Europe's Radical Left

Reviews / Votes

March and Keith's Europe's Radical Left; From Marginality to the Mainstream? provides a comprehensive, eloquent and incredibly well rounded depiction of the party family's response to the severe economic and political crisis that shook the continent in recent years. The volume highlights lesser known but pertinent aspects of radical left politics such as current programmatic dilemmas the party family faces with respect to immigration and Europe and explores its new links to social movements. Dealing with questions such as why the radical left has not benefited electorally from the crisis across the continent to the extent that this might have been expected, on which issues it is plagued by internal divisions and what its future prospects are in Europe's changing party systems renders this volume a must read for scholars of party politics and all those interested in contemporary European politics. -- Myrto Tsakatika, Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow Although it is well known that right-wing populist parties have benefited from the crisis in the EU and eurozone little attention has been paid to how the seeming natural beneficiary of this - the contemporary radical left - has responded. March and Keith have admirably filled this scholarly gap by assembling a top notch group of experts who explore among other things the electoral impact of the crisis on various radical left parties, the parties' varied programmatic responses, and the way in which the crisis has shaped these parties' internal dynamics and organization. Europe's Radical Left: From Marginality to Mainstream is the best comparative analysis of the contemporary radical left in Europe to date and sets the bar high for future studies. It is a must read for those studying radical left parties and movements but will be extremely valuable for other scholars of party politics, Europeanists, and those studying political radicalism and extremism. -- Jonathan Olsen, Professor of Government, Texas Women's University, Denton, Texas Through a combination of comparative and country chapters by some of the foremost scholars of the European radical left, this innovative edited volume provides a very timely analysis of the dog that still barely barks, let alone bites. Europe's Radical Left is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the effects of the Great Recession on European politics. -- Cas Mudde, Associate Professor, University of Georgia