Left-wing nationalism describes a form of nationalism based upon equality, popular sovereignty, and national self-determination. It has its origins in the Jacobinism of the French Revolution. Left-wing nationalism typically espouses anti-imperialism. It stands in contrast to right-wing nationalism, and has often rejected racist nationalism and fascism, although minor forms of left-wing nationalism have included intolerance and racial prejudice.
Notable left-wing nationalist movements in history have included the Indian National Congress that, under Mohandas Gandhi, promoted independence of India, Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence and during the Troubles, the African National Congress of South Africa under Nelson Mandela that challenged apartheid, the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in El Salvador.
Left-wing nationalism has appeared in authoritarian forms. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Syria and formerly Iraq has promoted pan-Arab nationalism and state socialism. Josip Broz Tito as leader of Yugoslavia and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia promoted left-wing nationalism.
Read more about Left-wing Nationalism: Marxism and Nationalism, Europe, Australia, Canada
Famous quotes containing the words left-wing and/or nationalism:
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.”
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–1986)