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58-697: The Prairie Fire Organizing Committee is an American far left organization that evolved from the Weather Underground . In 1974, the Weather Underground released the book Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-imperialism . Since the Weather Underground was engaged in illegal bombings and its leaders were fugitives, it required help from aboveground supporters to distribute the book; participants in this work included Van Lydegraf and Jennifer Dohrn . Over 40,000 copies were distributed. Discussion groups were created to discuss

116-410: A Bay area printing collective, was their graphic production wing. Fireworks produced posters for international solidarity movements, women's liberation movements, LGBT issues, release of political prisoners, and more. Far-left politics Far-left politics , also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism , are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than

174-915: A centre-left movement. The association of Marxism–Leninism with the Soviet Union also caused Eurocommunism to be developed as a democratic communist movement in Western Europe, but it only briefly saw electoral success in the 1970s. In the Years of Lead in Italy, far-left militants, such as the Red Brigades , justified the usage of political violence as a revolutionary means and defense against far-right terrorism and neo-fascism in Italy . The Chinese Communist Party had been active since 1921, but it did not seize power in China until its victory in

232-592: A cult of personality in his favor. This also entailed the Great Purge in the late 1930s, an interpretation of Lenin's revolutionary violence that saw hundreds of thousands of Stalin's opponents killed, often to be replaced by ambitious loyalists. By this time, Marxism–Leninism was seen as the definitive implementation of communism by most communists globally, justifying the Great Purge as an effort to eradicate fascist infiltrators, with state censorship obscuring

290-504: A marathon run in favor of the rights of women, and letter writing campaigns, rallies, marches, guerrilla postering, spray-painting, and contributing to the defense of abortion clinics. Their stamina of direct-action lasted for about a year. Their actions saved the community from Governor Pete Wilson's plan to cut aid to families who had dependent children. After the first year the number of members began to decline, falling to about 50 members.They were forced to move their meeting location to

348-464: A small office space that was shared by another feminist group. Nonetheless, after a few months the WAC of San Francisco was unable to pay the rent and became non-existent by 1994s. The rise and fall of The Women's Action Coalitions is considered part of the third wave of feminism. Most of the records are from the first WAC, WAC of New York. The files of the WAC from other cities are scattered. Most of

406-447: A total reformation of society and its functions. Proponents of the horseshoe theory interpretation of the left–right political spectrum identify the far left and the far right as having more in common with each other as extremists than each of them has with centrists or moderates . This theory has received criticism, however, by many academics. Communism has historically emphasized economics and class over social issues. In

464-511: Is an ideological group that seeks the creation of a communist society . Modern communism is a form of revolutionary socialism based on support for the communist society described the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , known as Marxism . Offshoots of Marxism include Leninism , Marxism–Leninism (which was distinct from both of its eponymous ideologies), Maoism , Eurocommunism , anarchist communism , and others. Anarchism seeks to create an alternate form of society that excludes

522-543: Is considered an important part of the WAC. The Drum Core participates in WAC actions and all other activities. The Women's Action Coalition of San Francisco was founded in August 1992. By 1992 there were about five hundred members, meeting at the Southern Exposure Gallery and speak about future creative ways they could implement their actions towards the importance of the rights of women. They started

580-455: Is credited with first using the term communism , though his usage was unrelated to the ideologies that were later known as communism. Early anarchists emerged in the 19th century, including Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin . These anarchists endorsed many utopian ideas, but they emphasized the importance of revolution against and complete abolition of the state for a utopian society to exist. Bakunin argued that peasants rather than

638-450: Is generally considered to be a centre-left socialist ideology. Socialism seeks to create a socially equal society in which every individual has access to basic necessities and in which prosperity and knowledge are shared. It is derived from ideas of egalitarianism . Democratic socialism is generally considered to be a reformist left-wing or radical-left ideology, and it has historically been considered centre-left , though it

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696-436: Is generally regarded as a right-wing ideology. Far-left groups support redistribution of income and wealth . They argue that capitalism and consumerism cause social inequality and advocate their dissolution. Some far-left groups also support the abolition of private property . Scholars, such as Luke March and Cas Mudde , propose that socio-economic rights are at the far left's core. Moreover, March and Mudde argue that

754-720: Is held on March 8 in Chicago. Members participate in marches and programs based around the event. In the 1990s, Prairie Fire joined WAC, the Women's Action Coalition , to take direct action against sexism by fighting for women's rights to their bodies and access to women's clinics. In 1996, Prairie Fire initiated the Not On The Guest List Coalition which organized a demonstration at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It

812-522: Is occasionally considered far-left. Democratic socialism is sometimes used interchangeably with social democracy in political rhetoric, but is often used to describe political movements to the left of or following radical social-democracy. Communists may also identify as democratic socialists to contrast themselves with Stalinists . Democratic socialists reject Third Way social democracy for its association with neoliberalism , and they reject communism for its association with authoritarianism . Communism

870-818: Is seen as radical politics because it calls for fundamental change to the capitalist socio-economic structure of society. Radical-left politics, rejecting both neo-liberal social-democracy and revolutionary action, instead seeking to enact change from within government, prioritize equality of outcome over equal opportunity . Post-Soviet radical left-wing movements in Europe and the United States are associated with anti-globalization and anti-neoliberalism . Various courants and movements of socialism are considered far-left. Socialism has historically been divided into left-wing reformist socialism and far-left revolutionary socialism . Modern social democracy

928-439: Is situated between the far-left and social democracy . Per Richard Dunphy, "the radical left" desires fundamental changes in neoliberal capitalism and progressive reform of democracy such as direct democracy and the inclusion of marginalized communities, while per March "the extreme left" denounces liberal democracy as a "compromise with bourgeois political forces" and defines capitalism more strictly. Far-left politics

986-532: The Chinese Civil War in 1949. As with the Soviet Union, the newly formed People's Republic of China carried out purges of political enemies, killing millions of land owners. The peasants were not targeted, however, instead using them as a base of political support. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, China under the rule of Mao Zedong distanced itself from the Soviet Union. Maoism then grew in popularity as an alternative to Soviet-style communism. At

1044-585: The Cold War brought an end to communism's political influence in most of Western Europe, and the development of post-industrial society caused many of the traditional sectors associated with communism to dissipate. Following Stalin's death, the workers of several Eastern European countries staged revolutions against communist rule, which were suppressed by the Soviet military. Many of these countries were led by Stalinist rulers, who were forced out and replaced by

1102-666: The Russian Revolution emerged in 1917 amid political instability caused by World War I . The Bolsheviks seized power, under the rule of Vladimir Lenin and his ideology of Leninism. The state ideology developed during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921, setting the preservation of Bolshevik power as the highest priority to assure the building of socialism as well as seeking to spread communist revolution to other nations. Some additional communist governments formed in Europe, but they lasted only months. Though

1160-515: The Taborites , who attempted to create a social structure that resembled a communist society. Early examples of communist societies in fiction include Utopia by Thomas More , which proposed a society without personal property, and The City of the Sun by Tommaso Campanella , which proposed a society without the family unit . Modern far-left politics can be traced to Europe and North America in

1218-413: The 1830s with the publications of British reformer Robert Owen , who self-identified as socialist. Owen, as well as others such as Henri de Saint-Simon , Charles Fourier , and Étienne Cabet , developed the utopian socialist movement, and these utopian socialists established several communes to implement their ideology. Cabet responded to More's Utopia with his own novel, The Voyage to Icaria . He

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1276-570: The 1960s and 1970s, among them the CPI (Maoist) , Montoneros , New People's Army , Prima Linea , the Red Army Faction , the Red Brigades and the Tupamaros . These groups generally aimed to overthrow capitalism and the wealthy ruling classes. Women%27s Action Coalition The mission of the groups is to make a change and take action against the barriers restraining

1334-509: The 1970s and 1980s, far-left movements in Western Europe were increasingly defined by the new social movements , which gave prominence to issues such as environmentalism, animal rights , women's rights , the peace movement , and promoting the interests of the Third World . These ideas as a singular movement became less prominent in far-left politics as they were subsumed by green politics, but they are still disparately supported by many in

1392-689: The Bolsheviks identified as communist, the term socialist was often used interchangeably at the time. By 1922, as Russian SFSR became one of the founding countries of Soviet Union , it responded to widespread hunger and poverty with the New Economic Policy , which restored market enterprise for smaller industries. After Lenin's death, a power struggle between Nikolai Bukharin , Leon Trotsky , and Joseph Stalin ended with Stalin taking power by 1928. Stalin implemented his ideology of Marxism–Leninism, which reorganized society and created

1450-540: The Great Purge's extent. Anarcho-syndicalism was developed as a form of anarchism in the late 19th century, and it grew popular around 1900. It remained relevant in far-left politics through 1940. During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, anarcho-syndicalists seized control of multiple regions in Spain, but this ended when the nationalist faction won the war. This, along with the rise of communism, ended

1508-630: The U.S. government arrested eleven Puerto Rican members of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN, the Armed Forces of National Liberation) who were committing acts of terrorism to gain independence for Puerto Rico. Prairie Fire worked as allies with the Puerto Rican independent movement to demand the release of these prisoners. Since 1984 Prairie Fire has been active in the annual International Women's Day celebration that

1566-513: The Women's Health Action Coalition." Their first action took place six days after that meeting at a sexual assault trial involving students from St. John's University." Their Logo was a Blue Dot after the blue dot the media would put over the rape victims face when displayed on television" Their members founded the Drum Core which performed at all of their action movements. They also came up with

1624-502: The chance of voting radical left"; and second, radical-left voters tend not to share the social nationalism of the radical-right, instead having a socio-tropic, or other-regarding, bias based on the ideological concern for economic egalitarianism. Other characteristics may include anti-Americanism , anti-globalization , opposition to NATO , and in some cases a rejection of European integration . Many far-left militant organizations were formed by members of existing political parties in

1682-473: The early 19th century to describe the egalitarian ideas of redistribution promoted by writers like François-Noël Babeuf and John Thelwall . Inspired by the French Revolution , these writers objected to the existence of significant wealth, and Babeuf advocated a dictatorship on behalf of the people that would destroy those who caused inequality. Socialism was recognized as a coherent philosophy in

1740-501: The far left is to the left of the political left with regard to how parties or groups describe economic inequality on the base of existing social and political arrangements. Far-left groups are anti-establishment , opposing existing political and economic structures. Both anarchist and statist far-left ideologies may support disestablishment of traditional sociopolitical structures. They are opposed to liberalism and liberal democracy . They may be classified as radical , supporting

1798-543: The far-left and social-democracy) or far-left. At the same time, in the United Kingdom and the United States of America , populist movements formed around Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders . While left-wing populist parties were in power in the 2010s, they were often forced to put aside their strong anti-neoliberalism and accept neoliberal policies, either proposed by their larger allies or imposed due to

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1856-575: The far-left declined after the dissolution of the Soviet Union , and it remained relatively subdued during the 1990s. In many Eastern European countries, communist parties were banned by the new governments. In others such as Moldova, they saw continued electoral success. Of the five communist states that survived into the 21st century, three of them — China, Vietnam, and Laos — had restored private ownership and reintegrated with global capitalist markets although state and public control continued as well. For instance, Peter Nolan argues that land in China

1914-494: The far-left varies in the literature and there is not a general agreement on what it entails or consensus on the core characteristics that constitute the far left, other than being to the left of mainstream left-wing politics . As with all political alignments, the exact boundaries of centre-left versus far-left politics are not clearly defined and can vary depending on context. Far-left ideologies often include types of socialism , communism , and anarchism . The radical-left

1972-507: The far-left. Societies resembling communist society have been postulated throughout human history, and many have been proposed as the earliest socialist or communist ideas. The ideas of Plato have been described as an early type of socialism. In medieval Europe, some philosophers argued that Jesus believed in shared ownership of property and that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was contrary to his teachings. This included

2030-627: The ideas of Japanese writer Kōtoku Shūsui , who was in turn inspired by Peter Kropotkin . This movement saw its greatest prominence in the 1920s in China. Communism in early 20th century Europe often gained power in countries with significant polarization between segments of the population on an ethnic, religious, or economic basis, and in countries that were destabilized by war. It was less prominent in industrialized nations, where social democracy maintained electoral success over communist parties. The first communist revolution took place in Russia, when

2088-400: The impact that they left was great. They took action by handing out free condoms and also pamphlets on how to have safe sex. They placed coffins in the streets which held the stories of women who had been murdered, and used a billboard and signed postcards to express the effects domestic violence and breast cancer have on women. Each of the WAC's all over the world included a Drum Core, which

2146-690: The international context. In Europe, the support for populist left politics comes from three overlapping groups: far-left subcultures, disaffected social democrats, and protest voters—those who are opposed to their country's European Union membership. European populist left politics share many of the values of centre-left politics , including cosmopolitanism , altruism , and egalitarianism . They overlap in some areas with far-right politics concerning radicalism , economic nationalism , Euroscepticism , and populism . Two clear distinctions emerge: first, "education [...] tends to statistically significantly lower chances of voting for radical right but increases

2204-742: The issues that arose from the book. This above ground organizing is how the Prairie Fire Distribution Committee was created, which in 1975 became the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee. The book's preparation was a 12-month process. It was written collaboratively and adopted as the collective statement of the Weather Underground. Mark Rudd stated that the book "was an attempt to influence the movement that we had abandoned back in 1969. It tried to reach many thousands of New Leftist and former New Leftists by saying "'Don't despair, we're all part of

2262-424: The late 18th century, when industrialization and political upheaval caused discontent among the working class. Socialists were those who objected to the changing social and economic structures associated with industrialization, in that they promoted individualism over collectivism and that they created wealth for some but not for others, creating economic inequality . The term socialism first came into use in

2320-444: The liberation of oppressed peoples". The group's members are typically activists fighting U.S. imperialism. Their work proceeds from the premise that, while the U.S. remains in the global position that it currently occupies, there will be no freedom or peace for anyone. The book Prairie Fire was explicitly feminist, based on an understanding that success of imperialism relied on the oppression of women. One result of this point of view

2378-538: The local level and a one-party state at the regional level. In reaction to the neo-liberal turn of European social-democracy under the Third Way , populist left-wing parties and politicians emerged in the late 2000s and early 2010s as a Eurosceptic , anti-globalist response to the Great Recession . These parties and movements are qualified by various observers as either left-wing , radical-left (between

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2436-561: The main enemy of the world's people, a position it initially took in contradiction to the Communist Party of China 's critique of Soviet imperialism . They claim a long history of fighting for rights of all people and opposes white supremacy in all its forms, believing that it persists through practices such as racial profiling. They call attention to prisoners it deems political and state, "We know that close to 100 women and men are in U.S. prisons because they have dared to struggle for

2494-803: The official U.S. governmental commemorations of the Bicentennial. In 1979, the victory of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the FMLN -led "people's war" in El Salvador put the ideals of a just society at the center of attention. In the 1980s, a large solidarity movement developed in the U.S. in response to America's military intervention in Central America. Prairie Fire Organizing Committee actively participated in these efforts. In 1980,

2552-623: The relevance of anarchism among the far-left globally after 1940. As mass production became more common, the traditional style of labor that anarcho-syndicalists objected to ceased to exist, preventing any significant resurgence in the movement. The Soviet Union's influence during and after World War II spread communism, directly and indirectly, to the rest of Eastern Europe and into Southeast Europe . New communist governments were formed in Albania , Bulgaria , Czechoslovakia , East Germany , Hungary , Romania , and Yugoslavia . The onset of

2610-464: The rights of women. There are Women's Action Coalition groups located all over the world, although many are located in the United States in the cities of Boston, San Francisco, Houston, and Los Angeles. There are also groups located in Europe and Canada. On January 28, 1992 a group of 75 to 150 women came together in New York City to talk about their frustration with their issues concerning

2668-481: The rights of women. They named this meeting "Women Strategizing in the 90's." The immediate reason for the meeting was to discuss their anger that Clarence Thomas was named Supreme Court Justice even after Anita Hill's testimony that Thomas had assaulted her. The women decided to start a feminist activist group called The Women's Action Coalition." They planned on modeling their group after the AID activist group ACT-UP and

2726-467: The role of the state. Some objected to the increase in the state's involvement, while others believed that the state was a stronger alternative to protect worker's rights than labor movements. Many of the former moved to anarchism, while many of the latter responded with the development of social democracy. East Asian anarchism developed in the 1900s during the Russo-Japanese War , based on

2784-504: The same thing'". Bill Ayers explains that Prairie Fire "was an attempt to sum up our thinking since the 'Weatherman' paper and especially since the townhouse. Through it we hoped to consolidate our political organization and to forge unity with progressive activist". Ayers is referring to the 1970 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion which killed 3 members of Weatherman, Diana Oughton , Theodore Gold , and Terry Robbins . Prairie Fire Organizing Committee regards American imperialism as

2842-546: The same time, North Korea and North Vietnam were established as communist governments, triggering the Korean War and the Vietnam War against South Korea and South Vietnam , respectively. By the late 1970s, Maoism in China was replaced by the ideology of Deng Xiaoping , which restored the private sector and market pricing. The Cuban Revolution led to Fidel Castro becoming the ruler of Cuba in 1959. Though he

2900-425: The slogan "Let women define rape!" " By the second meeting they had 300 members. " They demonstrated at many other rape trials." A WAC group was founded in Chicago, but did not last for a great deal of time. It was founded in 1992 and had fallen apart by 1994. Men were not allowed to attend the meetings but were allowed to participate all other WAC actions. Although the group was in commission for only two years

2958-743: The standard political left . The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some scholars consider it to be the left of communist parties , while others broaden it to include the left of social democracy . In certain instances—especially in the news media — far left has been associated with some forms of authoritarianism , anarchism , communism , and Marxism , or are characterized as groups that advocate for revolutionary socialism and related communist ideologies , or anti-capitalism and anti-globalization . Far-left terrorism consists of extremist , militant , or insurgent groups that attempt to realize their ideals through political violence rather than using democratic processes. The definition of

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3016-398: The state entirely. Anarchism incorporates elements of both socialism and liberalism , and it was a prominent ideology among the far-left globally from 1900 to 1940. Anarchist movements include classical anarchism , anarcho-syndicalism , social anarchism , individualist anarchism , anarcha-feminism , black anarchism , and queer anarchism , and green anarchism . Anarcho-capitalism

3074-572: The subsequent Soviet government. Yugoslavia distanced itself as a neutral communist nation, aligned with neither the East nor the West. The New Left developed in Western Europe as an alternative to communism in the 1950s, taking positions on social issues and identity politics . Green politics developed as an offshoot of the New Left, but it was deradicalized by the end of the 20th century and became

3132-541: The working class should lead a socialist revolution, and he popularized calls to violence among the anarchist movement. Anarchist ideology spread to the Americas shortly after its development. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels introduced Marxism in the 1840s, which advocated revolutionary socialism . As the state bureaucracy was developed in the late 19th century and labor rights were increasingly recognized by national governments, socialist movements were divided on

3190-486: Was a demonstration that focused its attention on capital punishment in the United States , racism and classism within the criminal justice system, and for the release of political prisoners held within the U.S. prisons. Prairie Fire has also worked to oppose the 2003 Iraq War , and on other societal issues in the US and abroad. Prairie Fire Organizing Committee produced the journal Breakthrough . Fireworks Graphics Collective,

3248-544: Was decollectivized but not privatized, with control of land remaining in the hands of the community. The Party of the European Left was established in 2004 as a pan-European political party for the far-left. The far-left parties during this time were rarely new creations, instead descending from earlier far-left parties of the 20th century. In 2012, the autonomous region Rojava in northwestern Syria established self-governance based on an anarchist direct democracy at

3306-751: Was not a communist, he aligned the nation with the communist movement to seek Soviet support. Many other nations adopted socialism distinct from Marxism–Leninism during the Cold War, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Communism was rapidly replaced between 1979 and 1992, in which eleven of the world's sixteen communist states were disestablished. By the 1980s, the Soviet Union moved away from ideas of international communism as such efforts came to be seen as too inconvenient. By 1988, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had effectively abandoned communism. In Europe,

3364-707: Was the creation of childcare teams which collectivized the labor of raising children within the organization. Much of the work of Prairie Fire focused on international solidarity. In 1976, the Committee joined the "July 4th Coalition" which was a larger solidarity alliance of a variety of leftist organizations including the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Puerto Rican Solidarity Committee as part of an effort of organizing counterdemonstrations for

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