Left-wing nationalism

Left-wing nationalism is a political movement geared to overcoming the losses and disadvantages experienced by a country due to economic pressure or deep integration with another country, often also referring to hostility towards supranational organizations such as the European Union, and free-trade agreements. Left-wing nationalism can also refer to any nationalism emphasizing a working-class populist agenda attempting to overcome economic exploitation or national oppression claimed to be imposed by other nations or by states.

Historically, left-wing nationalism has had a significant influence in the political affairs of India, Italy South Africa, and South American countries, among others. In South America, Simon Bolivar utilized left-wing nationalism to promote independence from colonial rule of Spain and Portugal. In India, the politics of Jawaharlal Nehru demonstrated a left-wing nationalist agenda. In Italy, authoritarian and radical left-wing nationalism breaking away from pacifist socialism by pressuring Italy to join World War I, one major left-wing nationalist at the time of the war was future Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who eventually abandoned most of his left-wing influences upon rising to power and repressed leftists when in power.

In Africa, the African National Congress has been seen as a symbol of the democratic black civil rights movement and black nationalism in South Africa. The ANC is associated with Socialist International. Authoritarian left-wing nationalism in Africa exists in countries like Zimbabwe under the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front of Robert Mugabe which fought against minority white rule in the former Rhodesia.

In Europe, a number of left-wing nationalist movements exist. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein and the Social Democratic and Labour Party advocate Northern Ireland's integration into the Republic of Ireland while supporting social democracy. The Communist Party of the Basque Homelands promotes Basque independence from Spain. The Socialist Party of Serbia, the successor to the League of Communists of Serbia, endorsed the self-determination of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia during the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and their right to remain in Yugoslavia (though the party has been criticized for supporting violent nationalism), while recognizing Montenegro as a constituent republic within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro and recognizing the Republic of Macedonia's independence while right-wing nationalists claimed that Macedonia and Montenegro were historical parts of Serbia.

In the Middle East, the Fatah movement in the Palestinian National Authority supports the independence of a Palestinian state, but also endorses socialism and secularism in contrast to other nationalist movements in the PNA. The Republican Turkish Party in Turkish-held Cyprus endorses the independence of the Turkish regions of Cyprus while endorsing a left-wing economic agenda. The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party in Syria, and formerly in Iraq endorsed Pan-Arab nationalism while endorsing a socialist economy and secular society. The Israeli Labor Party supports a nationalist concept called Labour Zionism.

In North America, left-wing nationalism is a strong phenomenon in Canada. Left-wing nationalism in Canada as a whole emerged in the 1960s, as many Canadians wished to distance their country both from the United Kingdom and from the United States as it fought the controversial Vietnam War. The Liberal Party of Canada endorsed left-wing nationalist views during the 1960s to the 1980s under Prime Ministers Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who sought to distance Canada economically and culturally from the United States by advocating degrees of protectionism and a high degree of state intervention into economic and cultural affairs of the country. Left-wing nationalist influence in the Liberal Party diminished under the leadership of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin in favour of neoliberalism. Left-wing nationalism was directly associated with the Waffle movement of the New Democratic Party which called for a self-sufficient, socialist Canada before being purged from the party in the 1970s. During the 1980s, Canadian left-wing nationalists opposed the implementation of free trade agreements between Canada and the United States, claiming that Canada would be overtaken by the U.S. corporate culture and economically annexed by the United States. The Canadian Action Party is a left-wing nationalist party in Canada which opposes globalization and U.S. influence in Canada. In the French-speaking province of Quebec, left-wing nationalist movements have called for independence of Quebec from Canada to escape anglophone capitalist dominance. Radical Quebec left-wing nationalists included the "Front de libération du Québec" (FLQ) which advocated political violence against the Canadian government to form an independent, socialist Quebec. The FLQ collapsed after the October Crisis in 1970 and since then, democratic left-wing nationalism has become very influential in Quebec. This movement is represented by the "Parti Québécois" in the province and the "Bloc Québécois" in Canada's federal parliament.

In South America, left-wing nationalism is a factor in the founding of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela which promotes Bolivarianism, which advocates the integration of all of Latin America to defend it from imperialism, as Venezuelan national hero Simon Bolivar had attempted to do.

List of the left-wing nationalist parties and movements

*Belgium
**Flanders
***Flemish-Socialist Movement
*Canada
**Canadian Action Party
**Province of Quebec
***"Bloc Québécois" (represents Quebec nationalist interests in Canada's federal parliament)
***"Parti Québécois"
***"Québec Solidaire"
*Cyprus
**Northern Cyprus
***Communal Democracy Party
*Iraq
**Kurdish province
***Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
*Ireland
**Sinn Fein
**Irish Republican Socialist Party
**Republican Sinn Fein
*Israel
**Israeli Labor Party
**Meimad
*Montenegro
**Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro
**Social Democratic Party of Montenegro
**People's Socialist Party of Montenegro (promotes nationalism while at the same time promotes union with Serbia)
*Palestinian National Authority
**Fatah
*Peru
**Peruvian Nationalist Party
*Russia
**Communist Party of Russia
*Serbia
**Socialist Party of Serbia
*South Africa
**African National Congress
*Spain
**Andalusia
***Partido Andalucista
**Basque territory
***Aralar
***Communist Party of the Basque Homelands
**Castile
***Izquierda Castellana
**Catalan Countries
***Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
***Candidatura d'Unitat Popular
***Partit Socialista de Mallorca
**Galicia
***Bloque Nacionalista Galego

* Turkey
**Republican People's Party (Turkey)
**Democratic Left Party (Turkey)
**Workers' Party (Turkey)
*Syria
**Arab Socialist Ba'th Party
*United Kingdom
**Northern Ireland
***Sinn Féin
***Social Democratic and Labour Party of Northern Ireland
**Scotland
***Scottish National Party
***Scottish Socialist Party
***Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement
**Wales
***Plaid Cymru
***Forward Wales
*Venezuela
**United Socialist Party of Venezuela
*Zimbabwe
**Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front