AgroundbreakinghistoryofEurope’s“newlefts,“fromtheantifascist1920stotheanti-establishment1960sInthe1960s,theradicalyouthofWesternEurope’sNewLeftrebelledagainstthedemocraticwelfarestateandtheirparents’antiquatedpoliticsofreform.Itwasnotthefirsttimeanupstartleftistmovementwasbuiltontheruinsoftheold.Thisbooktracesthehistoryofneoleftismfromitsantifascistrootsinthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury,toitspostwarreconstructioninthe1950s,toitsexplosivereinventionbythe1960scounterculture.TerenceRenauddemonstrateswhytheleftinEuropeunderwentaseriesofinternalrevoltsagainsttheorganizationalformsofestablishedpartiesandunions.HedescribeshowsmallgroupsofmilitantyouthsuchasNewBeginninginGermanytriedtosustaingrassrootsmovementswithoutreproducingthebureaucratic,hierarchical,andsupposedlyobsoletestructuresofSocialDemocracyandCommunism.Neoleftistmilitantsexperimentedwithalternativemodesoforganizationsuchascouncils,assemblies,andactioncommittees.However,Renaudrevealsthatthesesamemilitants,decadeslater,oftencametodefendtheveryinstitutionstheyhadopposedintheiryouth.Providingvitalhistoricalperspectiveonthechallengesconfrontingleftiststoday,thisbooktellsthestoryofgenerationsofantifascists,leftsocialists,andanti-authoritarianswhotriedtobuildradicaldemocraticalternativestocapitalismandkindlehopeinreactionarytimes.
