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WHEN THE WORKING CLASS WENT TO HEAVEN
European left wings in the “golden age” of capitalism
Deceased, or in an irreversible crisis according to some, having gone off track and lost its boundaries and cultural references according to others, the Left in Europe is the topic Diacronie is proposing for its January 2012 issue. The chronological span taken into consideration is the 30 year period 1945-1973, from post-war to the inception of the ‘70s economic crisis. French historiography has defined this period as les trente glorieuses, a phase in European history in which prolonged economic growth was accompanied by policies of wealth redistribution. In those years the Left, in all its different configurations, had to confront two phenomena: on the one hand, the expansion phase of capitalism following post-war reconstruction and, on the other, the social and cultural changes induced by the characteristic phenomena of mass society. European integration and the tension between the two blocks, welfare policies, nationalisation of key sectors of production, economic programming, but also the memory of anti-fascism and the re-interpretation of recent history, have been some of the principal nodes over which the various components of the Left confronted and opposed each other. We want to refer to the Left not merely in its meaning of political parties, but furthermore as an expression of the confluence of political cultures, lines of thought and visions of the world at times very different one from the other. Social-democrats, labourists and socialists, orthodox and dissident communists, anarchists and trotskyists: contaminations and transpositions among these groups were more common than what is usually believed. Even the distinction between “reformers” and “revolutionaries” can sometimes be misleading, as it hasn’t always been definite in all countries and in all moments of history. The purpose of Diacronie is to promote a reflection over these topics so as to provide some ways to analyse today’s condition of the European Left.
How to send an article
Authors can submit their articles in Italian, English, French or Spanish (30′000-40′000 characters, including spaces, footnotes and bibliographies, respecting the rules and instructions specified here: (http://www.studistorici.com/proposte-di-contributi/) at: redazione.diacronie[at]hotmail.it.
Please notify as soon as possible, by contacting the editors, of your intention to participate with an article.
Final paper submission deadline: 20th November 2011
Immagine: “Keep Left” by Jim Moran, on Flickr (by-nc-nd)
