Calls for a national Left

A left-wing political analyst suggests that national feeling and social democracy can complement each other, and calls on the Hungarian Left to embrace national ideas.

In Népszava, Ádám Paár, an analyst of the Centre for Fair Political Analysis, writes that demands for national sovereignty and left-wing equality by no means contradict each other. On the contrary, demands for national independence and autonomy complement socialist and social democratic governance, Paár contends. He goes on to dismiss accusations that the Left stands for internationalism and wants to weaken the nation state. Paár claims that national ideas are part of even the more orthodox Marxist variations, and even more so in the case of ‘bourgeois socialism’. Paár points out that 19th century independence movements as well as 20th century anti-colonial movements were both left-wing and nationalist as they fought the foreign oppression that entrenched exploitation and social inequality. Paár adds that Zionist ideas were also based on nationalist and social democratic ideas. He also suggests that the 1956 revolution aimed at democratic socialism without Soviet rule. Paár concludes by calling on the Hungarian Left to embrace the national idea.

Tags: Left, nationalism, sovereignty