Tuesday, October 09, 2012
A comment on Greece and Syriza posted by Richard Seymour
I wrote this brief comment piece in response to Alex Callinicos's analysis of the European terrain, specifically the Greek situation, in last month's International Socialism. Panos Garganos of ANTARSYA has also written a piece on the aftermath of the Greek elections, which I think includes some response to my comments.The “strategic perplexity” of the left confronted with the gravest crisis of capitalism in generations has been hard to miss.1 Social democracy continues down the road of social liberalism. The far left has struggled to take advantage of ruling class disarray. Radical left formations have tended to stagnate at best. Two exceptions to this pattern are the Front de Gauche in France and Syriza in Greece. While the Front de Gauche did not do as well as many hoped, it did channel a large vote for the radical left in the presidential elections won by Hollande. Meanwhile, Syriza is potentially a governing party in waiting...