Editing Libertarian socialism (section)

=== New Left ===
[[File:Prof_dr_Noam_Chomsky,_Bestanddeelnr_929-4752.jpg|thumb|right|[[Noam Chomsky]], the most prominent advocate of libertarian socialism in the [[New Left]]]]
Libertarian socialist themes received a revival during the 1960s, when it was reconstituted as part of the nascent [[New Left]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Hahnel|1y=2005|1p=148|2a1=Marshall|2y=2008|2p=540}} This revival occurred largely unconsciously, as new leftists were often unaware of their libertarian socialist predecessors. The concepts of [[grassroots democracy]], [[workers' control]], [[solidarity]] and [[autonomy]] were thus reinvented by the new generation.{{Sfn|Hahnel|2005|p=148}} They also picked up the principles of [[decentralisation]], [[participatory democracy]] and [[mutual aid (organization theory)|mutual aid]].{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|p=541}} These libertarian socialist themes drove the growth of the New Left, which by this point was disillusioned by the mainstream social democratic and Marxist-Leninist political groupings, due to the capitalistic tendencies of the former and the rigid authoritarianism of the latter.{{Sfnm|1a1=Hahnel|1y=2005|1p=148|2a1=Marshall|2y=2008|2p=540}}

Sociologist [[C. Wright Mills]], who displayed strong libertarian socialist tendencies in his appeals to the New Left, reformulated Marxism for the modern age in his work on ''[[The Power Elite]]'' (1956). [[Wilhelm Reich]]'s [[Freudo-Marxism|Freudo-Marxist]] theses on the [[authoritarian personality]] were also rediscovered by the New Left, who developed his programme for individual [[self-governance]] into a [[anarchism and education|libertarian system of education]] used by the [[Summerhill School]].{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|pp=540–541}} Drawing on the Freudo-Marxist conception of [[civilisation]] as "organised domination", [[Herbert Marcuse]] developed a critique of [[Marx's theory of alienation|alienation]] in modern Western societies, concluding that [[creativity]] and [[political dissent]] had been undermined by social [[Repression (psychoanalysis)|repression]]. Meanwhile, [[Lewis Mumford]] published denunciations of the [[military-industrial complex]] and [[Paul Goodman]] advocated for decentralisation.{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|p=541}} In the process, the new generation of Marxists gravitated towards libertarian tendencies, sometimes closely resembling anarchism. Following on from Marcuse, [[Daniel Cohn-Bendit]], [[E. P. Thompson]], [[Raymond Williams]] and [[Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)|Stuart Hall]] all adopted forms of "libertarian Marxism", opposed to the bureaucracy and parliamentarism of statist tendencies.{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|pp=541–542}}

A specific and explicit libertarian socialist tendency also began to emerge. While some more libertarian Marxists adopted the term in order to distinguish themselves from authoritarian socialists,{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|p=641}} anarchists began calling themselves "libertarian socialist" in order to avoid the negative connotations associated with anarchism.{{Sfnm|1a1=Boraman|1y=2012|1p=257|2a1=Marshall|2y=2008|2p=641}} The libertarian socialist [[Daniel Guérin]] specifically attempted to synthesise anarchism and Marxism into a single tendency, which inspired the growth of the French libertarian communist movement.{{Sfn|Berry|2012|p=199}} For a time, even the American [[anarcho-capitalism|anarcho-capitalist]] theorist [[Murray Rothbard]] attempted to make common cause with libertarian socialists, but later shifted away from socialism and towards [[right-wing populism]].{{Sfn|Long|1998|p=310n17}}

Many libertarian socialists of this period were particularly influenced by the analysis of [[Cornelius Castoriadis]]<ref name="Lefort">[[Claude Lefort]], ''Writing: The Political Test'', Duke University Press, 2000, Translator's Foreword by David Ames Curtis, p. xxiv, "Castoriadis, the historian [[Pierre Vidal-Naquet]], now Lefort ... are themselves quite articulate in their own right and historically associated with a libertarian socialist outlook..."</ref><ref name="e319">{{cite journal | last=Ojeili | first=Chamsy | title=Post-Marxism with Substance: Castoriadis and the Autonomy Project | journal=New Political Science | volume=23 | issue=2 | date=2001b | issn=0739-3148 | doi=10.1080/07393140120054047 | pages=225–239|quote=Receiving his political inheritance from the broad libertarian socialist tradition, Castoriadis continues to challenge the domination of state and capital and to insist on the liberatory possibilities of direct democracy. }}</ref> and his group [[Socialisme ou Barbarie]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Boraman|1y=2012|1p=252|2a1=Cornell|2y=2012|2p=177}} This new generation included the non-vanguardist Marxist organisation [[Facing Reality]],{{Sfn|Cornell|2012|p=177}} the British libertarian socialist group [[Solidarity (UK)|Solidarity]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Boraman|1y=2012|1pp=252, 257|2a1=Cornell|2y=2012|2p=177|3a1=Marshall|3y=2008|3p=495}}<ref name="l362">{{cite web | title=What is libertarian socialism? An interview with Ken Weller | website=libcom.org | date=26 October 2015 | url=https://libcom.org/article/what-libertarian-socialism-interview-ken-weller | access-date=11 September 2024 | archive-date=24 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324152354/https://libcom.org/article/what-libertarian-socialism-interview-ken-weller | url-status=live }}</ref> and the Australian councilists of the Self-Management Group.{{Sfn|Boraman|2012|pp=251–271}} Some of this new generation of libertarian socialists also joined the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] (IWW), swelling the old union's numbers, organising agricultural workers and launching a new journal, ''The Rebel Worker''.{{Sfn|Cornell|2012|p=177}} This libertarian socialist milieu, with their criticisms of [[democratic centralism]] and [[trade union]]ism, and their advocacy of [[workers' self-management]] and [[Soviet democracy|council democracy]], went on to inspire the French [[Situationist International|situationists]] and Italian [[Autonomism|autonomists]].{{Sfn|Cornell|2012|pp=177–178}}

Of the figures in the New Left, the American linguist [[Noam Chomsky]] became the most prominent spokesperson for libertarian socialism.{{Sfn|Long|1998|p=305}} Inspired by the [[humanism]] of [[Bertrand Russell]], the [[individualism]] of [[Wilhelm von Humboldt]] and the [[syndicalism]] of [[Rudolf Rocker]], Chomsky championed a libertarian socialism that upheld individual [[liberty]] and [[self-ownership]].{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|p=578}} Chomsky has been outspoken advocate of [[anti-authoritarianism]], opposing limits on individual freedoms by the state.{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|pp=578–579}} He has also focused much of his libertarian socialist critique on [[mass media in the United States]], due to its role in the military-industrial complex.{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|p=579}}

While most sections of the New Left expressed a form of libertarian socialism, others were instead being inspired by the [[Cuban Revolution|Cuban]] and [[Chinese Communist Revolution]]s to embrace forms of [[authoritarian socialism]] such as [[Maoism–Third Worldism]].{{Sfn|Marshall|2008|pp=542}} As such, according to Hahnel, the New Left failed to form a coherent ideological program or establish lasting support to carry forward the momentum of the late 1960s, resulting in many dropping out of [[activism]] altogether.{{Sfn|Hahnel|2005|pp=148–149}}