Book Review: Luke March and Daniel Keith (eds), Europe’s Radical Left: From Marginality to the Mainstream?
| Author | Jorge Valderas |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929917718669 |
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsEurope |
670 Political Studies Review 15(4)
this book both very challenging and highly
informative since it is based on comprehensive
scientific literature and on the data collected
directly from Beppe Grillo’s blog. The authors
have succeeded in providing a profound ana-
lytical portrait of this intriguing phenomenon,
touching its core. They present this political
organisation by comparing it to other tradi-
tional Italian parties representing the old politi-
cal establishment of Italy, which today’s
citizens trust less and less.
Some elements of novelty are brought in by
the analysis of the selectorate procedure in the
M5S and the relationship between direct
democracy and representative democracy. It is
also important to mention the thorough study
regarding the structure of M5S’ voters, the
Italian electoral system and elite protest and
political discontent.
M5S is presented in a very clear exposé, in
a critical manner and through a logic narrative
which covers all the issues discussed. The
opinions expressed are in line with the main
theoretical thinkers and analysts. Tronconi
gives us a complete and original image about a
non-conformist, anti-system party, about the
behaviour of the electorate and leadership
styles, and, what is more, about the force of the
modern communication tools, namely, the
Internet and its corollary, social media.
The book is well-researched and organised.
It is written in a very accessible style, with per-
tinent and concrete comments and with a con-
tinuing thread that keeps the reader interested
right until the end of the book.
Marcela Monica Stoica
(“Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University,
Bucharest, Romania)
© The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1478929917718672
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
Europe’s Radical Left: From Marginality to
the Mainstream? by Luke March and Daniel
Keith (eds). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield,
2016. 439pp., £27.95 (p/b), ISBN 9781783485369
Using the economic crisis of 2008 as a refer-
ence point, and through a series of analyses of
national cases, this book seeks to give an
overview of the development of the European
radical left parties (RLPs).
The text starts with an introduction, where
the editors present their theoretical and meth-
odological frameworks. Then, based around
the economic crisis of 2008, the book is divided
into three parts. Part I focuses on an analysis of
the RLPs before the crisis in relation to how
these parties interpreted the crisis, their rela-
tionship with social movements, and their
approach to the problem of immigration in the
context of the growth of the radical right.
Part II presents the responses of the RLPs to
the crisis through an analysis of several
national cases, focusing on programmatic–ide-
ological, organisational and electoral aspects.
The final section analyses the transnational
response of the RLPs to the crisis and finishes
with a balance sheet and prognosis about the
future prospects of these parties.
The main findings of the book reveal that
the RLPs are in a process of ‘de-radicalisation’,
seeking to move from an international move-
ment in decline (i.e. Soviet international com-
munism) to become viable parties at the
national level. In addition, the authors develop
a hypothesis about how the financial crisis
affected the RLPs, establishing three possible
forms: radical emergence, no change and suc-
cess shock. Through the case studies, it is veri-
fied that all these forms occurred, which
confirms the national particularity of the
responses generated by the RLPs, and that
there was no transnational coordination.
Finally, the authors conclude that although
the crisis constituted an external scenario con-
ducive to the ascent of RLPs, they could not
exploit it. The RLPs as a party family was not
sufficiently cohesive or strong enough to take
advantage of the crisis, mainly due to the vari-
ous conflicts within the parties related to link-
age, identity and organisation.
The book fulfils satisfactorily the objec-
tives that it proposes and it seems to offer a
great contribution to the study of European
political parties in general and certainly to
those belonging to the radical left. The fact
that under-studied cases such as Latvia,
Iceland and the Netherlands are included
here, as well as the theoretical and methodo-
logical clarity exposed, makes the book
striking and easy to read and understand, not
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