Zang Xiuling: New Social Movements in the West and Their Impact on Left-wing Political Parties
Western new social movements are defined in contrast to the traditional Western workers' movement. Unlike the traditional workers' movement, which tended toward homogenization and focused on demands for material interests, Western new social movements lean more toward various non-material interests and value-based goals. Broadly speaking, Western new social movements are a collective term for the loose mass protest activities that emerged during the low ebb of the world socialist movement, through which the middle class (or strata), marginalized groups, and others spontaneously formed a resistance force to actively expose and struggle against the inherent maladies of the capitalist system. Their rise is one of the most prominent socio-political phenomena in Western countries since the end of the Second World War. They are exerting an important and profound influence on Western left-wing political parties and the future political trajectory, bearing upon the prospects and direction of party politics in the West.
The Historical Evolution and Main Characteristics of Western New Social Movements
Western new social movements originated in the French "May Storm" [1] of the late 1960s, developed through the 1970s and 1980s, underwent a transformation in the 1990s, and entered a new period of development with many new characteristics in the 21st century—particularly since the outbreak of the 2008 international financial crisis.
The Origination of Western New Social Movements. In May 1968, a mass movement erupted in Paris, France—the "May Storm." Initiated by young French university students, the "May Storm" rapidly triggered the participation of workers and other social strata in a vigorous new type of social movement. Taking this as a starting point, citizens in Europe and America took to the streets, using non-violent methods such as demonstrations, marches, and sit-ins to set off surging waves of anti-war movements, feminist movements, anti-nuclear movements, national liberation movements, and ecological movements. Social movements with entirely different participants and protest themes swept through nearly all advanced capitalist countries in the West. The "May Storm" and the series of mass protest movements that erupted in major advanced Western capitalist countries were a new socio-political phenomenon and a means of expressing interest demands during an unusual period of world development.
In the 1960s, Western society was in a "Golden Age" of sustained economic prosperity and development. In a general sense, as the economy developed and living standards rose, society should have tended toward harmony and stability. However, behind the "prosperity" of the major advanced Western capitalist countries at that time, social instability was gestating. Taking France as an example: "Between 1963 and 1969, real wages in France grew by 3.6%. France entered a consumer society, but economic growth was accompanied by inflation. A surge in population due to one million immigrants from North Africa led to price hikes and rising unemployment, threatening the interests of the working class. More French people received higher education, but overcrowded universities, a mechanized education system, and a conservative cultural atmosphere meant many young people were unhappy."
Consequently, within France's consumer society, resistance from the public toward the government and authority grew increasingly intense. This meant that the "May Storm," as a revolution, "not only questioned capitalist society but also industrial society. Consumer society was destined to suffer a violent death." It reflected the increasing dissatisfaction with the socially impoverished spiritual status quo among the younger generation who grew up in the entirely new environment of material abundance and after World War II. Therefore, starting from individualism and idealism, the younger generation focused more on non-material interests and value-based goals, making every effort to challenge and criticize the culture, society, and spirit of capitalism. At the same time, it also reflected the significant changes taking place in the social strata and class structures of major advanced Western capitalist countries following the rapid development of modern industry and the Third Technological Revolution [2] after World War II: the traditional working class sharply declined, while concurrently, a new middle class (or stratum)—primarily composed of government civil servants, tertiary industry service personnel, specialized technical personnel, middle-management in modern enterprises, and teachers—became the pillar of the social class (or strata) structure. This is the primary reason why the main forces of the new social movements originating from the French "May Storm" were composed of strata such as young students, anti-war activists, women, homosexuals, and "greens," rather than being led and driven by the traditional protagonist of Western socialist movements, the working class. The "May Storm" inaugurated a new type of Western social movement that relied on non-traditional working classes as the primary force against capitalism.
The Development of Western New Social Movements. The series of movements triggered by the French "May Storm" in 1968 was actually only a rehearsal for Western new social movements; the movements in their true and full sense erupted after the 1970s. The period from the 1970s to the 1980s was an important developmental stage. Anti-nuclear peace movements, the global green environmental movement, and the neo-feminist movement were the themes of Western mass protest during this period.
The anti-nuclear peace movement refers primarily to the massive anti-war marches and anti-nuclear weapons movements triggered after the end of the Vietnam War by citizens in major Western countries—especially European countries—to protest the deployment of missiles in Europe by the United States and the Soviet Union. Their goal was to maintain world peace through the opposition to nuclear weapons. At the same time, faced with radioactive pollution from nuclear power plants and the environmental destruction caused by excessive industrialization, the environmental consciousness of the European and American public was gradually awakened. In the 1970s, a grassroots environmental movement involving over 2,000 people erupted in major American cities such as Washington, New York, and Los Angeles, exerting broad social influence and eliciting a strong social response. Following this, mass protests against environmental destruction continued to break out across Europe and America, taking forms ranging from protest rallies and demonstrations to attempts to establish green "ecovillages." In the 1980s, building on the foundation of the extensive green environmental movements, green left-wing political organizations—Green Parties—were established across Western countries. The first Green Party emerged in Germany and has now developed into an important left-wing political force in Europe and the world. The neo-feminist movement, by contrast with the women's suffrage movements of the mid-19th century, was larger in scale, deeper in scope, and broader in participation.
The Transformation of Western New Social Movements. In the 1990s, influenced by the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the dissolution of the Soviet Union [3], profound shifts occurred in the global political and economic situation and the international landscape. Western new social movements also entered an important period of developmental transformation. The drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union not only sent the world socialist movement into a low ebb but also dealt a heavy blow to traditional Western left-wing parties (Communist parties, Social Democratic parties, Socialist parties, and Labor parties in various countries), forcing them to rethink and reposition their future and destiny within Western party politics. Concurrently, along with the failure of Keynesianism and the rise of neoliberalism after World War II, plus the rapid development of modern communication and information technology, Western-led globalization—underpinned by neoliberalism as its fundamental guiding ideology—advanced rapidly, deepening the unfairness of interest distribution and inequality within Western societies. Furthermore, as globalization advanced, environmental issues threatening human survival and development, such as global warming and acid rain, became increasingly severe. Global economic risks grew under the backdrop of capital and financial globalization, with frequent financial crises in various countries and an ever-expanding scope of impact.
Consequently, vulnerable groups (the middle strata and the bottom marginalized groups) whose interests were increasingly damaged during the process of globalization began to express their dissatisfaction and protest against Western-led globalization through various means. In response, European and American countries took the lead in launching large-scale anti-globalization movements. In 1999, the first large-scale anti-globalization movement erupted in Seattle, USA. These movements occurring in Europe and America against the globalization dominated by Western countries marked the entry of Western new social movements into a new and important period of developmental transformation. Along with the development of anti-globalization movements among the Western public, other types of mass protests also unfolded in full swing, such as the global green environmental movement, whose momentum far exceeded the workers' movements led by traditional left-wing parties. By this time, Western new social movements had become a powerful avenue and an important method for resisting the defects of the capitalist system during the low ebb of the world socialist movement.
New Developments in Western New Social Movements. Entering the new century, from the "9/11" attacks in the United States in 2001 to the global financial crisis in 2008, the anti-globalization movement entered a new stage of development after a brief low period. The 2008 global financial crisis, triggered by the United States, further stimulated various social contradictions within European and American countries. Since then, capitalism as an ideology and social system has fallen into a systemic crisis. In this regard, Samir Amin argued: "Following Brexit, the rise of the right in European elections, the electoral victory of Syriza in Greece, and the rise of Podemos in Spain, Donald Trump was recently elected President of the United States. All of this indicates that the global neoliberal system is encountering a deep crisis." The global financial crisis profoundly exposed the inherent maladies of the Western capitalist system, creating an unprecedented impact on the world, especially on Western countries, in the economic, political, and ideological spheres.
More than ten years after the outbreak of the financial crisis, before the economic and social order had fully recovered, the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further tore away the "fig leaf" of the Western capitalist system. The inefficiency and weak response of Western countries in fighting the pandemic proved at a deeper level that the neoliberalism that had dominated the world for over 40 years brought not world peace and prosperity, but social cleavage, intensified conflict, and extreme polarization between rich and poor. Regarding this, the French economist Thomas Piketty argued that globalization under the dominance of Western neoliberalism "contains powerful forces of convergence (especially the impact of knowledge and technology diffusion), but it also contains powerful forces of divergence, which potentially threaten democratic societies and the values of social justice that underpin them." Since the financial crisis, the Western public has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo of capitalist society dominated by neoliberalism. Thus, the waves of mass protests rising one after another in the West eventually converged into a torrent of new social movements. Representative new social movements of this period include the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in the U.S., which targeted the top 1% of high-income earners and lasted for months; the "Democratic Spring" movement, which targeted the false democracy and freedom of the press in capitalism; the "Black Lives Matter" movement that erupted during the pandemic; the "Yellow Vests" movement and "Nuit Debout" (Up All Night) movement in France; and the "Indignados" (Outraged) movement in Spain. These movements all exhibit characteristics such as diverse participants, varied value goals, and pluralistic interest demands. Meanwhile, modern information technology and social media played an unprecedented role in organizing and mobilizing various subjects to participate in these movements.
Of course, "new social movements are not absolutely independent of the past; although each differs in degree of change, they have not made a clean break from the social movements of the past." Many Western new social movements were born under the wing of traditional left-wing movements. However, the "distinguishing feature of new social movements is that they are an irrepressible pluralism," emphasizing the value orientations and independent consciousness of participants; they generally lack fixed organizational systems and structures, charters, or programs. It is precisely this form of movement—characterized by loose organization, dispersed strength, lack of strategy, and pluralistic goals—that makes Western new social movements vastly different from traditional left-wing parties and social movements in terms of political theory and propositions, forms and methods of movement, and movement philosophy and requirements. Yet, this has enabled them to emerge as a powerful "alternative" force and phenomenon resisting capitalism during the low ebb of the socialist movement and at a time when Western left-wing parties are mired in political crisis.
First, in terms of organizational composition, Western new social movements...
It "conspicuously emphasizes individualist tendencies, advocating for personality liberation rather than the transformation of society; it lacks clear behavioral norms and objectives, and possesses neither tight organization nor fixed roles. These movements tend to form political identities and organize various social campaigns and groups around major political issues that attract high public concern—such as race, immigration, civil rights, gender, and the environment—rather than focusing on class. They perceive their commonalities in terms of identity, education, and generational archetypes to be greater than their common class characteristics." Its rise and continuous development has, to a certain extent, greatly weakened the strength of traditional labor unions, dealing a massive blow to the traditional labor movement and seriously attenuating the primary task of the traditional working class to advance holistic social change and strive for collective interests. Particularly after the Cold War, the class and social forces upon which traditional left-wing powers—such as the Communist Parties and Social Democratic Parties of Western countries—depended for survival and development were severely undermined, and many of their participants joined New Social Movements. Second, the Western New Social Movement, as a new channel for expressing interest demands and ideas, has brought subversive crises and challenges to Western party politics. The rapid development of these movements means that Western political parties are no longer the sole avenue for interest representation and expression. Furthermore, the Western New Social Movement essentially "manifests as an important social force promoting and facilitating the transformation of the capitalist system in developed countries; to some degree, it has become a realistic expression of socialist elements within developed countries, exhibiting a relatively distinct socialist tendency in its developmental prospects."
The Impact of Western New Social Movements on Western Left-Wing Parties
"Western left-wing parties" is a relatively broad political classification, serving as the conceptual counterpart to right-wing parties in the Western party-political spectrum. Currently, within this spectrum, left-wing parties can be roughly divided into three categories based on the radicalism of their political consciousness and policy platforms: moderate left-wing parties that are center-left, more radical left-wing parties, and the even more radical far-left parties.
"These three types of left-wing forces hold unequal positions in the existing European political systems and function in different ways." Influenced by Western New Social Movements, various traditional Western left-wing parties have undergone significant changes accordingly.
Moderate left-wing parties are increasingly moving toward the center. Moderate left-wing parties constitute the mainstream of the Western left; their primary objective is governing, and they possess relatively stable governing power. Since World War II, and especially since the 1970s, the continuous development of the technological revolution and the ongoing adjustment of social industrial structures have led to major shifts in the class and stratum structures of Western countries. Additionally, with the rise of the Western consumer society, "the adjustment of redistribution systems, the improvement of social welfare systems, and the rise in living standards caused the class consciousness of the working class to gradually weaken. Coupled with the ascent of the right wing, the weakening of union power, and changes in corporate organizational forms, the labor movement fell into a low ebb," and Western developed capitalist countries entered the period of post-industrial development. Correspondingly, the capitalist relations of production dominated by Western neoliberalism continued to expand, the ranks of the middle class (or strata) grew steadily, and post-materialist value orientations and interest demands burgeoned. The class conflicts and confrontational movements that were once led by traditional left-wing parties have gradually been taken over and continued by New Social Movements, which advocate for diverse participating subjects, varied value goals, pluralistic interest demands, and multifaceted themes and forms. To adapt to new social class conditions and structural changes, as well as the new forms of development in Western New Social Movements, Western political parties—especially moderate left-wing parties with governing ambitions—have been forced to take the adjustment of their own programs and strategies as a vital task. Centrist shifts in political strategy and policy orientation, along with an increasingly flexible attitude toward the market, are the primary markers and characteristics of the adjustment and transformation of Western moderate left-wing parties.
In this regard, from the end of the Cold War to the present, the "Third Way"—which transcends left and right as advocated by the British Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)—is most typical. Taking the British Labour Party as an example: to gain support from broad centrist groups and forces, its centrist transformation increasingly alienated it from the traditional British working class, gradually losing its most stable support base. Meanwhile, the middle class (or strata) acting as the foundation for the Party’s new strategy remains in a state of flux. Labour’s emphasis on flexible market mechanisms also saddled it with the burden of compromising with neoliberalism, which continues to dominate the West. The centrist transformation of the British Labour Party yielded substantial short-term rewards; from 1997 to 2010, it held power for 13 consecutive years. However, the ill effects of this transformation became increasingly prominent after the outbreak of the 2008 global financial crisis. The most intuitive reflection of this is that after the financial crisis, the Labour Party was fundamentally unable to propose strategies or means to handle the crisis, nor could it resolve the social crises Britain faced in the crisis's aftermath. From 2010 to the present, although the Labour Party has implemented political strategies and programs such as "Blue Labour," "Corbynism," and "Post-Neoliberalism," it has failed to win a general election four consecutive times. This illustrates that "in the long run, for social democratic parties that are increasingly focused on electoral politics, the strategic direction of centrism is difficult to change; therefore, the contradiction between catering to the new middle class and avoiding the fragmentation of traditional support bases will persist over the long term." The path of centrist transformation remains a long and arduous task for the British Labour Party, the German SPD, and other moderate left-wing parties in Western countries. This is because the centrist path of development is fundamentally unable to propose "pragmatic political ideas and policy propositions that truly reflect its own characteristics, nor an accurate and clear political strategic positioning." This is the major challenge facing Keir Starmer, the new leader of the British Labour Party, as he leads the party to continue its modernization transformation, maintain its status as a mainstream party, and eventually regain state power. This is also the major challenge facing mainstream moderate left-wing parties in other developed capitalist countries against the backdrop of the continuous development of New Social Movements.
Radical left-wing parties are becoming increasingly active. "Radical left-wing parties refer to those left-wing political forces situated between moderate social democratic parties and the far-left on the European political spectrum." They possess two salient characteristics: first, the composition of radical left-wing parties is complex, including traditional Communist organizations, various socialist parties holding democratic socialist ideologies, and new radical organizations advocating ecologism, feminism, and pacifism that developed out of New Social Movements. Second, radical left-wing parties have limited space for development in Western party politics. With the rise and development of New Social Movements, particularly since the start of the new century, the space for the survival and development of traditional Eurocommunism has been increasingly squeezed. To adapt to the requirements of social development, some traditional left-wing forces have continuously formed new radical left-wing parties through differentiation and consolidation—such as The Left (Die Linke) in Germany, formed by the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative (WASG), or emerging Red-Green political forces like the Red-Green Alliance in Denmark, which is currently active in Nordic politics. In their political platforms, these radical left-wing parties have moderated the fierce attitude toward capitalism held by traditional left-wing parties; most importantly, they have abandoned the position of fundamentally transforming capitalism through revolutionary means. Simultaneously, they have criticized the centrist reform orientations of mainstream traditional left-wing parties. Radical left-wing parties argue that the centrist political attitudes and policy propositions of the left are manifestations of collusion with neoliberalism; they believe that parties fighting for social justice no longer exist, and that Western left-wing parties represented by social democrats have completely degenerated into forces for maintaining the existing capitalist order. Therefore, the new radical left-wing parties must emerge as "alternative" forces to the mainstream left, combining the traditional left-wing emphasis on social justice with egalitarian claims such as ecologism and feminism (i.e., combining material goals with non-material goals) and treating these as the primary objectives and means of transforming capitalism.
Since the turn of the century, radical left-wing parties have entered a period of active development. This was driven by the injection of "Neo-Radical Leftism" into these parties, the rapid global spread of the financial crisis, and the fact that mainstream Western left-wing parties (like social democrats) fell into political crises and struggled to propose timely and effective strategies. The radical left's anti-austerity policies and slogans advocating for increased social welfare—proposed in opposition to the mainstream parties' ineffective response to the financial crisis—resonated significantly. Some radical left-wing parties even won general elections to become governing parties. A typical example is the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) in Greece; because its political platform aligned with public sentiment, it leaped from being a loose alliance to a governing party in a short period. However, taken as a whole, the activity of radical left-wing parties is only relative; the electoral victories or emergence of individual radical left parties as major electoral forces cannot yet change or replace the mainstream status of moderate left-wing parties in Western politics. This is due to several reasons: First, the performance of radical left-wing parties is unstable and uneven across different countries. In some countries, they are strong and developing rapidly (e.g., Syriza in Greece); in others, they have declined sharply within Western competitive electoral systems (e.g., the Communist Refoundation Party in Italy, which has shifted from a major political balancing force to a rapidly weakening minor party in recent years). Second, the activity of radical left-wing parties in Western countries is a specific manifestation under specific conditions; the duration and magnitude of their influence depend primarily on the attitudes of mainstream parties toward austerity policies and social welfare systems. If mainstream parties adopt correct policies in response to crises, the survival space for the radical left will be quickly squeezed. Currently, the fiscal austerity and welfare-cutting policies of mainstream Western parties, along with their impotence in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, have provided special conditions and environments for the radical left's activity. Third, the internal composition of radical left-wing parties is complex, with serious internal contradictions and schismatic tendencies. This dictates that they struggle to form a united and powerful new "alternative" political force, preventing them from exerting a decisive influence on Western party politics. Therefore, although Western radical left forces have seen a corresponding recovery and development since the 1990s, their ideological diversity, differences in political stance on certain major issues, and the impact of changes in social structure and New Social Movements mean that, as a collective force, the future development of the Western radical left is fraught with great uncertainty.
Far-left parties are increasingly trending toward populism. Far-left parties refer to those Western political entities that still hold traditional revolutionary positions, such as Communist parties, Trotskyist and Maoist organizations that still emphasize combativeness, as well as certain anarchist and syndicalist organizations. Western far-left parties usually take Marxism-Leninism as their guiding ideology, and "their characteristic is that they inherit, to varying degrees, the theories and strategies of the parties during the Comintern period." Consequently, compared to radical left-wing parties, far-left parties advocate for a more intense confrontational attitude toward capitalism and the fundamental elimination of social inequality. For a long time, and particularly influenced by the negative factors associated with traditional socialism, the Western public has psychologically maintained a rejectionist attitude toward traditional Eurocommunist (or traditional socialist) ideologies. Far-left parties have consistently remained marginalized in European and American party politics; their radical socialist policies and platforms struggle to exert substantive influence on the proactive electoral politics of the West, with their primary political impact remaining at the level of social protest. Specific examples include the Communist Party of Britain, the Communist Party USA, the Japanese Communist Party, the Workers' Party of Belgium, the Communist Party of Greece, and the Portuguese Communist Party. They all firmly believe that socialism will replace capitalism in the future, yet their influence on their respective countries' electoral politics is extremely limited. Entering the 21st century, and especially since the 2008 international financial crisis, neoliberalism has brought extreme wealth disparity and social fragmentation to Western societies, leading to myriad contradictions and continuous conflicts between social strata and classes. The "99%" (the common masses) against the "1%" ...
(Elite power groups) have become a universal social reality. Against a socio-political backdrop of deepening contradictions between the elite and the masses, the traditional socialist propositions of Western communist parties have been gradually adopted and absorbed by certain radical left-wing organizations and forces. Consequently, the populist tendencies of far-left parties have become increasingly prominent. In recent years, while Western right-wing populism has developed rapidly, the influence of Western left-wing populist parties has also been continuously increasing. The momentum of left-wing populist parties, such as Spain's "Podemos" and Italy's "Five Star Movement," has even surpassed that of right-wing populist parties. However, a deeper analysis reveals that the populist tendency of far-left parties is not a normal state of affairs. On the contrary, it is a significant manifestation of the morbid development of Western political society following the financial crisis. This is because, "from an ideological perspective, the spread of populism and the rise of populist parties demonstrate the development of polarization within the social ideology of European and American countries. But populism itself is not a new consciousness that transcends the traditional political ideological spectrum; rather, it is the highlighting and combination of certain consciousnesses within the existing political ideological spectrum that were not prominent in the past." It reflects a "morbid normalcy" of mainstream society, linked to or consistent with mainstream concepts, public attitudes, and policy positions. When mainstream ideology returns in force, populism will once again fall into a low ebb or be almost entirely obscured. Viewed thus, the populist tendency of Western far-left parties can only be a temporary phenomenon and is fundamentally unsustainable in the long run. Therefore, for the communist parties of various countries—which constitute an important component of the Western far-left—the prospects for gaining social recognition and achieving long-term development under the framework of Western electoral politics are not optimistic.
The Dilemma and Future of Western New Social Movements and Left-wing Political Parties
If one views Western New Social Movements as a whole, "New Social Movements claim that contemporary social movements are a sublation [11] of traditional politics and a maintenance or reconstruction of new lifestyles; they pursue interpersonal equality and self-reliance/autonomy in the full sense, emphasizing autonomous civic participation; they pursue self-identity, self-awareness, and values embodying this identity, emphasizing self-actualization; they pursue true individual freedom and liberation, as well as the harmonious development of society based on the full liberation of the individual." Yet this is also their fatal weakness. First, Western New Social Movements are deeply influenced by postmodern fragmentation and pluralism; they oppose using class as the basis for social identity and instead emphasize identity politics based on occupation, religion, education, and political orientation. Second, Western New Social Movements emphasize value pluralism and lack a core leadership organizational structure; they reject collective action and unified leadership, and refuse to develop Marxism. This essentially dissolves the inherent certainty of left-wing theory and weakens the role of Western left-wing parties, while also losing the ideological weapon truly capable of contending with and thoroughly transforming the capitalist system. Third, the participating subjects of Western New Social Movements are complex and lack clear goals of struggle, making it difficult to form a collective force to resist or pursue interests and value demands; coupled with their tendencies toward anarchism and fighting isolated battles, they easily fall into the trap of populism. Under these circumstances, even if New Social Movements can form an all-around critique of capitalism and its institutions, they often appear insignificant and fragile when facing the powerful concepts of the free market and the unscrupulous attacks of neoliberalism. Ultimately, their critiques of capitalism and its system are like "scratching an itch through one's boot" [12], making it difficult to generate revolutionary value. These fatal weaknesses of Western New Social Movements, if not combined with Western left-wing political parties, largely determine their future trajectory.
For Western left-wing parties—whether they are moderate left-wing parties in mainstream positions, radical left-wing parties currently in a relatively active period, or far-left parties that have struggled to exert a substantive influence on Western party politics for a long time—if they cannot fundamentally resolve internal divisions, the lack of alternative programs, and their populist orientations, they will be unable to take the initiative to strengthen themselves or integrate into New Social Movements as a leading force. In such a case, the development prospects for Western left-wing parties will be bleak. To this end, as the leading (or guiding) force in critiquing and negating capitalism, Western left-wing parties should actively promote their own adaptive reforms, proactively shoulder the historical mission they ought to bear, and fully exert the role they are meant to play. Facing the new changes currently occurring in Western capitalist society across political, economic, cultural, and social structures—and particularly the fact of the gradual rise of Western New Social Movements and the increasing decline of traditional Western left-wing movements—Western left-wing parties should actively discard internal differences, form a unified whole, and take the initiative to meet the challenges brought by the development of the times. They must actively play a leading and promoting role in Western New Social Movements, guiding them toward a more positive socialist direction.
Translational innovation and the development of left-wing party theory must be integrated with the practice of Western New Social Movements. Currently, although Western New Social Movements exhibit great differences from traditional socialist movements in practice and possess many fatal weaknesses, they share a striking similarity with the socialist movement in their opposition to current capitalist policies and their attitude toward Western neoliberalism. Moreover, many of their demands for practical interests and value goals align closely with the requirements and aspirations of the majority of the Western public. Therefore, it is quite urgent and necessary to innovate and develop left-wing party theory in combination with the practice of Western New Social Movements, using new types of left-wing party theory to guide them. In fact, the contemporary Western world does not lack influential left-wing scholars, schools, or theories. Regarding scholars, there are Habermas, Negri, Foster, Offe, Jameson, Richard Robbins, Samir Amin, and others. Based on different theoretical perspectives and starting from Marxist theory, they have focused on in-depth analysis and critique of the problems existing in contemporary capitalism regarding politics, economy, culture, globalization, and the ecological environment. They have proposed many reformist and radical reform programs of positive and reference significance, forming influential left-wing schools and Western Marxist theories such as the "Frankfurt School," "Analytical Marxism," "Market Socialism," and "Eco-socialism." However, the greatest problem with these left-wing schools, theories, and ideas is that they are mostly confined to academic research and logical self-consistency—moving from theory to theory. While they have significant influence in academia, their influence on the politics of Western capitalism and the ideology of the social masses is very limited. This is exactly why, in an era where Western New Social Movements are flourishing, it is rare to see the presence of left-wing scholars or hear the voices of left-wing schools. This is also a major reason why Western New Social Movements still lack theoretical guidance with significant practical criticality. In view of this, Western Marxist scholars should step out of the Ivory Tower, go into society, and pay attention to reality. They should proactively draw nourishment from the vigorously developing and continuous practice of Western New Social Movements to innovate and develop left-wing party theory. At the same time, Western Marxist scholars should focus on spreading and expanding the influence of left-wing party theory among the social masses, facilitating a full alliance between Western left-wing party theory and Western New Social Movements. This will promote the latter's firm adherence to a practical stance of resistance and critique of capitalism, providing them with systematic theoretical guidance and efficient organizational structures for their movements. This will further encourage Western New Social Movements to enhance their organizational influence on the basis of their already-achieved social networking, thoroughly overcoming the negative impacts brought by their tendency toward organizational dissolution. Only in this way can Western New Social Movements be encouraged to increasingly align with the developmental requirements and goals of the world socialist movement.
Strengthening the building of Western left-wing parties is essential to leading the development of Western New Social Movements. Western New Social Movements have always attempted to reshape capitalist society and provide new, rational explanations for its problems. However, since the inception of the "May Storm" [13], they have suffered from significant defects in understanding the essence of capitalism and faced major issues in the depth and breadth of their analysis and critique, precisely because they lacked systematic and complete theoretical guidance and clear movement goals. The primary reason is that the New Social Movements' rejection and disregard of traditional institutionalized political models left them lacking a design for future goals. Therefore, the robust development of future New Social Movements depends on the refinement and supplementation of their ideas and concepts by left-wing theory. Consequently, strengthening the building of Western left-wing parties, improving and developing left-wing party theory, and exerting the leading role of these parties in New Social Movements is particularly important. Generally speaking, under the dual influence of the capitalist system and their own fatal weaknesses, combined with the impact of New Social Movements, the development and governing prospects of current Western left-wing parties are not optimistic. To strengthen Western left-wing party building now, first, we must take the continuous advancement of Western socialism as the orientation and strengthen theoretical innovation. We must construct a Western socialist theoretical system and discourse power within the Western capitalist system, break through the blockade of mainstream capitalist public opinion, gain broad social recognition and support, and create a more dynamic and constructive image of new left-wing parties to continuously enhance their appeal, organizational power, mobilization capacity, and leadership within Western New Social Movements. Second, we must strengthen unity between moderate, radical, and far-left parties, as well as between the various components within each party, seeking common ground while reserving differences [14]. We should form powerful left-wing party alliances between nation-states and within individual countries, aiming to win elections and gain governing status within the framework of the current Western competitive party political system. This will allow for the continuous promotion and implementation of socialist politics that meet the needs of Western social development, gradually achieving the thorough transformation of capitalism through peaceful means. Third, we must fully guide traditional labor organizations, such as trade unions, to play their proper active roles against the backdrop of the vigorous development of Western New Social Movements. At the same time, we must actively lead the establishment and development of new organizations based on the needs of the times and social development, broadly absorbing talents and professionals from all sectors of society to realize the continuous guidance of Western New Social Movements in a positive direction. This requires moderate left-wing parties, as mainstream Western parties, to abandon the erroneous orientations they have followed for years—such as political "centrism," policy neutralization, and the attempt to build "catch-all parties." They must as soon as possible establish clear socialist-oriented political programs, focusing on and resolving problems of equality and justice that concern the public. By doing so, they can attract broad public recognition and support, strengthen and deepen the social foundation for winning elections and governing, and strive for opportunities for continuous or long-term governance. For radical and far-left parties, they must actively respond to the risks of division brought by the numerous factions within their parties, strive to resolve long-standing huge differences and internal contradictions regarding "what is socialism," and proactively strengthen unity and alliance with moderate left-wing parties to continuously enhance their political influence and combat effectiveness.
Conclusion
Since the 1970s, Western New Social Movements have continuously developed and transformed, becoming a major political phenomenon and force that persistently resists and exposes the inherent evils of capitalism during a low ebb of the world socialist movement; they contain rich socialist elements within them. However, the characteristics of Western New Social Movements—such as diverse participating subjects, differing value goals, and pluralistic interest demands—make it difficult for them to form a lasting and effective resistance against capitalism. Thus, these characteristics have intangibly become the fatal weaknesses of Western New Social Movements. Since World War II, along with the continuous adjustment of social structures and economic, political, and cultural changes in the West, Western left-wing parties have also undergone differentiation and reorganization. The developed and transformed mainstream left-wing parties (Social Democratic, Socialist, and Labour parties in Western countries) enjoyed a period of great prosperity, with many moderate left-wing parties in mainstream positions gaining power and opportunities for continuous governance. But entering the 21st century, especially after 2008...
Since the outbreak of the 2008 international financial crisis, the tendency of Western leftist parties—especially mainstream parties—toward political centrism [15] and policy pragmatism has proven unable to resolve the fundamental problems of capitalist society. The proliferation of internal factions and mounting internal disagreements within Western leftist parties have further exacerbated their declining status in Western party politics, with Western new social movements even delivering a powerful shock to their foundations. Because both Western new social movements and leftist parties possess fatal weaknesses, only by organically integrating the two can a sustained and comprehensive struggle against the existing capitalist system be formed. This is the only way to thoroughly transform the capitalist system and facilitate the return of a high tide for the world socialist movement. To this end, it is essential to innovate and develop the theory of leftist parties by incorporating the practices of Western new social movements, while simultaneously strengthening the building of Western leftist parties to lead the development of these movements.
(Notes omitted)
(Author’s affiliation: Institute of Contemporary Socialism, Shandong University)
Web Editor: Zhang Jian Source: People's Forum: Academic Frontiers [16], Issue 19, 2021.