The Politics of the Pseudo-Left
The struggle against austerity and the fight for the United Socialist States of Europe
By the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 12 January 2019
The SEP insists that the answer to austerity in the UK is not the election of a pro-capitalist Labour government, but the unification of the working class across the continent in the struggle for socialism.
Syriza government enforces new budget cuts in Greece
By John Vassilopoulos, 11 January 2019
Syriza is enforcing another austerity budget that reduces even further the social position of an already devastated working class.
8 January 2019
French “yellow vest” protests expose anti-worker role of New Anticapitalist Party
By Alex Lantier, 31 December 2018
The NPA reacted to the protests by first denouncing them as fascist and then demanding that the trade union bureaucracy assert control over the movement and restore order.
Rohini Hensman’s Indefensible: The ISO discovers its muse—the CIA—Part 4
By Alex Lantier, 18 December 2018
Hensman’s attempts to provide a moral-humanitarian rationale for supporting imperialist wars as “democratic revolutions” form an obscene political lie.
Rohini Hensman’s Indefensible: The ISO discovers its muse—the CIA—Part 3
By Alex Lantier, 17 December 2018
For Hensman, being “moral” means embracing the lies and provocations used to market US wars.
Rohini Hensman’s Indefensible: The ISO discovers its muse—the CIA—Part 2
By Alex Lantier, 15 December 2018
Hensman’s arguments tend inescapably in one direction: that US wars have been the main liberating force during the last quarter century.
Rohini Hensman’s Indefensible: The ISO discovers its muse—the CIA—Part 1
By Alex Lantier, 14 December 2018
Hensman’s arguments tend inescapably in one direction: That US wars have been the main liberating force over the last quarter century.
Ex-1968 student leader Cohn-Bendit denounces French “yellow vest” protests
By Alex Lantier, 14 December 2018
The eruption of a political movement in the working class has provoked a rabidly hostile reaction from the middle-class anti-Marxist “left” milieu.
In name of fighting fascism, ISO promotes class collaboration and Democratic Party
By Kayla Costa, 10 December 2018
In an appeal to form an alliance with the “broadest social layers” against fascism, the International Socialist Organization seeks to subordinate the working class to the corporate-controlled two-party system.
Jacobin urges readers to “log off” social media
By Will Morrow, 8 December 2018
An article in Jacobin argues that Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have become damaging to the health of the population, are “destructive for the left,” and should be done away with.
German Left Party denounces “Yellow Vest” protests
By Peter Schwarz, 7 December 2018
The Left Party is instinctively hostile to any social movement that is not controlled and held in check by the trade unions.
Amid Sri Lanka’s political crisis, the USP sets “left” trap for the working class
By Vilani Peiris and K. Ratnayake, 27 November 2018
The pseudo-left United Socialist Party’s call for a left alliance is aimed at promoting the illusion that one or other ruling faction can be pressured to defend the rights of working people.
Corbyn auditions for government before big business and intelligence agencies
By Robert Stevens, 23 November 2018
Corbyn appeared before the Confederation of British Industry on Monday to deliver what was billed as his main policy speech on Brexit.
The political fraud of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal”
By Will Morrow, 23 November 2018
Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal, as with her entire politics, is characterized by a massive political fraud.
Spain’s Socialist Party government junks “anti-austerity” budget agreed with Podemos
By Alejandro López and Paul Mitchell, 22 November 2018
The PSOE is kept in power with the support of Podemos, Catalan, and other regional nationalist parties.
Ocasio-Cortez to support Pelosi as top Democrat and House Speaker
By Patrick Martin, 21 November 2018
The newly elected congresswoman, a member of the DSA, called Pelosi the most progressive candidate to lead Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Australian pseudo-left group Victorian Socialists promote Greens, Labor
By Patrick O’Connor, 20 November 2018
In the state election, the Victorian Socialists are trying to channel the emerging shift to the left among workers and youth back behind the parliamentary apparatus.
215 Ocasio-Cortez/ Green New Deal
20 November 2018
Ocasio-Cortez holds climate change stunt to boost Pelosi
By Genevieve Leigh, 16 November 2018
The “protest” in the offices of Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi was a calculated operation aimed at solidarizing Ocasio-Cortez with the Democratic Party establishment.
DSA calls US midterm elections the “rebirth of the American socialist movement”
By Genevieve Leigh, 15 November 2018
As the Democratic Party continues its shift to the right, the DSA claims that the election of a handful of DSA-endorsed Democratic candidates has significantly altered the trajectory of American politics.
Citing war in Syria, ISO withdraws endorsement of Green Party gubernatorial candidate in New York
By Sandy English, 8 November 2018
The International Socialist Organization withdrew its endorsement of the Green Party candidate on the grounds that his campaign was associated with opposition to the US intervention in Syria.
ISO covers up Workers Party role in Bolsonaro’s victory in Brazil
By Miguel Andrade and Bill Van Auken, 6 November 2018
The ISO views the Brazilian events through the prism of its own support for the Democrats and its cover-up of the reactionary basis of their opposition to Trump.
Illinois governor’s race the most expensive in US history
By Alexander Fangmann, 5 November 2018
Two billionaire candidates are saturating the media to distract from their shared post-election plans to accelerate attacks on the working class.
Who are Gary Walkowicz and the Working Class Party?
By Tom Hall and Tim Rivers, 2 November 2018
The Working Class Party, which is running United Auto Workers committeeman Gary Walkowicz for Congress, is an electoral front created by the pseudo-left Spark group.
Bolsonaro’s victory and the debacle of Brazil’s Workers Party
By Bill Van Auken, 31 October 2018
The election of the fascistic former captain as president signals a sharp shift to the right by the Brazilian ruling establishment.
Amid crisis over Khashoggi murder
US State Department “socialists” discover the war in Yemen
By Barry Grey, 23 October 2018
The ISO and the DSA respond like political weathervanes to shifting winds within the US intelligence agencies in regard to Saudi Arabia’s current ruler.
Bernie Sanders tours Michigan to prop up the Democratic Party
By Matthew Brennan, 22 October 2018
The candidate brought his “revolution” to Ann Arbor Michigan to drum up support for establishment and right-wing political candidates.
Socialist Alternative and Democratic Socialists of America hold election rally for Democrats in Chicago
By Kristina Betinis, 22 October 2018
The pseudo-lefts are collaborating to refurbish the image of the increasingly right-wing Democratic Party, which is running an unprecedented number of CIA agents in the midterms.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union to UPS workers: “Whatever you do, don’t fight!”
By Will Morrow, 18 October 2018
If the Teamsters leadership has so far been able to suppress opposition to its defiance of workers’ “no” vote, it is thanks only to its loyal opposition in the TDU.
France’s Mélenchon tacitly backs Wagenknecht’s xenophobic Aufstehen group
By Anthony Torres, 13 October 2018
By his silence, Mélenchon is tacitly supporting forces within his Unsubmissive France party that are orienting toward right-wing populism and the militarization of Europe.
The New York Times’ Alexis Grenell denounces white women for upholding the “patriarchy”
By Genevieve Leigh, 12 October 2018
Grenell’s piece is an extreme example of the obsession with gender and race that has infected the upper middle class and the pages of the New York Times in particular.
Britain’s pseudo-left oppose worker rebellion against Royal College of Nurses leadership
By Robert Stevens and Chris Marsden, 11 October 2018
The no-confidence motion against the executive of the Royal College of Nurses is only one example of growing opposition to the decades of betrayals by the trade union bureaucracy.
Socialist Alternative on New York primaries: Burrowing further into the Democratic Party
By Josh Varlin, 8 October 2018
Socialist Alternative’s political activity consists for the most part in promoting the Democratic Socialists of America and supposedly “progressive” Democrats.
The fraud of Amazon’s $15 wage
By Eric London, 4 October 2018
The “raise” announced by Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, is a publicity stunt aimed above all at preventing an explosion of the class struggle.
The International Socialist Organization mobilizes behind Democrats’ right-wing diversion on Kavanaugh
By Barry Grey, 4 October 2018
The US pseudo-left has seized on allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh to intensify its promotion of #MeToo and the Democratic Party’s campaign in the November elections.
The Kavanaugh nomination, #MeToo and the politics of petty-bourgeois rage
By David Walsh, 3 October 2018
The New York Times published an opinion piece by journalist Rebecca Traister headlined “Fury Is a Political Weapon. And Women Need to Wield It.” The piece is one of a number along the same lines that have appeared in recent weeks and months.
Campaign grows inside Podemos for alliance with Spanish right
By Alejandro López, 2 October 2018
After figures in the Podemos leadership praised Italy’s far-right government, a movement for nationalism and appeals to right-wing parties is growing inside Podemos.
The New York Times promotes the Democratic Socialists of America
By Genevieve Leigh, 25 September 2018
On Saturday the New York Times featured an article in their online edition headlined with the question: “Are You a Democratic Socialist?”
Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Socialists of America candidate, covers for CIA Democrats
By Isaac Finn, 24 September 2018
When asked whether she would support CIA Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez avoided a direct answer, saying that she would have to look at their “life experience.”
Anticapitalistas in Spain’s Podemos debate orienting to far-right Italian regime
By Alejandro López, 20 September 2018
While weakly criticising applause from Podemos of the Salvini government’s policies, the Pabloites are only concerned that it would expose them to criticism from the left.
The strange case of Julia Salazar, Democratic Socialists of America candidate for New York Senate
By Josh Varlin, 20 September 2018
In the run-up to her victory in the Democratic Party primaries last week, media reports exposed Salazar’s systematic fabrication and/or misrepresentation of her personal and political history.
Top Spanish pseudo-lefts hail Italian neo-fascist government
By Alejandro López, 18 September 2018
Weeks after Sahra Wagenknecht launched the anti-immigrant #Aufstehen movement, figures in Podemos are discussing alliances with right-wing forces.
In France, Mélenchon advisor hails Wagenknecht’s anti-immigrant Aufstehen group
By Alex Lantier, 17 September 2018
Kuzmanovic applauded Aufstehen’s xenophobic line as a strategy for Melenchon's Unsubmissive France (LFI) to win workers’ votes.
UK: Rival Socialist Party members vie for position as deputy leader of civil servants union
By Robert Stevens, 13 September 2018
The sordid episode demonstrates that the pseudo-left organisations have no independence from the trade union bureaucracy.
Australia: The pseudo-left Victorian Socialists and its pro-capitalist election manifesto
By Patrick O’Connor, 12 September 2018
What is underway ahead of the November state election is a somewhat desperate effort by the pseudo-left to revive illusions in Labor, the Greens and the trade unions.
Podemos proposes to “co-govern” with Spain’s Socialist Party government
By Alejandro López, 10 September 2018
Podemos is signaling to the banks that it will try to stabilize the current pro-austerity government, with which it has at most minor differences.
Podemos joins cover-up of Spanish army brass’ hailing of Franco dictatorship
By Alejandro Lopez and Alex Lantier, 1 September 2018
The concern of Podemos is to keep the exposure of the generals’ fascist sympathies from undermining the “humanitarian” pretenses of NATO imperialist wars.
Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France opens summer school with overtures to right-wing parties
By Francis Dubois, 30 August 2018
Mélenchon’s invitation of right-wing parties to his summer school marks another milestone in the right-wing trajectory of the middle-class pseudo-left.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders praise McCain: An object lesson in the politics of the pseudo-left
By Joseph Kishore, 28 August 2018
The elevation of the Democratic Socialists of America, of which Ocasio-Cortez is a member, is a defensive reaction by the ruling class against growing support for socialism in the US.
Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette on Netflix: The disorienting, unfunny impact of identity politics on comedy
By Ed Hightower, 27 August 2018
Australian comic Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix special, Nanette, has become a huge success. Great claims, unsupported by the reality of the hour-long program, have been made for it.
Unions stump for big business PQ in Quebec’s October election
By Félix Gauthier, 24 August 2018
The entire history of the PQ shows it to be a faithful and ruthless defender of the interests of the Quebec bourgeoisie.
Spanish Socialist Party government’s progressive veneer cracks
By Paul Mitchell, 23 August 2018
The PSOE’s programme is austerity for the working class and militarism in the service of Spain’s geo-strategic ambitions.
Greek Prime Minister Tsipras claims social cuts over as Syriza prepares more austerity
By Alex Lantier, 22 August 2018
Tsipras’ speech hailing the expiration of the decade-long European Union bailout scheme for Greece was a pack of lies from start to finish.
Parti Quebecois makes “left” feint in hopes of averting electoral disaster
By Laurent Lafrance, 17 August 2018
With Quebec’s provincial election just weeks away, opinion polls continue to show the big business, pro-independence PQ facing an unprecedented electoral debacle.
Australia: Socialist Alternative promotes right-wing Labor leader Bill Shorten
By Oscar Grenfell, 14 August 2018
Amid a deepening crisis of the political establishment, the pseudo-left organisations are seeking to channel growing discontent back behind Labor and the unions.
Podemos backs state cover-up in Barcelona terror attack
By Alex Lantier, 9 August 2018
The pseudo-left party is demanding that the Spanish king be allowed to lead this year’s remembrance ceremony.
Fight back against internet censorship!
By Andre Damon, 9 August 2018
The principal aim of censorship has been, and remains, to shut down left-wing opposition to war, inequality and capitalism.
The demise of another Bernie Sanders fraud
By Patrick Martin, 9 August 2018
The latest effort by Sanders—with the assistance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—to give a “progressive” gloss to the corporate-controlled Democratic Party has reached its predictable end in Michigan and Kansas.
Bernie Sanders holds rallies to prop up the Democratic Party in Michigan
By Eric London, 6 August 2018
Sanders’ support for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed is part of an operation aimed at channeling social opposition behind the Democratic Party.
Politics in bad faith: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaigns in Michigan
By Andre Damon, 31 July 2018
Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign is a cynical effort to put a “left-wing,” “progressive,” youth-oriented, and multicultural gloss on the right-wing, pro-war Democratic Party.
Ocasio-Cortez, DSA seek to give “left” cover to right-wing Democratic Party
By Niles Niemuth, 28 July 2018
Supporters of Niles Niemuth, the Socialist Equality Party candidate for the US Congress from Michigan’s 12th District, are distributing this statement at appearances by DSA member and Democratic candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Bernie Sanders embraces the anti-Russia campaign
By Patrick Martin, 23 July 2018
There is no contradiction between the influx of military-intelligence candidates into the Democratic Party and the Democrats’ making use of the services of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez to give the party a “left” cover.
The Democratic Socialists of America: Providing a “left” cover for a right-wing Democratic Party
By Patrick Martin, 21 July 2018
DSA candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are seeking to disguise the drastic shift of the Democratic Party to the right on domestic, and especially, foreign policy.
David Harvey’s Jacobin interview on Marx’s Capital
A promotion of the “life-style” politics of the pseudo-left
By Nick Beams, 21 July 2018
As with all of Harvey’s work, the interview does not provide a clarification or guide to Marx but serves to prevent an understanding of his masterwork, seeking to render him suitable to the political and life-style sensibilities of a middle class “left” audience.
UK: The rotten politics of the SWP’s Stand Up to Racism
By Chris Marsden, 14 July 2018
The Socialist Workers Party’s aim is to promote the “progressive” credentials of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn and of the Trades Union Congress.
The “anti-fascism” of Podemos: A cover for Spain’s anti-worker Socialist Party government
By Alejandro López, 9 July 2018
Spain’s minority Socialist Party government, backed by Podemos, is announcing symbolic measures targeting Francisco Franco’s fascist regime.
Three years since Syriza’s referendum on EU austerity in Greece
By Alex Lantier, 6 July 2018
Syriza’s repudiation of the Greek workers’ “no” vote on austerity exposed the class gulf separating the workers from pro-capitalist middle-class parties like Syriza.
Portugal’s Left Bloc fears backlash for its role propping up Socialist Party
By Paul Mitchell, 6 July 2018
Catarina Príncipe, a leading member of the Left Bloc, expresses concerns that it has been exposed by helping to resuscitate the pro-austerity Socialist Party.
The ISO’s Socialism 2018 Conference: Socialist phraseology in the service of American imperialism
By Alexander Fangmann, 5 July 2018
The International Socialist Organization’s (ISO) annual Socialism conference this weekend features several speakers who support the US-led regime-change war in Syria.
Ocasio-Cortez on “Meet the Press”: Double-talk, evasion and a disavowal of socialism
By Barry Grey, 2 July 2018
After winning a Democratic congressional nomination in New York City, DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has moved sharply to the right.
What the New York primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez means
By Patrick Martin, 28 June 2018
A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ocasio-Cortez offered not a hint of genuine socialism in her campaign.
US primaries choose Democratic, Republican nominees in seven states
By Patrick Martin, 28 June 2018
Four more candidates with backgrounds in the military-intelligence apparatus won Democratic nominations Tuesday in competitive congressional seats.
DSA member Ocasio-Cortez beats incumbent Congressman in New York Democratic Party primary
By Isaac Finn, 27 June 2018
In a major political upset, Democratic Socialists of America member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic Party primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District against incumbent Congressman Joe Crowley.
How the DSA bolsters the Democratic Party establishment: The case of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
By Isaac Finn, 23 June 2018
The DSA congressional candidate in a New York City district is sowing illusions that the Democratic Party establishment can be pushed to the left.
By their friends you will know them: The International Socialist Organization and American imperialism
By Joseph Kishore, 15 June 2018
A book published recently by the ISO’s Haymarket Books contains a series of endorsements from open supporters of aggressive US military intervention in Syria.
The pseudo-left stabs Assange in the back
By Andre Damon, 11 June 2018
Despite initially voicing opposition to the attack on Assange, the entire gamut of the middle-class “left” has either ignored, downplayed or supported Assange’s persecution.
The ISO and the imperialist politics of the pseudo-left
By Barry Grey, 16 May 2018
The International Socialist Organization is concerned that politically radicalized students and youth who are attracted to socialism are hostile to American military interventions in Syria and elsewhere.
Pseudo-left parties promote US-French-British bombing of Syria
By Will Morrow, 16 April 2018
The DSA and ISO in the US, and the NPA in France are spreading the lies of the media and intelligence agencies to justify the bombings on “humanitarian” grounds.
The pseudo-left’s silent complicity in the drive to war against Syria and Russia
By Tom Hall, 10 April 2018
The major publications of the pseudo-left, including Jacobin and Socialist Worker, have written nothing on the imperialist war drive or on the shutdown of Internet access for Julian Assange.
New Anti-capitalist Party seeks to strangle French rail strikes
By Alex Lantier, 10 April 2018
Fifty years after the 1968 general strike, the Pabloite NPA insists workers should take orders from organizations it admits support the attacks on rail workers.
Pseudo-left groups form new “Victorian Socialists” electoral front in Australia
By the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), 15 March 2018
The latest opportunist manoeuvre by the pseudo-left is a calculated response to immense disaffection within the working class towards the Labor Party.
Young Democratic Socialists of America conference: Propping up the Democratic Party
By E.P. Milligan, 3 March 2018
The annual conference was aimed primarily at turning young people interested in socialism into foot-soldiers for the Democrats organizers for the anti-working class trade unions.
The class issues behind the Democratic Socialists of America’s electoral gains
By Tom Hall, 14 November 2017
The gains made by the DSA last week reflect a shift to the left within the American population, and the determination of the ruling class to use groups like the DSA to direct this into safe political channels.
Pseudo-left groups push identity politics on seventh day of St. Louis protests
By Genevieve Leigh and George Gallanis reporting from St. Louis, 22 September 2017
A “White Allies Only” protest endorsed by the DSA, Socialist Alternative and Black Lives Matter drew several hundred people on the seventh day of protests against police violence in St. Louis.
The “People’s Convergence”: The pseudo-left entreats Bernie Sanders to lead “People’s Party”
By Genevieve Leigh, 16 September 2017
All the groups present backed Sanders in 2016, helping him to channel social anger among millions of workers and youth behind Hillary Clinton.
The anti-socialist politics of the Democratic Socialists of America
By Tom Hall, 3 August 2017
Despite the left-sounding rhetoric that will be on display this week at its national convention, the Democratic Socialists of America is a pro-capitalist organization steeped in a tradition of anti-communism and bitterly opposed to the political independence of the working class.
Marxism and the pseudo-left: David North interviewed at Leipzig Book Fair
1 April 2016
Following a presentation of the new German edition of The Frankfurt School, Postmodernism and the Politics of the Pseudo-Left, North was interviewed by the newspaper Schattenblick on the theoretical and political issues addressed in his book.
What is the pseudo-left?
By The WSWS Editorial Board, 30 July 2015
Political developments in Greece in recent months are a striking confirmation of the WSWS's analysis of “pseudo-left” tendencies.
The theoretical and historical origins of the pseudo-left
By David North, 24 February 2015
This 2012 report by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North provides the critical theoretical and historical background to the events in Greece, where the pseudo-left Syriza has risen to state power and rapidly capitulated to the European banks.
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