Rey Ty. Critique of the New Left.

Critique of the New

Left

Dr. Rey Ty’s Notes

What is? ? ?

OutlineI. Introduction

A. Problem: Confusion over what is New Left

B. Questions & Objectives: What is Right? Left? New Left? Critique?

C. Methods: Quotations & Critical Reflection

II. Findings

III. Conclusion

References

What is Right?• “The Right, among other

things, means—what are you doing, celebrating society as it is, a going concern.”

Source: C. Wright Mills, “Letter to the New Left,” New Left Review, No. 5, Sept-Oct, London, 1960, pp. 20-21.

What is Left?• “Left means, or ought to mean, just the

opposite. It means: structural criticism & reportage & theories of society, which at some point or another are focused politically as demands & programs.”

Source: C. Wright Mills, “Letter to the New Left,” New Left Review, No. 5, Sept-Oct, London, 1960, pp. 20-21.

What is Left?• “These criticisms, demands, theories,

programmes are guided morally by the humanist & secular ideals of Western civilization—above all, reason & freedom & justice.”

Source: C. Wright Mills, “Letter to the New Left,” New Left Review, No. 5, Sept-Oct, London, 1960, pp. 20-21.

What is Left?• “To be ‘Left’ means to connect

up cultural with political criticism, and both with demands & programmes.”

Source: C. Wright Mills, “Letter to the New Left,” New Left Review, No. 5, Sept-Oct, London, 1960, pp. 20-21.

What is New Left?• Marcuse: “I must begin by sketching

briefly the principal difference between the New Left & the Old Left. The New Left is, with some exceptions, Neo-Marxist rather than Marxist in the orthodox senses; it is strongly influenced by what is called Maoism, & by the revolutionary movements in the Third World. Moreover, the New Left includes neo-anarchist tendencies, & it is characterized by a deep mistrust of the old leftist parties & their ideology.” Source: Marcuse. (1970). Five Lectures: Psychoanalysis, Politics, & Utopia, pp, 83-84.

What is New Left?• Marcuse: “And the New Left is, again

with exceptions, not bound to the old working class as the sole revolutionary agent. The New Left itself cannot be defined in terms of class, consisting as it does of intellectuals of groups from the civil rights movement, & of youth groups, esp. the most radical elements of youth, including those who at first gland do not appear political at all namely the hippies...” Source: Marcuse. (1970). Five Lectures: Psychoanalysis, Politics, & Utopia, pp, 83-84.

What is New Left?• Marcuse: “It is very interesting

that this movement has as spokesmen not traditional politicians but rather such suspect figures as poets, writers & intellectuals… You here have an opposition that obviously has nothing to do with the ‘classical’ revolutionary force….” Source: Marcuse. (1970). Five Lectures: Psychoanalysis, Politics, & Utopia, pp, 83-84.

1.But Mao Zedong Thought is part of “Classical, Orthodox, or Old” Marxism, not “New Left”!

Critique of the New Left

2. But national liberation movements were aligned with the “Old Left” (former USSR & PRC), not “New Left”! Hello!

Critique of the New Left

2. But the “New Left” appeals to the western industrialized societies, not PRC or national liberation movements in the 3rd World.

Critique of the New Left

Critique of the New Left• Breaking down Marx into 2

separate entities & favoring 1(“early” “humanist”) over the other (“late” or “scientific”) Marx.

Critique of the New Left•But there is only one Marx, duh!

Critique of the New Left• Even assuming there

are 2 Marxes, it makes sense that the late “older” & wiser Marx chronologically is an improvement over the young Marx, & not the other way around, right?

Critique of the New Left

•So, isn’t the “New Left’s” “humanism” one step backward?

Critique of the New Left• Attempting

to reconcile Kierkgaard with Marx: impossible

Critique of the New Left•Break with both “traditional theory” & “classical” Marxism

Critique of the New Left•The “third way,” really?

Critique of the New Left•Marcuse was influenced by Heidegger’s existentialism

• Adorno

• Bloch

• Fromm

• Habermas

• Horkheimer

• Marcuse

Critique of the New Left

Critique of the New Left• Marcuse’s talk of

“one-dimensional society” (no criticism or opposition) won him supporters as a “humanist.”

• Heidegger criticized Marx for underestimating the enslaving power of technology.

Critique of the New Left

Critique of the New Left• Marcuse: “Marx underrated he

extent of the conquest of nature & of man, of the technological management of freedom & self-realization. He did not foresee the great achievement of technological society: the assimilation of freedom & necessity, of satisfaction & repression of the aspirations of politics, business, & the individual.” Source: “Socialist Humanism?” in Socialist Humanism: An International Symposium, ed. By E. Fromm, New York, 195, p. 101.

Critique of the New Left• Fromm: “But Marcuse is not even concerned with politics… Marcuse

is…an example of an alienated intellectual, who presents his personal despair as a theory of radicalism. Unfortunately, his lack of understanding & to some extent, knowledge of Freud builds a bridge over which he travels to synthesize Freudianism, bourgeois materialism, & sophisticated Hegelianism into what to him & other like-minded ‘radicals’ seems to be the most progressive theoretical construct.” Source: Erich Fromm (1968). The Revolution of Hope. New York, pp. 8-9.

References• All references are cited in E.

Batalov. (1975). The Philosophy of Revolt: Criticism of Left Radical Ideology. Theories and Critical Studies Series. Progress Publishers.

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Critique of the New Left

Dr. Rey Ty’s Notes