The left-wing ideology of the new elites: from luxury beliefs to universal humanism
- Authors: Davydov D.A.1
-
Affiliations:
- Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of the RAS
- Issue: No 4 (2023)
- Pages: 7-21
- Section: Articles
- URL: https://journals.eco-vector.com/0869-0499/article/view/675166
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.31857/S0869049923040019
- EDN: https://elibrary.ru/OYPQIM
- ID: 675166
Cite item
Abstract
It is substantiated that most of the modern Western left-wing political discourses constitute the ideology of new, “post-bourgeois” elites. This ideology is a mixture of concepts conditioned by the post-materialist values of the “cognitive” elites and the “creative class”. It is noted that a significant part of left-wing progressive ideas (including intersectional Marxism) leads to policies that counter the interests of a significant portion of the poor and socially vulnerable people. It is shown that the hypocrisy of the new elites, for whom leftist ideas have become a way of demonstrating their status (“luxury beliefs”), is not the only reason for this contradiction. The key problem is the unevenness of the movement towards post-capitalism. While classical Marxism assumed the primary importance of meeting the basic needs of everyone without exception, today only a relative minority achieved the state of “existential security”. This elite minority is imbued with communist values, but their anti-bourgeois universal humanism with its’ wide range of goals (from the idea of “open borders” to the protection of the rights and opportunities of “non-human animals”) is often not relevant in the context of the world in which many people still face material need and scarcity.
About the authors
Dmitriy A. Davydov
Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of the RAS
Email: davydovdmitriy90@gmail.com
Ekaterinburg, Russia
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