Puneet Varma (Editor)

European Anti Capitalist Left

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President
  
Collective leadership

Headquarters
  
Brussels

International affiliation
  
None

Founded
  
March 2000 (2000-03)

Political position
  
Left-wing to Far-left

Ideology
  
Anti-capitalism Democratic Socialism Soft Euroscepticism

The European Anti-Capitalist Left (EACL) is an informal network for left-wing and anti-capitalist parties in Europe. EACL met for the first time in Lisbon in March 2000, with representation from the Scottish Socialist Party, the Portuguese Left Bloc, the Danish Red-Green Alliance, the French LCR, and the Turkish ÖDP. Since its initial meeting, the EACL meets every six months.

The EACL took part in the Europe against Austerity Conference in 2011 and 2012.

Most of the EACL parties have associations with Trotskyism and Eurocommunism, while anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninists instead tend to belong to the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties.

Ideology

Parties participating in the EACL are united in opposition to neo-liberalism and capitalism. The criteria for participation in its conferences are:

  • A clear foundation in anti-capitalism, with the goal of achieving socialism.
  • Recognition of the pluralist nature of the left, with no claim of a monopoly for their own organisation or viewpoint.
  • Pursuit of common action of the left in general coalitions.
  • Some degree of representation (in local, regional, or national legislatures) and anchoring in social movements.
  • Despite the last criterion, many organisations involved in the EACL, with the exception of the founding parties, are rather marginal groups which exert strong activities in social movements, but have little or no representation on an electoral level. The EACL does emphasise, however, a need to carry out a great deal of extra-parliamentary activism.

    References

    European Anti-Capitalist Left Wikipedia