Left 左翼

彭麗君 Pang Laikwan

左翼代表亂世抗爭？自由解放？還是年少無知？左翼等同反資本主義？是本土的敵人？左翼在世界各地都有其複雜糾結的歷史，也永遠跟制度緊密相連。在香港和內地，所謂的“左派”更同時發展出支持制度和反對制度的相反面向。我們不應把左翼用簡單的定義說死，但也不能否認左翼對社會平等有其終極關懷。而且，幾百年的左翼發展出豐富的理論資源和社會實踐，是現代思想其中最重要的一脈。

The “left” is a widely circulated concept, which is also used in many different and inconsistent ways. The “left” might imply revolution, liberation, or simply political naivety. It is also understood as the oppositional discourse of capitalism, and even localism. In fact, the idea of the left is deeply entrenched in different local political histories, and its manifestations also intimately corresponds to the local institutions. In Hong Kong and mainland China, the so-called “left” could imply both pro-establishment and anti-establishment thinking. We do not need to give a simple definition to the idea of the “left” to make it sterile, but at the same time we also cannot deny its common commitment in egalitarianism, despite the many local complications. Overall, the left has produced very rich theoretical and practical resources in the last few centuries, and is one of the most important development of modern thoughts.