On the Trail of the New Left

In: New left review: NLR, Heft 215, S. 93-100

Abstract

Reconsiders & contests historical & political interpretations of the British New Left by Lin Chun in The British New Left & Michael Kenny in The First New Left: British Intellectuals After Stalin. Argues that problems in both books are semantic -- "Left" as a monolithic political term should not be applied to a coalition of diverse philosophical & religious people interested in a non-aligned European movement -- and historical -- indeed, Kenny's work is described as largely ahistorical or antihistorical for its lack of proper contextualization & the misreadings of personalities described in his text -- in character. Both inaccuracies & inadequacies are treated in separate sections by drawing on personal experience & rereading from important journals such as The New Reasoner & describing the relationship between the New Left, the Communist Party, & the Institute for Worker's Control (CND). The importance of the Left Clubs & journals to the development of the non-aligned Left movement since the 1950s is also addressed. More needs to be done, it is suggested, to adequately reevaluate the development & success of this movement since its new left beginnings. R. Rodriguez