An Emerging Radical Left Family in Western Europe?

Abstract

The purpose of this panel is to contribute to the definition and classification of the relevant radical left parties in contemporary Western Europe (i.e. left of social democracy, former communist parties, red-green alliances, trotskyists formations or even left fronts, etc.). Although many scholars have studied the collapse of communist parties, the formation and the reconversion of radical left parties have received little attention. Our intention is to fill this gap while raising the hypothesis of the gradual structuration of a new radical left family since 1989. The contributors are invited to discuss the validity of this assumption, to define the outlines of this emerging anti-capitalist family, to propose a typology of its various components and to examine the role and the systemic positioning of radical left parties within their national party systems. As pointed out by Peter Mair and Cas Mudde, the party family approach remains ‘one of the most under-theorised and least-specified approaches to the general classification of parties’ (1998: 214). There is a lack of theoretical and methodological toolbox and the multidimensional nature of a party family implies to explore several dimensions. We then expect the contributions to deal with one or more of these dimensions: genetic, ideological, electoral, organisational and systemic. Beyond this conference, the ambition of the panel is to set up a European research network whose members share similar research questions and approaches. Comparative and case studies will be both appreciated.

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