw Labour's socialist and left-wing economic policies as improving their living standards and felt no affinity to the traditionally upper class Conservative Party.[74][73]
Labour's left-conservative element was very influential in the party's early years, as exemplified by the rise of trade union leaders like Ernest Bevin and J. H. Thomas in early Labour governments, but became increasingly overshadowed by the more progressive middle-class wing of the party who came to dominate its leadership from the middle of the 20th century.[73] At the behest of the Fabian Society and its influential leader Sidney Webb, the early Labour Party crafted an agenda designed to appeal to the socially conservative working classes in particular, leading to the adoption of a gradualist and pragmatic approach to socialism which continues into the present day, by which the party aims to reform capitalism rather than abolish it.[72] However, the conservative left started to fall out of fashion for progressivism by the time Labour prime minister Clement Attlee came to power in 1945.[73] Nonetheless, Attlee himself was known to hold socially conservative views, and his government was often criticised for taking a conservative approach on the military, foreign policy and the civil service.[75][76] Labour also continued to adopt more socially conservative stances on certain issues, embracing patriotism and championing opposition to immigration and Euroscepticism. These were eventually toned down or superseded by progressive stances at the turn of the 21st century as the party shifted away from socialism towards social liberalism in the 1980s and 1990s.[76]
Since the 21st century, the coalition of social conservatives and progressives in the Labour Party has come under strain with the emergence of the Brexit and Scottish independence movements and rising anti-immigration sentiment among the white working class, in contrast to the more accepting attitudes of the more progressive Labour leadership and its pro-European and unionist stances. This has led to a political shift with much of Labour's traditional working class voting base abandoning Labour and turning towards the Conservative Party and Reform UK because of a sense of disillusionment with the party, seen with the loss of the predominantly working class Labour-voting red wall to the Conservatives in the 2019 general election.[73] The loss of this working class base has also been attributed to Labour's economic shift to the centre in the 1990s and 2000s under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown during the New Labour era and again in the 2020s under Keir Starmer, which led to the creation of the left-conservative Blue Labour movement, a faction in the party which seeks to promote left-wing economics and social conservatism to reconnect Labour with this base.[74][77][78] Despite Starmer's more centrist economic policies, the Blue Labour movement has been seen as exerting significant influence over Starmer's social policies, leading to the adoption of an oppositional stance on immigration, a focus on nationalism and patriotism, and a more conservative stance on LGBTQ rights and transgender rights in particular.[77][79]
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