ABSTRACT
2012–2015 saw several radical left parties, principally Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain, and the United Left Coalition in Slovenia, buck the trend of underwhelming electoral results for the radical left since the onset of the Great Recession. Although distinct in many ways, one of their common elements has been strong links with social movements, which have been prima facie integral to their electoral success. Podemos and Syriza emerged from the anti-austerity "indignants" movements of 2011-2012, whereas the United Left has strong roots in anti-austerity workers' and students' movements. Such a strong party-movement nexus is puzzling, because it conflicts with much of the prevalent wisdom about radical left parties (RLPs) and social movements over the last two decades: that either these links are unimportant, or where they are important, they are predominantly unsuccessful and fraught with difficulty for all involved. This chapter examines this prevalent wisdom and shows that research has barely focused on links between RLPs and social movement.
