There is renewed interest in socialism in the US and the UK, particularly among young people. Who are these new socialists? Why now?
In The Socialist Awakening author John B. Judis, who brilliantly explained the rise of populism and nationalism in his two most recent books, The Populist Explosion and The Nationalist Revival, charts the path of socialism in the last century to today's rising left, which has little connection to Marxian socialism and consists primarily of leftwing Keynesians seeking to displace the older center-left parties. Socialists today are driven by their growing anxiety and uncertainty about their place in the world. What they see in socialism is what early socialists and Christian socialists saw: communal values, cooperation rather than competition, an ethical approach to government. They seek public intervention about their concerns over access to education, healthcare, and the danger of climate change. But Judis sends out a warning against misreading the rise of the left not as a reaction to the populist right, but as an opportunity to re-introduce Marxist claptrap.
John Judis is the author of William F. Buckley: Patron Saint of the Conservatives. He is a senior editor at The New Republic, as well as a writer-at-large for GQ and a columnist for The American Prospect. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, and The Wilson Quarterly, among other publications. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
View titles by John B. Judis
There is renewed interest in socialism in the US and the UK, particularly among young people. Who are these new socialists? Why now?
In The Socialist Awakening author John B. Judis, who brilliantly explained the rise of populism and nationalism in his two most recent books, The Populist Explosion and The Nationalist Revival, charts the path of socialism in the last century to today's rising left, which has little connection to Marxian socialism and consists primarily of leftwing Keynesians seeking to displace the older center-left parties. Socialists today are driven by their growing anxiety and uncertainty about their place in the world. What they see in socialism is what early socialists and Christian socialists saw: communal values, cooperation rather than competition, an ethical approach to government. They seek public intervention about their concerns over access to education, healthcare, and the danger of climate change. But Judis sends out a warning against misreading the rise of the left not as a reaction to the populist right, but as an opportunity to re-introduce Marxist claptrap.
Author
John Judis is the author of William F. Buckley: Patron Saint of the Conservatives. He is a senior editor at The New Republic, as well as a writer-at-large for GQ and a columnist for The American Prospect. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, and The Wilson Quarterly, among other publications. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
View titles by John B. Judis
