The Failure of the Left in Europe?

On Tuesday 14 March WIPSS will be collaborating for the second time on a Joint Symposium with Utopian Pasts - Utopian Futures? 500 Years after Thomas More’s Utopia (1516), convened by the Departments of English, German and Philosophy: The Failure of the Left in Europe?

This symposium began as an idea suggested for the Utopia Year: why did the Left, so full of hope in 1968, fail to become the force for political change that was anticipated in those far-off days?

That question will be explored by Paul Clough (Anthropological Sciences), with new contributions by Michael Briguglio (Sociology) and Kathrin Schödel (German). Prof. Kenneth Wain will chair the event.

Paul Clough: The Failure of the Left in the UK and France

Why has the Left failed to change politics or remake society in the UK and France since the ‘events’ of 1968? My particular concern will be with the intellectual Left, and I will be examining its failure to move out of a ghetto, except for brief periods, in both countries.

Kathrin Schödel: Leftist Positions and the Discourse of Migration in Germany

What is the ‘left’ and what is its ‘failure’? My short intervention will discuss definitions of the left and the notion of a ‘failure of the left’ from a German perspective. It will then turn to a current example: the (in)visibility of leftist positions in recent discourses of migration in Germany.

Michael Briguglio: Syriza: Between hegemonic strategy and governance

Amid the current Greek economic crisis Syriza developed from a minor left party to an election-winning hegemonic force. It is however experiencing massive hurdles in implementing its electoral promises. Does this represent a failure of the left?

Prof. Kenneth Wain: Chair.

Tuesday 14 March, 6pm – 7pm, followed by discussion. In Faculty of Arts Library, at the end of the second floor, Old Humanities Building. Students are encouraged to attend. The public is cordially invited.