Distinguished Marxist scholar Erik Olin Wright spoke to the LookLeft Forum on 2nd March on the topic of ‘Realising a Left Alternative’. Erik spoke on three different ideas of how social change will be achieved: the ruptural (revelutionary), interstitial (cooperative) and symbiotic (social democratic) approaches. He outlined his own approach which combines the symbiotic and interstitial and discussed the trade-offs and political considerations involved in pursuing each strategy. There was then a period of audience feedback, where people questioned Erik’s belief that a ruptural transition to socialism is implausible in the current context.
