Please allow me to introduce myself...

[stefanmg]

Hello everybody,

I've discovered RevLeft a couple of months ago but never had the time to actually register.

I'm from Serbia, but I currently live and study in Prague. I've been interested in the left since my early teens. Curiously enough, my interest in anarchism started after reading poetry of Arthur Rimbaud. Only then did I start reading leftist political philosophers. Since then I read Marx, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Orwell, Luxemburg, Žižek, Wilde, Foucault and Berdyaev, to name a few (I understand that not all of them are political philosophers, but they all influenced my political thinking, so I thought they're worth mentioning).

I guess I've always been closest to anarchism, but I am sympathetic towards all democratic leftist ideas. Plus I don't really like labels, so I don't know where precisely I would place myself in the pile of communisms, socialisms and anarchisms.

More recently I've been quite interested in the post-left ideas (I recently finished reading the Manifesto against Labour and absolutely loved it), as well as the Pirate movement. However, I must admit that I still don't know as much about the Pirate movement as I'd like to. Most Pirates I've met claim to be "beyond left and right" but most of their ideas are essentially leftist.

I came to this forum as I feel the need to have a place where I can discuss leftist ideas. Being a foreigner and still not knowing the language that well kind of makes it difficult to do so in Prague, so I don't know of many offline places where I can do it. I look forward to hanging out and exchanging ideas with people here.

[Quail]

Welcome :)

If you have political questions, you can ask them in the Learning forum. That's why it's there after all!

If you have questions about your account, don't hesitate to send Q (the mod who usually does this) or me a PM or ask here.

[BIXX]

Welcome to RevLeft!

I recently have been trying harder to understand Post-Leftism, and I recently had someone who identified as a Post-Leftist tell me that it is more just a set of critiques of the normal left rather than advocating other ideas. So while Post-Leftism may share many of the ideals of leftism (freedom, etc...) it is primarily a critique of leftist ideas of organization or really any idea of the left someone decides to critique.

Is this correct?

I really think this is a very misunderstood idea that should be more explored.

[stefanmg]

Hello guys, thanks for the welcome.

EchoShock, I would say that post-Left is more about rethinking the ideas of classical Marxism and coming up with new ones, adapted for the 21st century, rather than just criticizing the traditional Left. However, many of them do seem to be mere critics, like Michel Foucault. To be fair though, he was involved in half a dozen different leftist groups throughout his career, including the French Communist Party, and took an active part in the 1968 protests. Furthermore, he did die relatively young, so he didn't have the time to work on a theory of his own. He lived in an era when people increasingly started to realize that the American Empire and the Soviet Empire are in fact two sides of the same coin.

Nevertheless, I believe even radical critique of the Left by the Left is crucial in order to bring new ideas and rejuvenate the movement. After all, if the critique of the Left by the Left had been listened to in, let's say, Russia after Lenin's death, or in 1960s Czechoslovakia, communism would have a lot nicer sound to it today.

I would suggest watching the 1971 debate between Chomsky (a traditional Leftist) and Foucault (a post-Leftist) to see their similarities and differences. The video is on youtube, but I cannot send you the link until my post count reaches 25, so just Google it. I would also suggest reading Manifesto against Labour, which is available online for free.

For the record, Foucault did not label himself a post-Leftist, but has been a major influence on post-Left thought.

The post-Left anarchists, for example, have been labeled "lifestyle anarchists" by critics on the Left, for their belief that direct action should be focused on achieving anarchy here and now. They argue against traditional leftist organizations, claiming they are outdated and don't have much to offer. Personally, I think that political activism should involve both a change in lifestyle and a more pragmatic form of taking part in everyday politics. Although I do acknowledge politics are mostly meaningless today, as all governments are powerless before capital, I believe that one should at least be involved enough to know what's going on, while actively working on building alternative forms of organization outside the establishment. After all, the French bourgeoisie did not start a revolution in the 1500s when it only started appearing. Such a revolution would have failed. Instead, they created their new forms of organization - a new society, outside of (but interacting with) the feudal one - and only when they gathered enough power outside of the confines of a feudal society, they started challenging the existing social order. Without them (or with so many people outside of it), the feudalist system was bound to crumble. Same goes for capitalism. It is not only the people on top that enslave us, it is also the people on the bottom that accept authority that enslave themselves. If the people on the bottom gradually reject enslavement, there will be no one to enslave after a while (coincidentally, I believe Foucault also gets into this in a way).

Now, my knowledge of post-structuralism and post-Left is still quite basic, so I am sorry if I unintentionally mislead someone because I too have misunderstood it. Also, if someone reading this knows better about post-Left, feel free to correct me.