Editing Left-wing politics (section)

{{Short description|Political ideologies favoring social equality and egalitarianism}}
{{redirect|Leftism|the album by the group Leftfield|Leftism (album)}}
{{redirect|Left wing|the sports position|Winger (sports)}}
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'''Left-wing politics''' describes the range of [[Ideology#Political ideologies|political ideologies]] that support and seek to achieve [[social equality]] and [[egalitarianism]], often in opposition to [[social hierarchy]] either as a whole<ref name="Smith">{{cite book|author-last1=Smith |author-first1=T. Alexander |author-first2=Raymond |author-last2=Tatalovich |title=Cultures at War: Moral Conflicts in Western Democracies |url=https://archive.org/details/culturesatwarmor0000smit |url-access=registration |location=Toronto, Canada |publisher=Broadview Press |year=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/culturesatwarmor0000smit/page/30 30] |isbn=9781551113340}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-last1=Bobbio |author-first1=Norberto |author-first2=Allan |author-last2=Cameron |title=Left and Right: The Significance of a Political Distinction |url=https://archive.org/details/leftrightsignifi00bobb |url-access=limited |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/leftrightsignifi00bobb/page/n58 37]}}</ref><ref name="Lukes">{{cite book|author-last1=Ball |author-first1=Terence |title=The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Political Thought |date=2005 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521563543 |edition=Reprint. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1h4_NqTOFoC&q=The+Cambridge+History+of+Twentieth-Century+Political+Thought |access-date=15 November 2016 |pages=612–614}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-last1=Thompson |author-first1=Willie |title=The Left In History: Revolution and Reform in Twentieth-Century Politic |date=1997 |publisher=[[Pluto Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0745308913}}</ref> or of certain social hierarchies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The Desk Encyclopedia of World History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7394-7809-7 |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=Edmund |location=New York |pages=370}}</ref> Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in society whom its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others as well as a belief that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished,<ref name="Lukes"/> through radical means that change the nature of the society they are implemented in.<ref name=":0" /> According to emeritus professor of economics Barry Clark, supporters of left-wing politics "claim that human development flourishes when individuals engage in cooperative, mutually respectful relations that can thrive only when excessive differences in status, power, and wealth are eliminated."<ref>{{cite book|author-last=Clark |author-first=Barry |date=1998 |title=Political Economy: A Comparative Approach |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=[[Praeger Press]] |isbn=9780275958695}}</ref>

Within the [[left–right political spectrum]], ''Left'' and ''[[right-wing politics|Right]]'' were coined during the [[French Revolution]], referring to the seating arrangement in the French [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Assembly]]. Those who sat on the left generally opposed the [[Ancien Régime]] and the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] [[monarchy]] and supported the Revolution, the creation of a [[democratic republic]] and the [[secularisation]] of society<ref name="Knapp">{{cite book|author-last1=Knapp |author-first1=Andrew |url=https://archive.org/details/governmentpoliti0000knap |title=The government and politics of France |author-last2=Wright |author-first2=Vincent |date=2006 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-35732-6 |edition=5th |location=London [u.a.] |quote=the government and politics of france.|url-access=registration}}</ref> while those on the right were supportive of the traditional institutions of the Ancien Régime. Usage of the term ''Left'' became more prominent after the restoration of the French monarchy in 1815, when it was applied to the ''Independents''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Realms of memory: conflicts and divisions |date=1996 |editor-first=Pierre |editor-last=Nora |chapter=Right and Left |author-first=Marcel |author-last=Gauchet |pages=248}}</ref> The word ''wing'' was first appended to Left and Right in the late 19th century, usually with disparaging intent, and ''left-wing'' was applied to those who were unorthodox in their religious or political views.

Ideologies considered to be ''left-wing'' vary greatly depending on the placement along the [[left–right political spectrum|political spectrum]] in a given time and place. At the end of the 18th century, upon the founding of the first [[Liberal democracy#Origins|liberal democracies]], the term ''Left'' was used to describe [[liberalism]] in the United States and [[republicanism]] in France, supporting a lesser degree of [[Social stratification|hierarchical decision-making]] than the ''right-wing politics'' of the [[Traditional conservatism|traditional conservatives]] and [[monarchists]]. In [[Modernism|modern]] politics, the term ''Left'' typically applies to ideologies and movements to the left of [[classical liberalism]], supporting some degree of [[Economic democracy|democracy in the economic sphere]]. Today, ideologies such as [[social liberalism]] and [[social democracy]] are considered to be [[centre-left]], while ''the Left'' is typically reserved for movements more [[Criticism of capitalism|critical of capitalism]],<ref>{{cite book|author-first1=Alan |author-last1=Maass |author-first2=Howard |author-last2=Zinn |author-link2=Howard Zinn |title=The Case for Socialism |quote=The ''International Socialist Review'' is one of the best left-wing journals around... |page=164 |publisher=[[Haymarket Books]] |edition=Revised |year=2010 |isbn=978-1608460731}}</ref> including the [[labour movement]], [[socialism]], [[anarchism]], [[communism]], [[Marxism]], and [[syndicalism]], each of which rose to prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|author-first1=Michael |author-last1=Schmidt |author-first2=Lucien |author-last2=Van der Walt |author-link2=Lucien van der Walt |title=Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism |series=Counter-Power |volume=1 |publisher=[[AK Press]] |year=2009 |page=128 |quote=[...] anarchism is a coherent intellectual and political current dating back to the 1860s and the First International, and part of the labour and left tradition. |isbn=978-1-904859-16-1}}</ref>
In addition, the term ''left-wing'' has also been applied to a broad range of [[Cultural liberalism|culturally liberal]] and [[Progressivism|progressive]] social movements,<ref>{{cite book|author-first=Jean Francois |author-last=Revel |title=Last Exit to Utopia |quote=In the United States, the word liberal is often used to describe the left wing of the Democratic party. |page=[https://archive.org/details/lastexittoutopia0000reve/page/24 24] |publisher=Encounter Books |year=2009 |isbn=978-1594032646 |url=https://archive.org/details/lastexittoutopia0000reve/page/24}}</ref> including the [[civil rights movement]], [[feminist movement]], [[LGBT rights movement]], [[abortion-rights movements]], [[multiculturalism]], [[anti-war movement]], and [[environmental movement]],<ref>{{cite journal |author-first=Eric |author-last=Neumayer |title=The environment, left-wing political orientation, and ecological economics |journal=Ecological Economics |volume=51 |year=2004 |issue=3–4 |pages=167–175 |doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2004.06.006 |bibcode=2004EcoEc..51..167N |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/714/1/EE_51%283-4%29.pdf |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-date=21 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921200052/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/714/1/EE_51%283-4%29.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-first=John |author-last=Barry |title=International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics |quote=All surveys confirm that environmental concern is associated with green voting...[I]n subsequent European elections, green voters have tended to be more left-leaning...the party is capable of motivating its core supporters as well as other environmentally minded voters of predominantly left-wing persuasion... |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0415202855 |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalenc0000unse_a2h7}}</ref> as well as a wide range of [[political parties]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/Fleisher/courses/econ508winter06/docs/Democratic_socialism.pdf |title=Democratic socialism |access-date=3 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902085146/http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/Fleisher/courses/econ508winter06/docs/Democratic_socialism.pdf |archive-date=2 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author-link=Fiona Harvey |date=5 September 2014 |title=Green party to position itself as the real left of UK politics |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/05/green-party-left-uk-politics-caroline-lucas |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213003036/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/05/green-party-left-uk-politics-caroline-lucas |archive-date=13 February 2017 |access-date=12 December 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |author-first=Fiona |author-last=Harvey}}</ref><ref name="sarnold">{{cite book|author-last=Arnold |author-first=N. Scott |title=Imposing values: an essay on liberalism and regulation |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordclinicalda00libg |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2009 |location=Florence |isbn=978-0-495-50112-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordclinicalda00libg/page/n15 3] |quote=Modern liberalism occupies the left-of-center in the traditional political spectrum and is represented by the Democratic Party in the United States, the Labor Party in the United Kingdom, and the mainstream Left (including some nominally socialist parties) in other advanced democratic societies.}}</ref>‌