On the disappearance of leftist political idea(l)s

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, I have chosen a specific perspective from which to identify and analyse what has gone wrong for the Italian Left in the past thirty years. I will take as my starting point the demolition of the Berlin Wall (1989) and continue with the foundation of the Partito Democratico (Democratic Party [PD] 2007), its vicissitudes, its current state of health and its status. I will do so by attempting as far as possible to consider what has been done, or not done, by other left-wing parties in Europe. My main hypothesis is that the Left has declined because it has been unable to renew or reinvigorate its political culture. When dealing with the PD I will briefly analyse the motivations behind its birth, and especially the frequently repeated intention to amalgamate – through the so-called and never-achieved hybridization – the best of all Italian reformist political cultures. My final remarks will be devoted to what can be done to (re)formulate a left-wing political culture in Italy (and elsewhere in Europe).