Politics of liberationIn the 1960s,

Politics of liberation
In the 1960s, ‘liberation’ was a demand made not only on behalf of specific
groups – colonial peoples, women, gays and lesbians – but also in relation
to the entire society. The quest for liberation was the rallying cry of a
broad collection of groups broadly classified as the New Left. Although the
New Left lacked theoretical and organisational coherence, embracing
movements as diverse as feminism, environmentalism, student activism
and anti-Vietnam War protest, it was distinguished by its rejection of both
‘old left’ alternatives on offer. Soviet-style state socialism in Eastern
Europe was regarded as authoritarian and oppressive; Western social
democracy was thought to be hopelessly compromised, lacking both vision
and principles. By contrast, the New Left adopted a radical style of
political activism which extolled the virtues of popular participation and
direct action. The revolutionary character of this new political style was
clearly revealed by the events of May 1968 in France, the month-long
rebellion by students and young workers.
Many in the New Left were attracted by the revolutionary character of
Marxist thought, but strove to remodel and revise it to make it applicable
to advanced industrial societies that had achieved a high level of material
affluence. Whereas orthodox Marxists had developed an economic critique
of capitalism, emphasising the importance of exploitation, economic
inequality and class war, the New Left, influenced by critical theory and
anarchist ideas, underlined the way in which capitalism had produced a
system of ideological and cultural domination. The enemy was therefore
no longer simply the class system or a repressive state but rather ‘the
system’, an all-encompassing process of repression that operated through
the family, the educational system, conventional culture, work, politics
and so on. In this context, ‘political liberation’ came to mean nothing less
than a negation of the existing society, a radical break or, as Marcuse
described it, a ‘leap into the realm of freedom – a total rupture’. Once
again, ‘liberation’ held out the prospect of cultural, personal and psychological
revolution and not merely political change; at the same time it
created the image of a fully satisfying and personally fulfilling society of
the future.
Herbert Marcuse was probably the most influential thinker within
the New Left. Not only did Marcuse develop a biological critique of
capitalism in terms of sexual repression, but he also tried to explain ho

Hasil (Melayu) 2:

Politik pembebasan
Dalam tahun 1960-an, 'pembebasan' permintaan yang dibuat bukan sahaja kepada pihak tertentu
kumpulan - bangsa penjajah, wanita, gay dan lesbian - tetapi juga berhubung
kepada seluruh masyarakat. Usaha untuk pembebasan adalah menangis rali suatu
koleksi luas kumpulan meluas dikelaskan sebagai New Kiri. Walaupun
New Left tidak mempunyai kepaduan teori dan organisasi, memeluk
pergerakan yang pelbagai seperti feminisme, environmentalisme, aktivisme pelajar
dan Perang anti-Vietnam protes, ia dibezakan dengan penolakannya terhadap kedua-dua
alternatif 'lama kiri' yang ditawarkan. Gaya Soviet negeri sosialisme di Timur
Eropah dianggap sebagai autoritarian dan menindas; Sosial Barat
demokrasi difikirkan perlu begitu bercampur dikompromi, kekurangan kedua-dua visi
dan prinsip. Sebaliknya, New Kiri pakai gaya radikal
aktivisme politik yang memuji kebaikan penyertaan popular dan
tindakan langsung. Watak revolusioner gaya politik baru ini telah
jelas didedahkan oleh peristiwa-peristiwa bulan Mei 1968 di Perancis, sebulan itu
pemberontakan oleh pelajar dan pekerja muda.
Banyak di New Kiri tertarik dengan watak revolusi
pemikiran Marxisme, tetapi berusaha untuk merombak dan menyemak semula untuk membuat ia terpakai
kepada masyarakat perindustrian maju yang telah mencapai tahap yang tinggi bahan
kemewahan. Manakala Marxsis ortodoks telah membangunkan satu kritikan ekonomi
kapitalisme, menekankan kepentingan eksploitasi, ekonomi
dan ketidaksamaan kelas perang, New Kiri, dipengaruhi oleh teori dan kritikal
anarkis idea-idea, menggariskan cara di mana kapitalisme telah menghasilkan satu
sistem dominasi ideologi dan budaya . Musuh oleh itu
tidak lagi semata-mata sistem kelas atau keadaan yang menindas tetapi 'yang
sistem, proses menyeluruh penindasan yang beroperasi melalui
keluarga, sistem pendidikan, budaya konvensional, kerja, politik
dan sebagainya. Dalam konteks ini, 'pembebasan politik' datang kepada bermakna tidak kurang
daripada satu penafian masyarakat yang sedia ada, berehat radikal atau, Marcuse
menyifatkan ia, yang 'melompat ke alam kebebasan - sejumlah pecah. Sekali
lagi, 'pembebasan' menghulurkan prospek budaya, peribadi dan psikologi
revolusi dan tidak semata-mata perubahan politik; pada masa yang sama ia
menciptakan imej masyarakat memuaskan sepenuhnya dan secara peribadi memuaskan daripada
masa depan.
Herbert Marcuse mungkin pemikir yang paling berpengaruh dalam
New Kiri. Bukan sahaja Marcuse membangunkan kritikan biologi
kapitalisme dari segi penindasan seksual, tetapi dia juga cuba menerangkan ho