THE RISE OF A NEW LEFT

A journalistic account of the recent emergence of a millennial cohort of progressive politicians and activists.

It’s no small irony that the swelling ranks of youthful leftists came about, at least in some measure, because of the presidential campaigns mounted by the superannuated Bernie Sanders. “As much as they admire Sanders, this new crop of left-wing…candidates are more interested in enacting his vision than imitating his personal style,” writes political journalist Lipsitz, “which, unless Sanders’s apparent artlessness counts as a style, isn’t what attracted them in the first place.” In other words, next to the rumpled Sanders, an array of well-put-together young people such as, notably, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has risen to put a fresh face on progressive politics. Some of them, such as a Buffalo-based activist, eschew “capital S” socialism. Others are quicker to embrace the label, but they also seek to run for existing political offices rather than attempt to build a larger movement because the path to the former is more clearly defined. One of the great strengths of the more effective candidates and activists is their ability to explain “poorly understood concepts like ‘identity politics’ and ‘intersectionality’ ” to their young audiences. In doing so, some are helping to expand the horizons of a new kind of socialist feminism, “broadening its conception of workers and deepening its understanding of the interconnectedness of different forms of oppression.” A new labor movement is also emerging. For all that, the young progressives face considerable opposition not just from their right-wing challengers, but also from entrenched Democratic Party operatives who understand correctly that they’re in the crosshairs, too. It’s for that reason, Lipsitz suggests, that not much has changed with the Biden presidency, which causes her to conclude, somewhat dejectedly, that “progress does not inevitably follow a smooth, upward trajectory.”

A well-reported introduction to a growing, controversial movement among the younger electorate.