Life, Death, and the Western Way of War

Abstract

politics based on the conflict between the indignant people and the privileged élite, considered responsible for the worsening of the living conditions of the many. In this sense, Damiani (along with authors such as Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe) shows how the populist appeal is used differently by left-wing parties compared to the ultra-conservative right: inclusively rather than exclusively. An element that unites the parties considered is the emphasis placed on broadening the social bases of democratic participation. In particular, Podemos and FI have focused heavily on the involvement of their interlocutors through information technology platforms, in search of a party model that can replace, at least in part, traditional organizational forms. In the second part of the book, the author devotes three important chapters (‘Organization’, ‘Leadership’ and ‘Participation’) to precisely these issues, well showing how a possible new party model is still in the planning stage. In addition to organizational problems, other ‘dilemmas’ stand in the way of radical left parties, from their stances on the European Union to the delineation of a possible democratic sovereignty, and relations with other left or centre-left parties. Born with very radical and anti-establishment objectives, all three parties considered by Damiani have undergone complex processes of evolution. Syriza led an executive, effectively replacing Pasok as the largest party on the Greek left; Podemos has chosen to participate in a governing coalition with the PSOE, and in France, the Popular Union, promoted by France Insoumise, was a coalition agreement for the 2022 legislative elections between FI and the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and the Greens. The longterm effect of these processes is still uncertain, but it is probable that the meaning of what the left might be in Europe in the future also depends on the contribution that the radical parties, well described in Damiani’s book, will be able to make.