Leftist Ideology

Leftist Political Ideology: Meaning and History

Contemporary political views are often classified by political ideology. Do you know what that is? We have a whole explanation of Political Ideology for you. Here's a brief definition.

Political ideologies are structured in the political spectrum, the system that classifies political ideologies between them. It is visually represented in the following image.

Fig. 1 – Political Spectrum.

Left-wing is a widely-used term for those who desire change, reform, and alteration to how society operates. Often this involves radical criticisms of capitalism made by liberal and socialist parties.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the terms left and right became associated with political ideologies: left for socialism and suitable for conservatism. So on, this distinction expanded to the rest of the world.

Following the original concept, left-wing ideologies welcome change as a form of progress, while right-wing ideologies defend the status quo. That's why socialism, Communism, and other leftist ideologies believe in a radical change among existing structures to overcome poverty and inequality.

Depending on their views about economic structures and the State's role in society, the position of a left-wing ideology will vary in the political spectrum. The more extremist variations reject current socio-economic systems of contemporary society (i.e., Communism), while the less radical ones believe in a gradual change through existing institutions (i.e., social democracy).

What is the Meaning of Leftist Ideology?

Leftist ideology, or left-wing politics, is the umbrella term that supports egalitarianism, and social power over political institutions, eliminating social hierarchy and differences in ability between people.

In support of this, individuals who identify as leftists believe that the working class should be prominent above aristocracy, elites, and wealth. Leftist ideology is commonly associated with socialism and Communism, the more radical ideologies of the left.

Leftist Ideologies in History

Socialism and other left-wing ideologies gained momentum in the 19th century as a reaction to the socio-economic conditions in capitalist economies at the advent of the industrial revolution.

Even though this revolution increased productivity at a pace never seen in history, it created a new working class that lived in poverty and had terrible job conditions. In response, Karl Marx inspired the historic moment to develop Marxism, a philosophy that unifies social, economic, and political theories.

The Russian Revolution in 1917³ saw the first significant attempt to apply socialist ideas created by Marx. Russia transformed into the Soviet Union, a political project that tried to overthrow capitalist structures and start a global revolution.

The twentieth century saw the expansion of socialist ideas throughout the planet. Revolutionary movements arose in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, regions that had not primarily developed capitalist structures. After 1945, socialist ideas spread in Eastern Europe, North Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere⁴, as the Soviet Union's policy was to expand socialist ideas through the planet by helping revolutionary movements.

In the 1960s, Marxist-Leninist movements tried to challenge many Latin American governments through armed forces, stimulated and even financed by the socialist regime imposed in Cuba after the 1959 Cuban Revolution⁶.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, socialist ideas suffered a heavy blow, as most socialist parties in the world disappeared or embraced thoughts associated with liberalism or even conservatism.

Famous Left-wing Thinkers

The leftist ideology has expanded over the centuries, with many thinkers that provided theories on how it could be practiced. Let’s ready about them.

Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who, along with Friedrich Engels, developed the Communist Manifesto in 1848⁷, the most famous essay in the history of socialism.

In his exile in England, Marx also wrote Das Kapital "Capital"⁸, one of the most remarkable books of modern times. In Capital, Marx predicted the abolition of capitalism due to an ever-increasing division in wealth.

Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels was a German philosopher that co-authored the Communist Manifesto in 1848⁹, one of the most influential political documents in the world. This pamphlet helped to define modern Communism.

Engels also financially helped Marx to develop "Capital"¹⁰ and edited the second and third volumes of the book after Marx's death, based merely on Marx's notes and incomplete manuscripts.

Vladimir Lenin

The October Revolution followed a civil war that lasted three years. It was between the Red Army, which backed Lenin, and the White Army, a coalition of monarchists, capitalists, and supporters of democratic socialism.

Inspired by the thought developed by Karl Marx in the Communist Manifesto, Lenin created the "dictatorship of the proletariat"¹² and became the leader of the Soviet Union, the first communist State on the planet.

List of Leftist Ideologies

As we know, leftist political ideologies are an umbrella term that compasses different

minor ideologies that identify with leftist views. Therefore, several ideologies identify as left politics.

The main ones are Communism and socialism. Let's see more about them.

Fig. 2 – The Communist Manifesto cover.

Socialism and Communism support the Communist Manifesto, one of the world's most influential documents on politics that analyses the class struggle and the main criticism of capitalism. It was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848[13] and is highly related to each other and usually used interchangeably. However, they have main differences between them:

^{Table 1 – Differences between Communism and Socialism.}

Left-Libertarianism

Left libertarianism, or socialist libertarianism, is a political ideology and type of libertarianism that emphasizes liberal ideas such as individual freedom. It's a somewhat controversial ideology, as critics say that libertarianism and left-wing ideologies contradict each other.