The Forces Shaping Radical Politics Today

It is often assumed that radical politics is progressive and Left wing. But it also comes from the Right and is regressive. For example, Mrs Thatcher was radical, the British National Party is radical and Hitler was radical. Extreme Right-wing movements have been increasing in strength in Europe, even before the recent economic crisis. Although driven by a small group of elites, neo-conservatism has been radical in its global impact. On the other hand, when we think about Left-wing and progressive radical politics today, in the OECD countries this includes the green parties and environmental, anti-war and peace activists. It also includes many development NGOs who advocate a more equitable world order. These are largely ineffective. Nowhere have they managed to break through to achieve significant political progress. They are mostly dependent on government funding and charitable status, therefore unable to act as radical forces for change. In fact, progressive radical politics is as yet to emerge strongly in the OECD countries. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.