Left-Wing Politics — Definition

Definition

Left-wing politics in the Indian national movement linked independence with changes in land, labour, ownership and social power. It included distinct communist and socialist currents as well as activity in trade unions and peasant organisations.

Shared concern for economic inequality did not create one party or one unchanging strategy. International influences such as the Russian Revolution of 1917 interacted with Indian conditions and mass mobilisation.

To understand the field, distinguish ideological sympathy, formal political membership and participation in organisations representing workers or peasants, and attach each organisational milestone to its actual place and event.