Radical Left Political Actors in Europe and the United States meet Polarisation: United we Stand?

Radical left actors in Europe and the United States remain politically relevant given the sustained social resonance of their message, their established parliamentary presence and, in some cases, particularly in Europe, their frequent participation in government coalitions. They have been known for challenging rising anti-democratic tendencies and making their mark on public policy, domestic and foreign, by consistently putting forward the anti-capitalist critique of income and rights inequalities, and striving for peace and global justice. This panel will discuss the impact of increasing polarisation along the global liberal-authoritarian cultural divide on the parties and movements of the Western radical left. It will do so through investigating the positions of these parties and their supporters on democracy, foreign policy, immigration and family politics, in comparative perspective. How do radical left actors position themselves on policy matters pivotal to the authoritarian-liberal divide? What, if anything, is novel about their positions? Are there changes in the salience of cultural, versus material, issues in their public discourse? What are the consequences of their choices for their electoral performance and for their role in resisting autocratisation? Does polarisation along the cultural dimension unite or divide the radical left and which are the factors driving those dynamics? These are some of the questions that this panel will address, drawing on a broad range of analytical frameworks and methodological approaches.