The openMovements series invites leading social scientists to share their research results and perspectives on contemporary social struggles.
We are at the end of a cycle that started in the second XIXth century. During this cycle, including in the XXth century, the left was governed by the ideology of progress and economic determinism. After the collapse of the so-called ‘communist’ countries, the question of the relevance of a new left for the XXIst century was raised. Different elements are necessary to answer it, the growing number of citizen initiatives all over the world (that is the subject of the today’s launch text by Laville), the ambivalent experiences of left governments in South America (second subject raised by Coraggio tomorrow), and the structural crisis of European social democracy (to follow, third and fourth texts by Hulgard and Lévesque). The analysis of these complex background issues opens up new perspectives for collective action and emancipation (fifth and sixth, closing texts by Wainwright and Hart). Very different from those of the traditional left, this week’s opinions and debates are also to be found in detail in Spanish (Reinventar la izquierda en el siglo XXI – Hasta un dialogo Norte-Sur) and French (Les gauches du XXIe siècle – Un dialogue Nord-Sud ). Jean-Louis Laville, economist and sociologist, supervised 'Les gauches du XXIe siècle – Un dialogue Nord-Sud' (Bord de l’eau, 2016).
A Nuit Debout orchestra gathers on the Place de la Republique, in Paris, April, 2016, in public protest. Kamil Zihnioglu /Press Association. All rights reserved.
