Kaninskaya Galina Nikolaevna – ScD. in History, Professor, Head of the Chair of General History, Petr Demidov Yaroslavl State University Kostyuk Ruslan Vasilyevich – ScD. in History, Professor of the Department of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University
The instability of the economy, provoked by a series of crises in the first two decades of the 21st century, the growth of social tensions, caused by the influx of immigrants - all this in many European countries has led to an increase in distrust of the ruling parties, both left and right, that invariably replaced each other in power, but not offered to society a radical solution to the problems that have arisen. At the same time, as an alternative to the establishment on the right and left, the radical parties and movements that are not only openly criticize governments, seeking a radical transformation of the existing liberal-democratic system of power, but also often resort to violent actions by organizing clashes with the forces of order, have become stronger. Some postulates of the "green" parties, for example, ecofeminism, anti-productivism, taxation of financial capital, the ban on nuclear energy, are not devoid of a left-wing radical tone. Meanwhile, if ordinary ecologists often take part in mass protests with the use of violence, at the official party level, the "greens" do not support radical methods of party-political struggle, hoping for the possibility of a "reformist" revolution, first of all, together with the socialists. As social protests in modern “Western liberal democracies” intensify and aggravate, the left-wing radical sentiments are spreading not only among party activists and electorate, but also among a considerable number of ordinary citizens who have problems with adapting to “the globalizing world”. To a certain extent, we can talk about the internationalization of the left-wing extremist movements, that, in fact, significantly complicate the synchronization of the policies and institutions of the European Union (EU). In this regard, one cannot help but admit / acknowledge that the anti-systemic nature of a number of the left-wing radicals demands is counterproductive.
political ecology, left-wing extremism, Green parties, ecofeminism, ecosystem, environmental protection, interaction between man and nature, anti-productivism, protests.
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