Note on “The Radical Left in Europe”

This collection of articles gives an overview of the current state and outlook of the radical left parties and social movements across much of Europe, at a time when the global financial crisis and the resulting sovereign debt crisis have created new opportunities for them to grow.

Each article focuses on a specific country or region, offering a historical overview of its radical left parties and movements, and then looking at how they have evolved since 2008, to a point where they have once again become significant actors in European politics. We hope that this collection will not only inform our readers, but will help generate international solidarity for the radical left forces.

This project would have been impossible without the invaluable contribution of two individuals, to whom I am eternally thankful: Marcello Musto who, besides writing an important introduction, initially proposed the idea of this collection, suggested the list of contributors, and oversaw the editorial process; and Victor Wallis who, besides translating the articles on the radical left in France and Portugal, reviewed every article in the final stage and provided critical feedback that resulted in considerable improvement of the collection in terms of conceptual rigor, clarity, and readability. I would also like to thank Arianna Sanelli and Julie Wark for translating the articles on the radical left in, respectively, Italy and Spain. And finally, my sincere gratitude goes to all the contributors to this collection who put considerable time and energy into writing and revising the articles with the utmost patience and care.