🧵 2/2
... the UK's ugly, albeit secondary, support for the overthrow of democracy in Chile.
The role of the UK is perhaps a side note as far as Chileans are concerned, but for those like me who are British and of a democratic left/social democratic persuasion, this history confronts us with a challenge with regard to foreign policy.
How can we make a reality of a left foreign policy for the UK? Obviously part of this will be disentangling ourselves from the USA, but this disentanglement will need to be based on more than the "Don't bully us!" nationalism exemplified in "Love Actually":
https://youtu.be/pBmo_xlPILU?si=2TIxUSXRaIahGWsz
Of course we need to stop with all the "special relationship" bosh, but we also need to think about how the interests of British, American, and transnational capital have shaped UK foreign policy and how that foreign policy can be remade within the horizons of a recognizable left policy and of feasibility. How could a left Labour government at once recognize the political demands of internationalism and of the realities of UK national interests?
The foreign policy problem parallels that of a realizable domestic economic policy. Kowtowing to business, as the Starmer government is all to apt to do, won't work in the long run, but far left sloganeering is, at best, a futile distraction.
I don't know what the answers are, but recognizing the existence of problems is a necessary first step to solving them.
#UKPolitics #Chile #ForeignPolicy #Labour #DemocraticSocialism #SocialDemocracy #DemocraticLeft
When the Chilean military overthrew Salvador Allende’s democratically elected government in September 1973, UK officials supported and worked with the new junta as it indulged in widespread atrocities, declassified files show.
#OnThisDay 22nd February 1992, Democratic Left was formed in a split from the Workers' Party.
Several members and six of the party’s TDs left the party and formed a new party led by Proinsias de Rossa. Initially called New Agenda, it was renamed Democratic Left at its founding conference the following month.
https://www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-this-day/02/22/#event-5651
New document:
The Coffee Circle Papers: Paper 5 – Economic Growth: Who Needs It?
From a series of papers produced by Democratic Left in 1998 prior to merging with Labour.
New document:
"The Coffee Circle Papers: Postscript - Times Change"
The Coffee Circle Papers were a series of discussion papers in Democratic Left in 1998/99. This postscript was written by Rosheen Callender after their 1999 merger with Labour.
New document:
"Quinn and De Rossa merge parties to form: New Labour Sellout!"
Voice, newspaper of the Socialist Party, on the merger of Democratic Left with the Labour party in 1999.
https://www.leftarchive.ie/document/7256/
#Ireland #Politics #History #SocialistParty #Voice #DemocraticLeft #Labour
#OnThisDay, 22nd February 1992, Democratic Left was formed after a split in the Workers' Party.
At a Workers Party Ard Comhairle meeting, several members and six of the party’s TDs left the party and formed a new party led by Proinsias de Rossa. Initially called New Agenda, it was renamed Democratic Left at its founding conference the following month.
https://www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-this-day/02/22/#event-5651
New document:
The Coffee Circle Papers: Paper 2 – New Century Socialism: Fighting for Justice in the Jungle
These were a series of papers produced by Democratic Left in 1998, after their period in government and losses in the subsequent election. The party went on to merge with Labour the following year.
#WorkersParty #DemocraticLeft #IrishSocialistNetwork #Podcast #IrishPodcasts
Follow the podcast directly @ILAPodcast
#OnThisDay 22nd February 1992, Democratic Left was formed after a split in the Workers' Party.
https://www.leftarchive.ie/on-this-day/#event-5651
#DemocraticLeft #WorkersParty #IrishPolitics #IrishLeftArchive
Help Mastodon newcomers make connections: name 5-7 things that interest you but aren't in your profile, as tags so they are searchable. Then boost this post or repeat its instructions so others know to do the same.
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Jonathan Emmesedi
Irish Left Archive
Zachary Klaas