Zhao Ting, Yang Jingxuan: The Response of the Western Left and the Development Trend of Socialism Under the COVID-19 Pandemic
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a regional public health crisis has rapidly metastasized into a global political and economic crisis. Western leftist forces, represented by national Communist Parties, Workers' Parties, and leftist scholars, have responded actively, exerting deep influence. As epidemic prevention becomes a "new normal" for human life, where will the world go in the post-pandemic era, and what is the developmental trend of the world socialist movement? This article will explain and analyze these issues.
I. Counter-strategies of the Western Left during the COVID-19 Pandemic
On the political spectrum of Western bourgeois states, the balance between left and right serves as a stabilizer for class rule. However, since the outbreak of COVID-19, Western governments have collectively "turned to the right" or even moved toward fascism, undermining the balance of the political ecosystem and the channels for expressing social interests. Relying on their rich experience in struggle and their mass base, Western leftist organizations have taken action across multiple theoretical and practical fields, exploring new paths, forms, and strategies for the socialist movement under the conditions of the pandemic.
(1) In-depth analysis of the roots and essence of the pandemic The COVID-19 "pandemic" is by no means a superficial crisis of technical governance or public health; rather, it is a systemic crisis arising from the inherent contradictions of the capitalist mode of production. When the capitalist mode of production becomes a fetter on the development of productive forces, it utilizes the natural form of ecological crisis and the social form of economic crisis to destroy productive forces on a massive scale. Thirty-two leftist political parties and organizations worldwide issued a joint statement through the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR), arguing that the pandemic is being used to mask a new global economic crisis and that capitalism itself is the true "epidemic."
The systemic crisis of capitalism is manifested concretely in the ecological crisis that bred the coronavirus and the governance crisis in the inefficient response to the outbreak. The American leftist thinker Noam Chomsky believes that this pandemic is essentially a capitalist health crisis, a grave consequence of the logic of capital invading wildlife ecosystems. The ecological crisis was created single-handedly by capital, the bourgeoisie, and developed capitalist countries, yet its consequences are borne by all of humanity, especially the proletariat and poor, underdeveloped nations. Currently, the ecological crisis facing humanity includes viruses, global warming, earthquakes, and tsunamis; various disaster factors intermingle and serve as mutual causes and effects, constituting a broader and deepening picture of ecological catastrophe. Capitalism has also exhibited a governance crisis characterized by inefficient, failed, or even ineffective responses to the pandemic. First, this is centered on the privatization and commercial operation of healthcare systems. This has fueled shortages of medical resources, turned medical facilities into elite institutions for the wealthy, reduced the collective bargaining power of healthcare workers—forcing them to work in environments lacking protection—and led to the collapse of national public health systems. Second, it is prominently reflected in the polarized confrontation between the propertied and the propertyless, and between white people and people of color. The pandemic has exacerbated the wealth gap between classes, leaving the proletariat and the middle class facing the existential plight of unemployment and bankruptcy, while the ruling class has grown even wealthier. The pandemic has also seriously compromised people's rights to health and survival; the proletariat, particularly workers of color, have been forced to labor on the brink of death, suffering the dual oppression of capitalism and racism.
Furthermore, this pandemic is the inevitable result of neoliberalism deepening the systemic crisis of capitalism. The Anti-Imperialist Anti-Fascist United Front (AIAFUF) believes that from industrial capitalism and monopoly capitalism to neoliberalism, the systemic and cyclical crises of capital accumulation have progressively deepened, and "the neoliberal policy system is more prone to collapse than ever before." First, neoliberalism has reinforced the logic of capital. Following the SARS outbreak, large pharmaceutical companies and private hospitals blindly pursued high profit margins and withdrew from coronavirus research and prevention projects, transforming the people's right to survival and healthcare into commodities, making them a new frontier for capital accumulation. Second, neoliberalism has weakened government functions, resulting in governance failure. Due to the long-term weakening of state capacity, the public sector cannot shoulder its proper responsibilities, while private capital undergoes "barbaric expansion" [1] strictly according to market principles; this causes the public sphere to eventually become a vacuum with no one in charge, leading to the failure of modern state governance. It is evident that neoliberalism has severely shackled the development of productive forces, and the COVID-19 pandemic has fully exposed the decadence and backwardness of capitalism. As the European Communist Initiative stated: "This global pandemic demonstrates the barbarism of capitalism; it is a decaying, exploitative, and obsolete system."
(2) Critiquing the anti-people policies of bourgeois governments Shifting the burden of economic crisis: To keep the capitalist machine running, Western governments launched massive debt-driven bailouts and tax-cut plans; the pandemic also caused profits for logistics, pharmaceutical, and internet companies to skyrocket. Even though large enterprises and transnational corporations received enormous bailouts, this did not stop them from laying off employees, overworking them, and violating labor rights. Meanwhile, the meager subsidies received by the massive unemployed population were barely enough for subsistence, while illegal and temporary workers were left to wait for death in the face of the pandemic. The Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany declared: "We do not accept any attempt, under the guise of defending against the new coronavirus, to shift the consequences of the environmental crisis, the world economic crisis, and the financial crisis onto the masses and the working class."
Indulging in governance chaos: The chaotic response to the pandemic in capitalist countries is rooted in the class nature of the ruling cliques, as governments are accountable to financial capitalists and monopoly groups rather than the general public. The top priority of government policy is to maintain the stability of capital's profitability, not to protect and save lives or curb the spread of the virus. In terms of governance performance, this manifests as a lack of national emergency capacity—that is, the logic of capital dominates anti-epidemic actions, leading to a state of anarchy in the public health sector. The Communist Party of Belgium appealed to the public: "Do not trust government measures: whatever the measures, they are anti-people measures."
(3) Activating organizations at all levels to carry out self-help and mutual aid movements Solidarity and mutual aid are important socialist values and a touchstone for the ideals and beliefs of Communist Parties. In practice, the Western Left has explored the self-help and mutual aid movement as a new form of close ties between the Party and the masses [2], enabling the grassroots to obtain scarce and essential protective supplies, spreading scientific methods of virus protection, and strengthening their theoretical identification with, political trust in, and support for Communist Parties. These diverse forms of movement also provide a new model for expanding organizational scale and mobilizing the masses in the post-pandemic era.
Disseminating epidemic prevention knowledge and distributing supplies: Communist Parties abroad have fully mobilized Party organizations at all levels, activating the subjective consciousness of grassroots organizations and forming an integrated mobilization mechanism. Local organizations of the Communist Party of Turkey established mutual aid networks to provide masks and other supplies to the grassroots. Austrian revolutionaries and anti-fascists organized "neighborhood mutual aid" activities to buy food for elderly neighbors. The Red Women's Committees provided protective masks to the working masses, helping them protect themselves from infection in harsh labor environments.
Raising relief funds and providing rescue services: Due to layoffs and wage cuts in the corporate sector, and price gouging increasing the cost of living—compounded by the fact that the working class is a high-risk group for infection—many at the bottom of society found it difficult to survive. Both the Communist Party of Turkey and the Democratic Socialists of America created relief funds to collect and distribute money to impoverished members. The Communist Party of Bangladesh integrated the strengths of its members and innovated relief projects according to local conditions, such as establishing 24-hour call centers, forming "special medical teams," and launching "free ambulance services" to transport patients to hospitals.
(4) Consolidating the united front and organizing protest demonstrations The pandemic crisis has provided a practical impetus for building a united front. The capitalist crisis has exacerbated the contradiction between labor and capital to an unprecedented degree. Due to the lack of safety protection and health guarantees, workers in essential social industries gradually launched "small-scale, brief, and local spontaneous strikes." Essential industries during the pandemic included not only traditional sectors like food production, transportation, logistics, and retail, but also special groups in the pharmaceutical industry. On June 16, approximately 250,000 healthcare workers in France took to the streets, demanding protection for the public healthcare system and their own labor rights. On June 17, Greek healthcare workers went on strike, demanding increased investment in the health system and a ban on layoffs. It is clear that frontline medical staff are becoming socialists; their protests against medical policy should be incorporated into the perspective of opposing capitalism.
At the same time, similar experiences of exploitation and struggle have laid the foundation for solidarity across different industries; workers have aggregated their respective demands into the "direct struggle for protective equipment." They agree that the exploitation of the working class is the fundamental condition for the operation of capitalist society and the appreciation of capital; without workers' labor, capitalism will perish. This has given rise to the practical need for a cross-industry united front and has led to the formation of flexible and diverse struggle organizations. For example, healthcare workers in New York City and Washington, D.C., formed the "COVID-19 Frontline Workers Task Force," which not only speaks for wage laborers on the medical front but also fights for other workers' rights. The struggles of the cross-industry united front eventually converged into a powerful trade union movement. Major Colombian unions—the Central Union of Workers (CUT), the Confederation of Workers (CTC), and the General Confederation of Labor (CGT)—held joint demonstrations to demand the protection of workers' welfare and rights, opposing corporate hours-cutting and government reductions in pension, medical, and security spending.
(5) Emphasizing proletarian internationalist collective action The COVID-19 "pandemic" is a global, systemic crisis of capitalism. Correspondingly, Communist Parties of various countries have taken the fight against the capitalist pandemic crisis as a shared internationalist mission, speaking to the world in unison through international organizations. These include regional joint actions, such as the "Meeting of European Communist Parties," the "European Communist Initiative," and the "Joint Statement of South American Communist Parties on COVID-19"; they also include global international unions, such as the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), the "Joint Statement of Communist and Workers' Parties of the World on the New Coronavirus," the "Joint Statement of 54 Communist Youth Leagues Worldwide on COVID-19," and the "Manifesto of 32 Leftist Parties and Organizations Worldwide on the Coronavirus Pandemic." There are also international platforms focused on specific functions, such as the AIAFUF, which emphasizes anti-war and anti-fascism, and the ICOR, which emphasizes international coordination.
The unprecedented solidarity of the world socialist movement during the pandemic primarily expressed the following demands: First, increased investment in medical resources and improved welfare for healthcare workers. They demand that governments increase public health spending, fill shortages in medical resources, nationalize strategic sectors, ensure that all people enjoy high-quality medical security, and provide stable labor protection for healthcare workers. Second, opposition to shifting the burden of the crisis and safeguarding the labor rights of the people. Communist Parties oppose "making workers pay for the impact of the pandemic," insisting that workers' health is more important than profit. They demand that governments issue relief policies, respect the right to survival of the grassroots, protect workers' democratic rights and union freedoms, and oppose racism and fascism. Third, strengthening internationalist solidarity and taking global revolutionary action. The pandemic crisis has proven that healthcare and prevention are global rights. Western leftist organizations call on all countries to strengthen cooperation and jointly study the causes of diseases: "We are now fighting for immediate measures to protect health and safeguard the rights of all people in every corner of the planet."
II. The Development of the Socialist Movement in the Post-Pandemic Era
The post-pandemic era is an era of global structural, deep-seated, and systematic change. The pandemic crisis is merely a prelude to the systemic crisis of capitalism; neoliberal policies and the capitalist system are being re-examined. As the Communist Party USA declared, this is a new era where there is "no going back to the way things were." As the crisis of capitalist relations of production transmits to all levels—including cultural psychology, political systems, and the international order—the transformations of the post-pandemic era are only just beginning. At that point, people will find that the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the rules and mechanisms by which human society operates.
(1) Formation of favorable conditions for the socialist movement The trend of the international center of gravity shifting to the East has accelerated: Historically, the reconstruction of international order and geopolitics has often used war or revolution as a watershed. Gedaniz [3] believes that the significance of COVID-19 exceeds even the Peace of Westphalia, the French Revolution, and 1956...
The 1956 Suez Crisis [4]. This is manifested in the continuous waning of Washington's authority and the increasing growth of China's leadership, as the international center of power moves eastward. First, the image of Western nations has been damaged. Professor Stephen M. Walt of Harvard University pointed out that "COVID-19 will accelerate the shift of power and influence from West to East. The response of the automotive and European governments has been slow and mismanaged, further damaging the 'image' of the West." Second, the hegemonic status of the US dollar has been strongly challenged. US hegemony is built upon a neoliberal world economic system based on the dollar; the irresponsible economic stimulus policies of the US caused confidence in the dollar to shrink among governments already in financial straits. Coupling this with China’s rich experience in applying credit technologies such as blockchain and digital currencies, the power of the US to sustain financial capital by shifting crises onto others via the dollar is being gradually weakened. Finally, the international status of the United States has been seriously questioned. China and the US have made diametrically opposed choices in international policy: China advocates for a community with a shared future for humanity and the construction of a Health Silk Road [5], playing a leading role in international anti-epidemic actions. The US, in defiance of humanitarianism, intensified sanctions against countries such as Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba, announced the cessation of funding for the World Health Organization, and provoked regional tensions, indicating that US control over international organizations and the global political situation is in decline.
Globalization stands at a crossroads of difficult choices. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the predicament of global governance—namely, the irreconcilable tension between sovereign modern nation-states and human crises on a global scale. Globalization is no longer merely the globalization of economy, politics, culture, and information; it is manifested as the globalization of ecology, disasters, and destiny. The coronavirus is a representative case of a regional disaster expanding into a global one. The pandemic has also led to growing calls for "de-globalization." Anti-epidemic policies such as closing national borders and "beggaring thy neighbor" [6] have stimulated trends of nationalism, racism, and xenophobia. This not only obscures scientific rationality in eradicating the virus but also provides fertile soil for right-wing extremists to take power. The clash of interests between globalization and anti-globalization focuses specifically on the issue of whether to help poor and backward countries with epidemic prevention and control; therefore, the question lies in how to develop a "new type of globalization." The Western Left believes that China’s proactive promotion of anti-epidemic experience to the world through the "Health Silk Road" is "highly commendable."
Relations between the "two systems" [7] have entered a period of deep adjustment. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, the world socialist movement has been operating at a low ebb, facing the practical dilemma of "strong capital and weak socialism." Even the severe financial crisis of 2008 failed to turn the tide for the socialist movement, as Communist parties in various countries struggled to effectively utilize the "window of opportunity" to make full preparations, showing new changes and highlights only in localized areas. However, this pandemic has provided a once-in-a-century opportunity for the socialist movement. Socialism possesses a distinct identity marker in the field of health and wellness; by moving past arguments with various trends of thought such as liberalism and populism, it invites people to contemplate their future destiny in the choice between socialism and capitalism. The climax of the socialist movement is, moreover, realistic and accessible. Socialist countries such as China, Cuba, and Vietnam—through their practices of scientific decision-making, public mobilization, putting life first, and internationalism—have provided a realistic reference system and control group. "Socialism" is increasingly becoming a "fashionable" term; in the future, "black swan" events like the "Sanders phenomenon" and "Corbyn phenomenon" will frequently take the political stage. Noam Chomsky has judged that "the labor movement is undergoing a revival," and the US Democratic Party, influenced by public opinion, has had to adopt a leftward posture in its campaign platform.
(2) Catalyzing Alternative Solutions to Neoliberalism
The post-pandemic era has exacerbated the decline of neoliberalism. Many Leftist scholars believe that while the 2008 financial crisis challenged the neoliberal order, COVID-19 has announced the end of neoliberalism. Revolutionary activist and Leftist historian Max Elbaum asserted: "Neoliberalism, which has dominated the global political and economic landscape for 40 years, has reached its final step."
As the pandemic brings neoliberalism to an end, it also activates the road to communism. The Communist Party of Turkey believes that post-pandemic neoliberal policies will continue to exacerbate inequality, strengthen monopoly groups, weaken the foundations of the ruling class, and reduce the bargaining power of workers; this will inevitably trigger worker resistance and the pursuit of alternative options that transcend the boundaries of the existing social order. Professor Aleksandr Buzgalin, a Russian Leftist social critic, believes the pandemic has caused communist ideas of solidarity, justice, internationalism, and freedom to take deep root in people's hearts, putting the alternative of "either communism or barbarism" [8] on the agenda. The cultural foundations of neoliberalism—individualism, consumerism, the supremacy of private interests, and isolationism—are being gradually dissolved by organized collective action, discussions that place social interests above capital interests, and internationalist solidarity. COVID-19 has proven that socialism is not an abstract theory or rigid preaching, but starts from the reality of defending democratic rights and undertaking social responsibility to meet people’s needs and pursue a beautiful life that is possible and in accordance with human nature.
(3) Strengthening the Organizational Power of Radical Left Movements
The post-pandemic era is consolidating a socialist consensus and initiating a new wave of the world socialist movement. After personally experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, people's views on capitalism and socialism have fundamentally changed; they realize that the socialist struggle is closely related to their immediate interests, and that opposing capitalism is synonymous with protecting everyone’s life. The younger generation, who have suffered under neoliberal oppression, possess higher sensitivity and receptivity toward political issues; they are organizing radical socialist parties and represent the future of socialism.
The mass base for transforming capitalism and realizing socialism is broadening. Young people are accelerating their transition into socialists. Communist parties in various countries are attracting more and more young people through support and guidance, strengthening organization and alliance building, and improving communication and dialogue. The US website Left Voice stated that studies show support for socialism and capitalism among Millennials and Generation Z (referring to those born between 1995 and 2009, also known as the "Internet generation") is basically equal. The pandemic has also pushed social ideology toward a moderate leftward shift. The French Communist Party, citing research from the "Political Confidence Barometer," pointed out that reforming the capitalist system is becoming a political consensus in the post-pandemic era. Japanese Marxist scholar Hiroshi Ohnishi believes that a cry has also formed among intellectuals for capitalism to make way for socialism, as everyone feels that thinking about the system itself is more important than specific anti-epidemic measures. Viewed this way, the pandemic has driven public opinion to strive for capitalist system reform and realize a "left turn" toward socialism, providing popular support for the socialist movement.
The forces for constructing revolutionary parties that transcend the boundaries of the existing system are increasing. First, the scale of Western Leftist organizations generally expanded during the pandemic. The membership of the Communist Party of Britain increased by 13%, the Democratic Socialists of America added 10,000 new members, and the Communist Party USA stated that "the number of people applying to join the party is currently increasing significantly." Second, the pandemic provides an opportunity to promote alternatives to the existing system. The Left Voice website argues that one cannot "jump from one social movement to another," as this "treats the symptoms but not the disease"; one must unite to launch a challenge against capitalism itself. The Communist Party USA called for the courage to "step into socialism" and immediately implement a "socialist democratic plan and expand the public operations service model." Finally, people have realized the urgency of building revolutionary parties. Western radical Left organizations have called for the establishment of "mass socialist parties based on the working class and armed with a socialist program," fully uniting diverse identities such as workers, immigrants, people of color, and sexual minorities to accumulate strength for the final revolution. In short, Western Communist parties and Leftist organizations have moved the socialist movement a giant step forward during the pandemic, elevating ideological criticism, political protest, and economic struggle to the level of socialist alternatives, preparing for the climax of the socialist movement from multiple aspects.
III. Difficulties and Challenges Still Facing the Socialist Movement
The pandemic has also brought some challenges to the world socialist movement, particularly manifested in the fact that the overall pattern of "strong capital and weak socialism" has not yet changed, the fragmentation of factions within the Leftist camp, and the insufficient capacity of radical Leftist parties.
First, the overall pattern of "strong capital and weak socialism" has not changed. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the decline of neoliberalism and caused the structural contradictions and institutional dilemmas of capitalism to become further highlighted—and while the world's Leftist forces and socialist movement have been greatly tempered during the pandemic—taken as a whole, the overall pattern of "strong capital and weak socialism" has not changed. Today’s world is still an imperialist era dominated by developed capitalist countries, with Western countries led by the United States still pursuing hegemonism and power politics. The influence of most Communist and workers' organizations is very limited, and their strength is far from sufficient to shake the existing political systems of the West.
Second, Western Leftist forces are dispersed, and internal friction outweighs cooperation. The Western Left is a mixture of various trends of thought, schools, and views. Among them are radical Leftist forces guided by Marxism-Leninism, social democracy which advocates reconciling classes within the capitalist system to gradually realize socialist values, and Left-liberalism which uses abstract and speculative methods to moderately criticize capitalism. Faced with the social turmoil caused by the pandemic, the Western Leftist camp stands in agreement on opposing the ruling governments' passive response to the epidemic, advocating for the dignity of life and egalitarian values, and mobilizing spontaneous social forces. However, they differ in the steps, forms, and directions of realization—especially on the fundamental question of whether the existing system can be transcended and replaced. The Leftist camp grinds against itself on the issues of revolution versus reform; on the question of whether to support progressive bourgeois parties in carrying out moderate improvements within the existing institutional framework, social democrats and communists often part ways. For example, the Democratic Socialists of America and Noam Chomsky generally supported Joe Biden's presidential candidacy for the Democratic Party, while Leftist groups such as the Communist Party USA, the Workers World Party, and Left Voice demanded radical change and opposed maintaining the existing system. These disputes over the "line" involve not only the weighing of practical material interests but also differences in cultural traditions and ideological heritage, leaving the already thin and weak Leftist forces facing challenges of alienation, fragmentation, and dissolution.
Third, the strength of most Western radical Leftist parties needs improvement. The fact that individual party strengths are weak and substantive unity is difficult to progress significantly is the current practical dilemma facing Western radical Leftist forces. Although radical Leftist parties grew in strength during the pandemic, compared to most mainstream Western parties, they remain on the periphery of the political space. This relatively disadvantaged political situation is not only the result of the bourgeoisie constantly constraining, restricting, and stigmatizing the communist movement, but is also the combined effect of long-standing constraints such as insufficient funding, poor stability in political participation, and low influence on political decision-making. Furthermore, social distancing policies made these already strained survival conditions even worse. Therefore, how to fully utilize the legal conditions of party politics and find a balance between parliamentary struggle and street protest remains a question that radical Leftist parties need to continue exploring.
IV. Conclusion
Looking at global anti-epidemic actions, in the view of the Western Left, China's successful experience has manifested the institutional advantages of socialism, highlighted people-centered values, and shaped a model for promoting a community with a shared future for humanity and the Health Silk Road. Meanwhile, Cuba's "revolutionary humanitarian" values and Vietnam's sense of mission that "fighting an epidemic is like fighting an enemy" have all demonstrated the powerful vitality and immense charm of socialism. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven once again that the crisis of capitalism has never gone away, and the times call for socialist alternatives. In the post-pandemic era, where humanity will coexist with virus-driven disasters for a long time, where will the world socialist movement go? Through the above analysis, it can be found that actual socialist countries [9] and the Western Leftist movement are a "community" sharing honor and disgrace. They consistently adhere to a people-centered approach, putting the lives and health of the people first. From different perspectives, they have explained the questions of "why socialism exists," "how it is possible," and "why it is necessary" in the 21st century, becoming the highlights of this pandemic period.
Socialism is the product of the internal crises of capitalism. The capitalist system is neither the "end of history" [10] nor a condition for peace; rather, it is a decaying entity that continuously generates opposing forces to overcome itself. Capitalism not only produces viruses that infect tens of millions and spawns economic crises that destroy progressive productive forces, but it also differentiates its own "grave-diggers"—the proletariat. Socialism is a realistic and possible alternative, and the Communist Party represents the future of the movement. During the pandemic, the Western Left has supported and defended the most radical positions, guiding the labor movement beyond the boundaries of trade unionism [11], refining the identity and class consciousness of the working class, and coordinating fragmented struggles through organizations such as "workers' councils" to drive the socialist movement toward greater depth and breadth.
Furthermore, socialism is an inevitable requirement for the protection of life and health. The profit-seeking nature of capitalism was fully exposed during the pandemic, whereas actual socialist states and Left-wing organizations have consistently remained people-centered, respected science and knowledge, realized solidarity and mutual aid, and carried forward the spirit of internationalism to defend the right to survival and health of the grassroots masses. These practices have validated the defining characteristics of socialism—namely, being people-oriented, providing public healthcare, and upholding internationalism—at both the level of values and public health. Taking these as a mirror [12], the socialist movement in the post-pandemic era will strengthen its confidence on this foundation, uphold the fundamentals and break new ground, and explore development paths that are better suited to national conditions, social conditions, and Party conditions [13] under the banner of internationalism.
(Institutional Affiliations: Institute of Contemporary Socialism, Shandong University; School of Marxism, Peking University) Online Editor: Zhang Jian Source: Theoretical Vision (Lilun Shiye), Issue 11, 2020.