Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics
About the Book Series
The series Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics has two areas of interest. Firstly, this series aims to publish books which focus on the history of movements of the radical left. ‘Movement of the radical left’ is here interpreted in its broadest sense as encompassing those past movements for radical change which operated in the mainstream political arena as with political parties, and past movements for change which operated more outside the mainstream as with millenarian movements, anarchist groups, utopian socialist communities, and trade unions. Secondly, this series aims to publish books which focus on more contemporary expressions of radical left-wing politics. Recent years have been witness to the emergence of a multitude of new radical movements adept at getting their voices in the public sphere. From those participating in the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, community unionism, social media forums, independent media outlets, local voluntary organisations campaigning for progressive change, and so on, it seems to be the case that innovative networks of radicalism are being constructed in civil society that operate in different public forms.
The series very much welcomes titles with a British focus, but is not limited to any particular national context or region. The series will encourage scholars who contribute to this series to draw on perspectives and insights from other disciplines.
Theory and Praxis of Left Populism: A Comparative Analysis of Podemos and La France insoumise
1st Edition
By Laura Chazel
February 02, 2026
This book analyses the practice and the theorisation of populism by radical left parties based on a comparative analysis between two cases: Podemos (We Can) in Spain, and La France insoumise (Unbowed France, LFI) in France. This comparative analysis, first of its kind, aims to transform our ...
The Twilight of World Trotskyism
1st Edition
By Edgar Anstey
May 27, 2024
The Twilight of World Trotskyism analyzes the reasons behind the historic failure of the Trotskyist movement around the world. The book begins this assessment by briefly recapitulating the origins of Trotskyism, as a political current within the communist movement, and elaborating its major ...
John Horner and the Communist Party: Uncomfortable Encounters With Truth
1st Edition
By Rosalind Eyben
April 02, 2024
John Horner and the Communist Party is a biography of a leading trade unionist and activist who became disillusioned with the Communist Party. Known for creating the modern Fire Brigades Union during the Second World War, John Horner (1911-1997) resigned from the Communist Party in 1956. Formerly ...
Revolutionary Republicanism: Participation and Representation in 1848 France
1st Edition
By Samuel Hayat
December 22, 2023
Revolutionary Republicanism provides a history of French republicanism seen through a seminal episode of its creation – the 1848 revolution. The process of reinventing republicanism in 1848 gave rise to two opposite understandings of republicanism: a moderate one that merely adapted the ...
On the Chilean Social Explosion
1st Edition
By Maxwell Woods
September 25, 2023
On the Chilean Social Explosion uses the methods of literary, cultural, and subaltern studies to examine what cultural foundations and practices gave rise to this political uprising.On 18 October 2019, Chile exploded into a series of nationwide protests that placed the socio-political order of ...
Colin Ward and the Art of Everyday Anarchy
1st Edition
By Sophie Scott-Brown
July 22, 2022
Colin Ward and the Art of Everyday Anarchy is the first full account of Ward’s life and work. Drawing on unseen archival sources, as well as oral interviews, it excavates the worlds and words of his anarchist thought, illuminating his methods and charting the legacies of his enduring influence. ...
I Saw Democracy Murdered: The Memoir of Sam Russell, Journalist
1st Edition
By Colin Chambers, Sam Russell
April 08, 2022
I Saw Democracy Murdered is the memoir of Sam Russell (1915–2010), a communist journalist and a British volunteer with the anti-fascist Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. The book covers his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, his time as a journalist at The Daily Worker and The ...
Making Cultures of Solidarity: London and the 1984–5 Miners’ Strike
1st Edition
By Diarmaid Kelliher
May 11, 2021
This book combines radical history, critical geography, and political theory in an innovative history of the solidarity campaign in London during the 1984-5 miners’ strike. Thousands of people collected food and money, joined picket lines and demonstrations, organised meetings, travelled to mining ...
Cultural Protest in Journalism, Documentary Films and the Arts: Between Protest and Professionalization
1st Edition
By Daniel H. Mutibwa
September 30, 2020
Cultural Protest in Journalism, Documentary Films and the Arts: Between Protest and Professionalisation entails a comprehensive account of the history and trajectory of contemporary journalistic, (documentary) film, and arts and cultural actors rooted (partially or wholly) in radical, alternative, ...
Hybrid Media Activism: Ecologies, Imaginaries, Algorithms
1st Edition
By Emiliano Treré
September 30, 2020
This book is an extensive investigation of the complexities, ambiguities and shortcomings of contemporary digital activism. The author deconstructs the reductionism of the literature on social movements and communication, proposing a new conceptual vocabulary based on practices, ecologies, ...
Challenging Austerity: Radical Left and Social Movements in the South of Europe
1st Edition
Edited
By Beltrán Roca, Emma Martín-Díaz, Ibán Díaz-Parra
August 14, 2020
This book analyses social movements and radical political parties’ strategies in Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy from 2008 to today. Events in 2011 such as the Arab Spring and the indignados movement in Spain initiated a new cycle of social protest. This book explores how the economic crisis and ...
Real Democracy Occupy: No Stable Ground
1st Edition
By Anna Szolucha
August 14, 2020
The liberal representative model of democracy is in a crisis. In protest camps, neighbourhood assemblies and through other non-hierarchical initiatives, the Occupy movement as well as other recent anti-austerity movements are redefining democracy as a positive way to engage with this crisis. The ...