Pomračenje svetle budućnosti: Nekoliko misli o sadašnjosti i budućnosti levice (u 20 teza)
The Bright Future Dimed: A few thoughts on the present and future of the Left (in 20 theses)

Author(s): Mitja Žagar
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Political Theory
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: The Left; inclusion and integration; equality and social justice; climate and environmental crisis; inclusive just balanced and green sustainable development; de-growth
Summary/Abstract: The world has changed in the last four decades. The future that seemed bright in the 1980s has since dimed. The optimism of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which accompanied the processes of democratization with the expectation that the world would become better and safer, soon began to fade, and trends shifted. The war on terror(ism) declared after September 11, 2001, and the temporary restrictions on certain human rights and freedoms, often becoming permanent, did not fulfill the promises and expectations that these measures would ensure and enhance security. Simultaneously, the negative impacts and consequences of global (financial) capitalism and consumerism escalated the environmental and climate crisis. The Left, no longer addressing the significance of class divisions, union and class struggles, is losing its traditional social and electoral base and is struggling to adapt to changed circumstances. Traditional values such as justice, equality, solidarity, participation, co-management, and self-management are neglected, yet the Left fails to offer attractive ideological and political alternatives. This contribution provides some suggestions on how the Left could more successfully respond to the key challenges of the present and future, becoming a crucial promotor of and factor in the urgently needed (future) social and economic reforms, changes, and transformation, and being a leader of the broadest social coalition and movement for the inclusive, green sustainable development based on mutual respect, equal cooperation, justice, equality, and solidarity, considering all climate, environmental, and social limitations.

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