From Left Communism to Post-modernism

Reconsidering Emancipatory Discourse

From Left Communism to Post-modernism addresses issues of the shape and future of the socialist movement and the politics of post-modernism. The author identifies a tradition of socialist thought - left communism - that is separate from socialist orthodoxy, seeking to stage a conversation between this marginalised tradition and post-modernism. This engagement spans a range of fields of theoretical inquiry, including the role of intellectuals, culture and utopia, the state and nationalism, the interpretation of "really existing socialism", and questions of socialist values. Such a conversation, the author suggests, promises an alternative Left that combines those still-resonant democratic socialist values with a modest post-modern sensibility.