What constitutes the left

[Kevin1990]

Hi I'm new. My name is Kevin and I'm interested in leftist theory. I am basically a beginner at political thought and would like to ask what constitutes the left.wing here on Revleft. I am familiar with the communist manifesto, early ultiltatians, miners socialism and new third way theory. Is there any maps anyone can point to concerning left wing theory, any easy to access websites or any YouTube videos worth watching. Also, what do you think are the biggest trends in leftism in the world today?

[The Idler]

Left wing and right wing are two wings of the same bird. The left wing are there to rule for capital winning power with semi-class conscious votes, the right wing are there to rule for capital winning power with non-class conscious votes. Socialism is not left-wing in this sense because it has as its aim a society of common ownership and democratic control winning power democratically.

[Wessex Way Monster]

Left wing and right wing are two wings of the same bird. The left wing are there to rule for capital winning power with semi-class conscious votes, the right wing are there to rule for capital winning power with non-class conscious votes. Socialism is not left-wing in this sense because it has as its aim a society of common ownership and democratic control winning power democratically.

Man your ability to use a lot of words to not answer a question is astounding.

[The Idler]

My answer beats yours.

[Blake's Baby]

Hi I'm new. My name is Kevin and I'm interested in leftist theory. I am basically a beginner at political thought and would like to ask what constitutes the left.wing here on Revleft. I am familiar with the communist manifesto, early ultiltatians, miners socialism and new third way theory. Is there any maps anyone can point to concerning left wing theory, any easy to access websites or any YouTube videos worth watching. Also, what do you think are the biggest trends in leftism in the world today?

Well, as The Idler demonstrates that depends on what you mean, and what anyone else means, by 'the left'.

If you think 'the left' means Bernie Sanders, the French Socialist Party and the governments of Cuba and/or China, then I'd agree with The Idler, that what you're talking about is the left wing of capital.

The biggest trends would be Maoism and probably its parent Stalinism. Both (though in my opinion one is a subset of the other) are thoroughly anti-working class and concerned with the managing of the national economy not the revolution of the working class.

But if you mean 'the revolutionary traditions of the workers movement' then that's a very different question. Some currents of Marxism - the Impossiblists that The Idler belongs to, the Left Communists that I support, and the Council Communists, are revolutionaries. So are some Anarchists (though there are people who claim to be Anarchists that are as reformist and tied to capitalist politics as the other non-revolutionaries I mentioned earlier). We are in favour of the working class overthrowing and destroying capitalist society, not managing it.

The biggest revolutionary tendency in the world today is probably Anarchism.

[Radical Atom]

The best source of info for me ought to be the Marxist Internet Archive: (https://www.marxists.org)
It's a grand and awesome effort of documentation, including some audiobooks (https://www.marxists.org/audiobooks/index.htm).

From another thread:

Introduction to Marxism:
Marxism and Marxist
Socialism
https://www.marxists.org/subject/students/index.htm

Encyclopedia of Marxism (so you can look up any event, concept, author, historical figure...)
https://www.marxists.org/glossary/index.htm

Marxism on diverse subjects such as education, art, ethics, etc.:
https://www.marxists.org/subject/index.htm

Selected Marxists Archive:
https://www.marxists.org/archive/selected-marxists.htm

Bolshevik Authors:
https://www.marxists.org/subject/bolsheviks/index.htm

Main communist currents:

Left-Communism
https://www.marxists.org/subject/left-wing/index.htm

"Marxism-Leninism" (Stalinism)
Stalinism
https://www.marxists.org/subject/stalinism/index.htm

Trotskyism
Trotskyism
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/index.htm

Maoism
Maoism (aka Mao Zedong Thought)
https://www.marxists.org/subject/china/


Syndicalism and Anarchism (in relation to Marxism)
Anarchism
Anarcho-Syndicalism
https://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/index.htm

Disclaimer: I think that these currents, while they are still somewhat useful at delineating one's political legacy or baggage (some of us reject them as labels or "identities" and might only concede to use them for the purpose of brevity in explaining one's tendency), they are partially outdated and as of now and little more than labels since most of these tendencies belong to a specific historical context with specific historical events and controversies and the main reason the left is so irrelevant today is the inability to move past them, the inability to transcend the XXth century and start focusing on the many fights and the open fronts we have now. This is not to say that there is no discussion to be had about the events of the past century, just saying that it should not be our first priority. Even calling oneself a communist or an anti-capitalist is fucking meaningless nowadays, any idiot can do that.

Hope this helps.

Is there any maps anyone can point to concerning left wing theory

These diagrams by ckaihatsu might help: