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 traditional Western labor movements. They represent one of the most prominent socio-political phenomena occurring in contemporary Western countries, exerting an important and profound influence on Western left-wing parties and the future political trajectory of the West. To date, Western new social movements have traversed roughly four stages of development, characterized by diverse participating subjects, disparate value objectives, and pluralistic interest claims. Along with changes in Western social structures and the development of new social movements, moderate left-wing parties in the West have increasingly moved toward the "center," radical left-wing parties have become increasingly active, and far-left parties have trended toward populism. At present, only by integrating the practice of Western new social movements to continuously innovate and develop left-wing party theory, while simultaneously strengthening the building of Western left-wing parties to lead the development of these movements, can the world socialist movement be pushed to gradually emerge from its low ebb and move toward a climax.
Western new social movements are defined in contrast to traditional Western labor movements. However, unlike the homogenizing orientation of the traditional labor movement and its focus on material interest claims, Western new social movements tend toward various non-material interests and value-based objectives. The "Western new social movement" is a collective term for loose-knit mass protest activities in which the middle class (or strata) and marginalized groups spontaneously formed a resistance force during the low ebb of the world socialist movement to actively expose and struggle against the inherent defects of the capitalist system. Its rise is one of the most significant socio-political phenomena in Western countries since the end of the Second World War; it is exerting an important and profound influence on Western left-wing parties and future political directions, and it concerns the prospects and orientation of Western party politics.
01 The Historical Evolution and Main Characteristics of Western New Social Movements
Western new social movements originated with the "May Storm" [1] in France in the late 1960s, developed through the 1970s and 1980s, underwent a transformation in the 1990s, and entered a new period of development following the start of the 21st century—particularly since the 2008 international financial crisis—manifesting many new characteristics.
The Origin of Western New Social Movements. In May 1968, a mass movement known as the "May Storm" erupted in Paris, France. Initiated by French university students, it quickly triggered the participation of workers and other social strata in a dynamic new type of social movement. Using this as a starting point, people in European and American countries took to the streets, employing non-violent methods such as demonstrations, marches, and sit-ins to set off surging waves of anti-war, feminist, anti-nuclear, national liberation, and ecological movements. Social movements with entirely different participating subjects and protest themes swept through nearly all advanced capitalist countries. The "May Storm" and the series of mass protest movements it sparked in major advanced capitalist countries represented a new socio-political phenomenon and a way of expressing interest claims during an unusual period of world development. In the 1960s, Western society was in a "Golden Age" of sustained economic prosperity. In a general sense, social harmony and stability should increase alongside economic development and rising living standards. Yet, behind the "prosperity" of the major advanced capitalist countries at that time, social instability was brewing. Taking France as an example, "from 1963 to 1969, real wages in France grew by 3.6%, and France entered a consumer society. Economic growth was accompanied by inflation; a surge in population due to one million immigrants from North Africa led to rising prices and unemployment, threatening the interests of the working class. More French people received higher education, but overcrowded universities, a mechanized education system, and a hidebound culture left many young people unhappy."
Consequently, within France's consumerist society, resistance to the government and authority grew increasingly intense. As noted, this meant that the "May Storm" was a revolution that "questioned not only capitalist society but also industrial society. Consumer society was destined to die a violent death." It reflected the growing dissatisfaction of a younger generation, raised in a new environment of material abundance after WWII, with the spiritual poverty of the social status quo. Therefore, proceeding from individualism and idealism, the younger generation paid closer attention to non-material interests and value objectives, exerting every effort to challenge and critique the culture, society, and spirit of capitalism. Simultaneously, it reflected the status of major changes occurring in the social strata and class structures of major advanced capitalist countries following WWII and the rapid development of modern industry and the Third Technological Revolution: the traditional working class was shrinking sharply, while a new middle class (or strata)—primarily composed of civil servants, tertiary industry service staff, specialized technical personnel, mid-level managers in modern enterprises, and teachers—became the pillar of the social class structure. This is the primary reason why the main forces of the new social movements originating with the French "May Storm" were composed of students, anti-war activists, women, homosexuals, and "Greens," rather than being led and driven by the traditional protagonist of the socialist movement, the working class. The "May Storm" inaugurated a new type of Western social movement that relied on the non-traditional working class as the primary force against capitalism.
The Development of Western New Social Movements. The series of movements triggered by the "May Storm" in 1968 was actually only a preview; new social movements in the full sense only erupted after the 1970s. The period from the 1970s to the 1980s was an important developmental stage. The anti-nuclear peace movement, the global green environmental movement, and the neo-feminist movement were the main themes of mass protests in the West during this time.
The anti-nuclear peace movement refers primarily to the massive anti-war marches and anti-nuclear weapons movements triggered by citizens in major Western countries, particularly in Europe after the end of the Vietnam War, to protest the deployment of missiles in Europe by the U.S. and the Soviet Union; their goal was to maintain world peace through opposition to nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, faced with radioactive pollution from nuclear power plants and 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 generating a strong response. Subsequently, mass protests against environmental destruction continued to break out across Europe and the U.S., ranging in form from protest rallies and demonstrations to attempts to establish "ecovillages." In the 1980s, building on the foundation of the widespread environmental movement, various Western countries established green left-wing political organizations—the Green Parties. 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 movement 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, profound shifts occurred in the global political and economic situation and the international landscape, and Western new social movements entered an important period of developmental transformation. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc [2] not only plunged 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), forcing them to rethink and reposition their future and destiny within Western party politics. At the same time, along with the failure of Keynesianism and the rise of neoliberalism after WWII, and coupled with the rapid development of modern communication and information technology, Western-led globalization—guided fundamentally by neoliberal ideology—advanced rapidly, deepening the unfair distribution of interests and inequality within Western societies. Additionally, as globalization deepened, environmental issues such as global warming and acid rain became increasingly serious threats to human survival and development; global economic risks grew daily under the context of capital and financial globalization, with frequent financial crises and ever-expanding spheres of impact.
Consequently, vulnerable groups (middle strata and marginalized grassroots groups) whose interests were increasingly damaged during the globalization process 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 in Western countries against Western-led globalization marked the entry of Western new social movements into a new and important period of developmental transformation. As the anti-globalization movement among Western citizens developed, other types of mass protests also unfolded in full swing, such as the global green environmental movement, whose momentum far exceeded that of the worker 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 "September 11" attacks in 2001 to the global financial crisis in 2008, the anti-globalization movement entered a new stage of development after a brief low period. In 2008, the global financial crisis triggered by the United States further exacerbated various social contradictions within European and American countries. Since then, capitalism as an ideology and social system has fallen into a systemic crisis. Regarding this, 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 this indicates that the global neoliberal system is facing a deep crisis." The global financial crisis profoundly exposed the inherent defects of the Western capitalist system, creating an unprecedented impact on the world, and particularly on Western countries, in the economic, political, and ideological spheres.
More than a decade 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 to the pandemic proved at a deeper level that the neoliberalism that has dominated the world for over 40 years has brought not world peace and prosperity, but social fragmentation, intensified conflict, and extreme polarization between the rich and the poor. In this regard, the French economist Thomas Piketty believes that under Western neoliberal-led globalization, "the market economy based on private property contains powerful forces of convergence... but it also contains powerful forces of divergence, which potentially threaten democratic societies and the values of social justice on which they are based." Since the financial crisis, the Western public has become increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo of capitalist society dominated by neoliberalism. Thus, the continuous waves of mass protests in the West finally merged into a flood of new social movements. Representative movements of this period include the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in the U.S., which lasted several months and targeted the "1%" high-income group; the "Democratic Spring" movement, which targeted the "sham democracy" and lack of press freedom in capitalism; the "Black Lives Matter" movement that erupted during the pandemic; the "Yellow Vests" movement and "Nuit Debout" [3] in France; and the "Indignados" [4] movement in Spain. These movements all demonstrate characteristics such as diverse participating subjects, disparate value objectives, and pluralistic interest claims. Simultaneously, modern information technology and social media played an unprecedented role in organizing and mobilizing various subjects to participate in these movements.
Naturally, "new social movements are not absolutely independent of the past; though the degree of change varies for each, they have not made a clean break from past social movements," and many Western new social movements were born under the wing of the traditional left-wing movement. However, the "prominent feature of new social movements lies in their irrepressible pluralism," emphasizing the value orientation and independent consciousness of participants; they generally lack fixed organizational systems, structures, charters, or programs. It is precisely this form of movement—characterized by loose organization, dispersed power, lack of strategy, and pluralistic goals—that makes Western new social movements so different from traditional left-wing parties and social movements in terms of political theory and advocacy, forms and methods of movement, and movement concepts and demands. Nevertheless, during the low ebb of the socialist movement and while Western left-wing parties face political crisis, these movements have seemingly become a powerful "alternative" force and phenomenon for resisting capitalism.
First, in terms of organizational composition, Western New Social Movements "highly emphasize individualistic tendencies, advocating for personal liberation rather than the transformation of society; they lack clear norms of conduct and objectives, as well as rigorous organization and fixed roles. They tend to form political identities and organize various social movements and groups around major political issues that draw high public concern—such as race, immigration, civil rights, gender, and the environment—rather than centering on class. They believe their commonalities in identity, education, and generational patterns are greater than their class commonalities." To a certain extent, their rise and continuous development have greatly weakened the power of traditional labor unions, resulting in a massive impact on the traditional labor movement and seriously weakening 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 Western communist parties and social democratic parties—depended for survival and development were seriously eroded, and many of their participants joined New Social Movements. Second, as a new channel for interest demands and ideological expression, Western New Social Movements have brought subversive crises and challenges to Western party politics. Their rapid development means that Western political parties are no longer the unique channel for interest representation and expression. Furthermore, Western New Social Movements have essentially "manifested as an important social force promoting and facilitating change in the capitalist system within developed countries; to some extent, they have become a realistic expression of socialist factors within developed countries, exhibiting a relatively significant socialist orientation in their development prospects."
02 The Impact of Western New Social Movements on Western Left-wing Parties
Western left-wing parties constitute a relatively broad political definition; in the spectrum of Western party politics, they are a concept corresponding to right-wing parties. Currently, if categorized by the degree of radicalism in political consciousness and policy positions, left-wing parties in the Western political spectrum can be roughly divided into three types: moderate left-wing parties with center-left consciousness and policies, relatively radical "radical left" parties, and even more radical "extreme left" parties. "The status of these three types of left-wing forces varies within the existing European political systems, as do their modes of operation." 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" [5]. As the mainstream of Western left-wing parties, they take holding office as their primary goal and possess relatively stable governing power. After World War II, and especially since the 1970s, the class and strata structures of Western countries have gradually undergone major shifts alongside the continuous development of the technological revolution and the ongoing adjustment of social industrial structures. Furthermore, 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 have 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 developed Western capitalist countries entered the period of post-industrial social 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 once led by traditional left-wing parties have gradually been taken over and continued by New Social Movements, which advocate for diverse subjects, varied value goals, pluralistic interest demands, and multifaceted forms and themes. To adapt to new social class conditions and structural changes, as well as the new forms of development in Western New Social Movements, Western parties—especially those moderate left-wing parties with governing ambitions—have had to take the adjustment of their own programs and strategies as an essential task. Centrist trends 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 moderate Western left-wing parties.
In this regard, from the end of the Cold War to the present, the "Third Way" advocated by the British Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which seeks to transcend "left" and "right," is most typical. Taking the British Labour Party as an example: to gain support from broad centrist groups and forces, its centrist transformation led to an increasing alienation from the traditional British working class, gradually losing its most stable support base. Meanwhile, the middle class (or strata) serving as the foundation of the Party's new strategy remains in a state of flux. The Labour Party's emphasis on flexible market mechanisms has also burdened it with the necessity of compromising with neoliberalism, which continues to dominate the West. This centrist transformation brought the British Labour Party substantial short-term rewards; from 1997 to 2010, it held power for 13 consecutive years. However, the ill effects brought by this transformation became increasingly prominent after the outbreak of the 2008 global financial crisis. The most direct reflection of this was the Labour Party's total inability to propose strategies or means to handle the crisis or solve the social crises facing Britain in its aftermath. From 2010 to the present, although the British Labour Party has successively 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 demonstrates that "in the long run, for social democratic parties that are increasingly centered 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 also persist long-term." The path of centrist transformation remains a long and arduous journey [6] for the British Labour Party and other moderate left-wing parties like the social democratic and socialist parties of other Western nations. Because a centrist path of transformation cannot produce "pragmatic political concepts and policy propositions that truly reflect its own characteristics, or accurate and clear political strategic positioning," this remains the major challenge facing the new leader of the British Labour Party, Keir Starmer, as he leads the party to continue its modernization, maintain its status as a mainstream party, and ultimately 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 Western New Social Movements.
Radical left parties are becoming increasingly active. "Radical left parties refer to those left-wing political forces located between moderate social democrats and the extreme left on the European left-right political spectrum." They possess two prominent characteristics: first, the composition of radical left parties is complex, including both traditional Communist organizations and various socialist parties holding democratic socialist ideologies, as well as new radical organizations developed through New Social Movements that hold ecologist, feminist, or pacifist views. Second, the developmental space for radical left parties in Western party politics is limited. With the rise and development of Western New Social Movements, especially after entering the new century, the space for the survival and development of traditional Eurocommunism has been increasingly squeezed. To adapt to social development requirements, some traditional left-wing forces have continuously formed new radical left parties through differentiation and alignment—for example, 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 (Enhedslisten) currently active in Danish politics. In terms of political propositions, these radical left parties have altered the fierce attitude traditional left-wing parties held toward capitalism; most importantly, they have abandoned the position of completely transforming capitalism through revolutionary means. At the same time, they have criticized the centrist reform orientation of traditional mainstream left-wing parties. Radical left parties believe that the centrist political attitudes and policy propositions of left-wing parties are a manifestation of "collusion with neoliberalism," arguing that parties fighting for social justice no longer exist and that Western left-wing parties, represented by social democrats, have completely degenerated into forces maintaining the existing capitalist order. Therefore, new radical left parties must emerge as an "alternative" force to mainstream left-wing parties, combining the original emphasis on social justice with egalitarian claims such as ecologism and feminism (i.e., combining material goals with post-material goals) and treating these as the primary objectives and means for transforming capitalism.
After entering the new century, radical left parties entered an active period of development. This was driven by the injection of neo-radical leftism into these parties, the rapid global spread of the financial crisis, and the political crises facing mainstream Western left-wing parties (such as social democrats) who struggled to propose timely and effective strategies. The radical left's anti-austerity policies and slogans for increasing social welfare—proposed in opposition to mainstream parties' ineffective handling of the financial crisis—resonated. Some radical left parties even won general elections to become governing parties, a typical example being the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) in Greece; because its political propositions resonated with public opinion, 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 parties is only relative. The victory or electoral growth of a few sporadic radical left parties cannot yet change or replace the mainstream status of moderate left-wing parties in Western party politics. The reasons are as follows: first, the performance of radical left parties is unstable across different countries and their development is uneven. While radical left parties in some countries are strong and growing fast, like SYRIZA in Greece, others have declined significantly within Western competitive electoral systems; for example, the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) in Italy has gradually devolved from an important political balancing force into a rapidly weakening minor party in recent years. Second, the activity of radical left parties in Western countries is a specific manifestation under specific conditions; the duration of their activity and the extent of their influence depend primarily on the attitudes of mainstream parties toward austerity policies and social welfare systems. If mainstream parties adopt the right policies to handle crises, the survival space for radical left parties will be rapidly squeezed. Currently, the fiscal austerity and social welfare cutbacks of mainstream Western parties in response to the financial crisis, as well as their impotence in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, have provided special environment and conditions for the active development of radical left parties. Third, the internal composition of radical left parties is complex, with serious internal contradictions and secessionist tendencies, which dictates that they struggle to form a united and powerful new "alternative" political force and thus cannot exert a decisive influence on Western party politics. Therefore, although Western radical left forces have seen corresponding recovery and development since the 1990s and have shown some good momentum, their ideological diversity, differences in political positions on certain major issues, the major changes in Western social structure, and the impact of New Social Movements mean that, as a collective force, the future development of Western radical left parties is fraught with great uncertainty.
Extreme left-wing parties are increasingly trending toward populism. The term "extreme left-wing parties" refers to those Western communist parties that still maintain traditional revolutionary stances, militant Trotskyist and Maoist organizations, as well as certain anarchist and syndicalist groups. These Western extreme left-wing parties generally adopt Marxism-Leninism as their guiding ideology, and "their characteristic is that they inherit, to varying degrees, the theories and tactics of the parties from the Comintern era." Consequently, compared to radical left-wing parties, extreme left-wing parties advocate for a more intense confrontational stance against capitalism and the fundamental elimination of social inequality. For a long time, particularly influenced by the negative factors associated with traditional socialism, the public in Western societies has consistently maintained a psychological attitude of rejection toward traditional Eurocommunist (or traditional socialist) ideology. Extreme left-wing parties have remained marginalized within Western party politics; their radical socialist policies and propositions find it difficult to exert a substantive influence on the dominant electoral politics of the West, with their primary political impact remaining largely 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. All of these firmly believe that socialism will replace capitalism in the future, yet their influence on electoral politics in their respective countries remains extremely limited.
Entering the 21st century, and especially since the 2008 international financial crisis, neoliberalism has brought extreme wealth polarization and social fragmentation to Western society. Contradictions and conflicts between various social strata and classes have been constant. The "99% (the general public) versus the 1% (the elite power-holders)" has become a ubiquitous social reality. Against this political and social backdrop of deepening contradictions between the elite and the masses, the traditional socialist propositions of Western communist parties have gradually been adopted and absorbed by some radical left-wing organizations and forces. Consequently, the populist tendency of extreme left-wing parties has begun to 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 growing. For instance, the momentum of left-wing populist parties such as Podemos in Spain and the Five Star Movement in Italy has even surpassed that of right-wing populist parties.
However, a deeper analysis reveals that the populist tendency of extreme left-wing parties is not a normal state. On the contrary, it is an important manifestation of the pathological 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 tendencies within the social ideologies of European and American countries. But populism itself is not a new consciousness that transcends the traditional political ideological spectrum; rather, it is the emergence and combination of certain consciousnesses within the existing political ideological spectrum that were not prominent in the past." It reflects a "pathological normalcy" of mainstream society, correlating or aligning with mainstream concepts, public attitudes, and policy positions. When mainstream ideology makes a strong return, populism will once again fall into a low ebb or be almost entirely obscured. From this perspective, the populist tendency of Western extreme left-wing parties can only be a temporary phenomenon and is fundamentally unsustainable. Therefore, for the various communist parties that constitute the core strength of the Western extreme left, the prospects for achieving social recognition and long-term development within the framework of Western electoral politics are not optimistic.
III. The Dilemmas and Future of Western New Social Movements and Left-wing Parties
If the Western new social movements are viewed as a whole, "they claim that contemporary social movements are the sublation [7] of traditional politics and the maintenance or reconstruction of new lifestyles; they pursue interpersonal equality and self-reliance in the full sense, emphasizing autonomous civic participation; they pursue self-identity, self-awareness, and the values that embody this identity, emphasizing self-actualization; they pursue genuine individual freedom and liberation, as well as the harmonious development of society based on full individual liberation." Yet, this is also their fatal weakness.
First, Western new social movements are deeply influenced by the fragmentation and pluralism of postmodernism. They oppose using class as the foundation of 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 structure. They reject collective action and unified leadership, and they refuse to develop Marxism. This essentially dissolves the inherent certainty of left-wing theory, weakens the role of Western left-wing parties, and deprives them of the ideological weapon needed to truly contend with and thoroughly transform the capitalist system. Third, the participants in Western new social movements are diverse and lack clear objectives for struggle. It is difficult for them to form a synergy for resistance or for demanding interests and values. Combined with their tendencies toward anarchism and fighting isolated battles, they easily fall into the trap of populism. Under these circumstances, even if Western new social movements can formulate a comprehensive critique of capitalism and its institutions, they often appear insignificant and fragile when facing strong free-market concepts and the unbridled attacks of neoliberalism. Ultimately, their critique of capitalism and its institutions is like "scratching an itch through one's boot" [8], making it difficult to produce revolutionary value. These fatal weaknesses of Western new social movements largely determine their future direction if they do not align with Western left-wing parties.
As 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 extreme left-wing parties that have long struggled to exert substantive influence—their prospects will remain bleak if they cannot fundamentally resolve internal divisions, the lack of alternative programs, and their populist orientations. Without these solutions, they will be unable to actively strengthen themselves or integrate into new social movements to serve as a leading force. Therefore, as the leading (or guiding) forces for the critique and negation of capitalism, Western left-wing parties should actively promote their own adaptive reforms, proactively assume their historical mission, and fully play the role they ought to play. Faced with the new changes currently occurring in the political, economic, cultural, and social structures of Western capitalist society—particularly the rise of Western new social movements and the gradual decline of the traditional Western left-wing movement—Western left-wing parties should actively discard internal differences, form a unified whole, and proactively meet the challenges brought by the development of the times. They must play a leading and promoting role in Western new social movements, guiding them toward a more positive socialist direction.
Innovating and developing left-wing party theory by integrating the practice of Western new social movements. Currently, although Western new social movements exhibit significant 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 by integrating the practice of Western new social movements and 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 Jürgen Habermas, Antonio Negri, John Bellamy Foster, Claus Offe, Fredric Jameson, Richard Robbins, Samir Amin, and others. From their various theoretical perspectives and starting from Marxist theory, they have focused on analyzing and criticizing the problems existing in contemporary capitalism regarding politics, economy, culture, globalization, and the environment. They have proposed many reformist and radical reform programs with positive and reference value, forming influential left-wing schools and Western Marxist theories such as the "Frankfurt School," "Analytical Marxism," "Market Socialism," and "Ecosocialism." However, the biggest problem with these left-wing schools, theories, and ideas is that most are confined to academic research and logical self-consistency—moving from theory to theory. While they have significant influence in academia, their impact on Western capitalist politics and the consciousness of the social masses is very limited. This is why, in an era where Western new social movements are flourishing, one rarely sees the figures of left-wing scholars or hears 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, when Western Marxist scholars conduct academic research, they should step out of the "ivory tower," go into society, and pay attention to reality. They should actively draw nourishment from the vigorous and continuous practices of Western new social movements to constantly innovate and develop left-wing party theory. At the same time, Western Marxist scholars must focus on spreading and extending the influence of left-wing party theory to the general public. This will allow Western left-wing party theory to fully unite with Western new social movements, encouraging the latter to maintain a firm practical stand in resisting and criticizing capitalism. This linkage provides systematic theoretical guidance and efficient organizational structure for the movements, prompting Western new social movements to further enhance their organizational influence on the basis of existing social networking. This would thoroughly change the negative impacts caused by their tendency toward organizational dissolution. Only in this way can Western new social movements be encouraged to gradually align with the requirements and goals of the development of the world socialist movement.
Strengthening the building of Western left-wing parties to lead the development of Western new social movements is essential. Western new social movements have long attempted to reshape capitalist society and provide new, rational explanations for its existing problems. However, since their inception with the "May Storm" [9], they have suffered from significant flaws in understanding the essence of capitalism and have faced major issues regarding the depth and breadth of their analysis and critique of capitalism. This is due to a lack of systematic and complete theoretical guidance and clear movement objectives. The primary reason is that the rejection and disregard of traditional institutionalized political models by new social movements has left them lacking a design for future goals. Therefore, the robust development of future new social movements depends on left-wing theory to refine and supplement their ideas and concepts. Consequently, it is particularly important to strengthen the building of Western left-wing parties, refine and develop their theories, and exert their leading role within Western new social movements.
Generally speaking, under the dual influence of the capitalist system and their own fatal weaknesses, coupled with the impact caused by Western new social movements, the development and governing prospects of current Western left-wing parties are not optimistic. At present, to strengthen the building of Western left-wing parties, we must first focus on advancing the continuous development of Western socialism as a guide and strengthen theoretical innovation. This involves constructing a theoretical system and discourse power [10] for Western socialism under the Western capitalist system, breaking through the blockade of mainstream capitalist public opinion, gaining broad social recognition and support, and creating a more dynamic and constructive image for new Western left-wing parties. This will continuously enhance their capacity for appeal, organization, mobilization, and leadership within Western new social movements.
Second, it is necessary to strengthen unity between moderate, radical, and far-left parties, as well as between the various constituent parts within these parties. They must "seek common ground while reserving differences" [11] to form powerful alliances of left-wing parties both between and within nation-states. The goal is to win electoral victories and obtain governing status within the framework of the current Western competitive party political system, continuously promoting and implementing socialist politics that meet the needs of Western social development, and gradually achieving the thorough transformation of capitalism through peaceful means.
Third, traditional workers' organizations such as labor unions should be fully guided to play their proper active roles in the context of the vigorous development of Western new social movements. At the same time, it is necessary to actively lead the establishment and development of new organizations tailored to the needs of the era and social development, widely absorbing talents and professionals from all sectors of society to ensure the continuous guidance of Western new social movements in a positive direction. This requires that moderate left-wing parties, as mainstream Western parties, abandon the erroneous orientation they have practiced for many years—namely, political centrism, policy neutralization, and the attempt to construct "catch-all parties." Instead, they should as soon as possible establish a clear and distinct political program guided by socialism, focusing on and resolving problems of equality, fairness, and justice that concern the broad public. This will help attract widespread recognition and support from the masses, continuously strengthen and cultivate the social foundation for electoral victory and governance, and strive for opportunities for continuous or long-term governance. For radical and far-left parties, they must actively respond to the risks of fragmentation and challenges brought about by numerous internal factions. They must focus on resolving long-standing and massive cognitive divergences and internal contradictions regarding many issues—such as "what is socialism"—and take the initiative to strengthen unity and coalition with moderate left-wing parties to continuously enhance their own political influence and combat effectiveness.
04 Conclusion
Since the 1970s, Western new social movements have continuously developed and transformed, becoming a major political phenomenon and force during the low ebb of the world socialist movement, persistently resisting and exposing the inherent maladies of capitalism. These movements contain rich socialist elements. However, characteristics such as the diversity of participating subjects, the variance in value goals, and the plurality of interest demands make it difficult for Western new social movements to form a sustained and effective resistance against capitalism; thus, these features have invisibly become the fatal weaknesses of the movements.
Since World War II, along with the continuous adjustment of Western social structures and economic, political, and cultural changes, Western left-wing parties have also undergone differentiation and reorganization. The developed and transformed mainstream left-wing parties (Social Democratic Parties, Socialist Parties, and Labour Parties in Western countries) enjoyed a period of great prosperity, with many moderate left-wing parties occupying mainstream status, obtaining governing positions, and opportunities for continuous governance. However, entering the 21st century, especially after the outbreak of the 2008 international financial crisis, the orientation toward political centrism and policy pragmatism among Western left-wing parties—especially mainstream parties—has found it difficult to resolve the fundamental problems of capitalist society. The numerous internal factions and divergences within Western left-wing parties have further exacerbated their declining status in Western party politics, and Western new social movements have even formed a strong shock against them.
Because both Western new social movements and left-wing parties possess fatal weaknesses, only by organically integrating the two can a sustained and comprehensive resistance be formed against the existing capitalist system, thereby thoroughly transforming the capitalist system and promoting the return of a high tide in the world socialist movement. To this end, left-wing party theory must be innovated and developed in combination with the practice of Western new social movements, and the building of Western left-wing parties must be strengthened to lead the development of these movements.