The left in disarray

There is a quickening of life on the left. But, politically, the left is still very weak and disoriented. This book traces the turns and realignments imprinted on this left over many decades by the ascendancy of Stalinism and by the post-Stalinist global reshufflings after 1989-9. Independent working-class politics needs a sense of its own path and its own compass. The left needs to emerge from defining itself primarily in a negative and reactive way, and rediscover what, positively, the real left must be for. This book is a companion volume to Can Socialism Make Sense?, which makes the case for unabridged socialist and anti-capitalist aims.