--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The postmodern left gets its particular…" description: "\"“The postmodern left gets its particular brand of egalitarianism from the New Left of the 1960s. It was then that neo-Marxism and other radical movemen..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/kim-r-holmes-34917_marxist_the-postmodern-left-gets-its-particular_3024317.jpg" --- # The postmodern left gets its particular brand of… ![“The postmodern left gets its particular brand of egalitarianism from the New Left of the 1960s. It was then that neo-Marxism and other radical movements transformed the radical politics of America into something entirely new. The focus shifted from economics to culture. Old Marxist categories of…” quote by Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/kim-r-holmes-34917_marxist_the-postmodern-left-gets-its-particular_3024317.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/kim-r-holmes-34917_marxist_the-postmodern-left-gets-its-particular_3024317.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/kim-r-holmes-34917_marxist_the-postmodern-left-gets-its-particular_3024317.jpg) > ““The postmodern left gets its particular brand of egalitarianism from the New Left of the 1960s. It was then that neo-Marxism and other radical movements transformed the radical politics of America into something entirely new. The focus shifted from economics to culture. Old Marxist categories of class conflict were picked up and transformed into struggles over racial and gender identity and sexual politics.”” [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that contemporary leftist egalitarianism stems from 1960s New Left, shifting focus from class economics to cultural identity struggles. **In simple terms:** Modern leftism moved from class to identity politics. Key Takeaway Recognize how political narratives evolve over time. Themes politics identity history culture ideology Mood critical analytical thought‑provoking Type political historical theoretical When to use this quote - academic debate - policy analysis - activist organizing - media commentary - educational curriculum Key Concepts neo‑Marxism cultural studies identity politics social movements Questions to Reflect On - How does identity politics affect economic inequality debates? - What are the risks of framing politics solely as cultural conflict? A Different Perspective It may oversimplify diverse leftist thought and ignore economic concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Marxist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxist/) [Marxist Categories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxist-categories-4910174/) [Neo Marxism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neo-marxism-4910173/) [New Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-left-552218/) [Postmodern Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postmodern-left-4910172/) ## Related quotes > [ “\[W\]hat is historically new is the alliance with the cultural left. Back in the 1960s, many economically minded New Deal liberals and even socialists… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/w-hat-is-historically-new-is-the-alliance-with-the-cultural-left-back/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [By silencing speech, the new Left makes life more dangerous by leaving violence as the only option. Maybe that's what they want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/by-silencing-speech-the-new-left-makes-life-more-dangerous-by-leaving/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [“Still, in summing up the situation, we must not forget that the New Left expresses certain truths and truisms and provides us with not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-von-kuehnelt-leddihn/still-in-summing-up-the-situation-we-must-not-forget-that-the-new/) [Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-von-kuehnelt-leddihn/) > [There is no single grand strategy. Just as the New Left abandoned an overarching program and became a series of like-minded groups advancing area…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/there-is-no-single-grand-strategy-just-as-the-new-left-abandoned-an/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [“stars of what I like to call the New New Left, a conglomerate of internet-age liberals who had managed to steal a share of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-yates-sexton/stars-of-what-i-like-to-call-the-new-new-left-a-conglomerate-of/) [Jared Yates Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-yates-sexton/) > [“The New Left in the 1960s was obsessed with consciousness raising. Saul Alinsky, a mentor to Obama and Hillary, devoted a large part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/the-new-left-in-the-1960s-was-obsessed-with-consciousness-raising/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) > [The worst thing that can happen to the New Left in this country is to turn the struggle into a military struggle against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dellinger/the-worst-thing-that-can-happen-to-the-new-left-in-this-country-is-to/) [David Dellinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dellinger/) > [“In effect, by rejecting high-tech socialism and substituting a vision of low-tech, egalitarian socialism, this new Left strategy also resolved to quote Marx less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-c-hicks/in-effect-by-rejecting-high-tech-socialism-and-substituting-a-vision/) [Stephen R.C. 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The Marxist illusion is partly derived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/liberalism-makes-this-mistake-in-regard-to-private-property-and/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [We must recognize the fact that many Nazis, Marxists and Fascists believe passionately in their fundamental rightness, and allow nothing to hinder them from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/we-must-recognize-the-fact-that-many-nazis-marxists-and-fascists/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [The dictatorship of the proletariat and the leadership of the Marxist-Leninist party are indispensable conditions for the triumph of the Socialist revolution and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/the-dictatorship-of-the-proletariat-and-the-leadership-of-the-marxist/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/perhaps-it-is-this-theory-of-all-work-and-no-play-that-has-made-the/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [“I should say that it was only for me that Marxism seemed over. Surely, I would tell G. at least once a week, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katha-pollitt/i-should-say-that-it-was-only-for-me-that-marxism-seemed-over-surely/) [Katha Pollitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katha-pollitt/) ## More by Kim R. Holmes > [ “\[W\]hat is historically new is the alliance with the cultural left. Back in the 1960s, many economically minded New Deal liberals and even socialists… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/w-hat-is-historically-new-is-the-alliance-with-the-cultural-left-back/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“Jefferson's ambivalence toward the French Revolution matters. As a key founder of the American republic, he bridges the moderate and radical Enlightenments. He tried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/jefferson-s-ambivalence-toward-the-french-revolution-matters-as-a-key/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“The French Revolution gave history its first instance of modern leftist illiberalism -- an embrace of tyranny in the name of the people. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/the-french-revolution-gave-history-its-first-instance-of-modern/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“University Life" bureaucrats are teaching the next generation of young Americans that the First Amendment is not a guarantee of constitutional rights; it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/university-life-bureaucrats-are-teaching-the-next-generation-of-young/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“Racial stereotyping. 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Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“When most people think of intolerance, they imagine a racist taunting a black person. Or they may envision a male chauvinist hurling bigoted insults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/when-most-people-think-of-intolerance-they-imagine-a-racist-taunting/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“As existentialists as Jean-Paul Sarte learned, radical individualism can be a dead end for social justice. It is not easy to establish a coherent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/as-existentialists-as-jean-paul-sarte-learned-radical-individualism/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“It can be astonishing how far some colleges will go to enforce ideological discipline. For example, at the City University of New York's Hunter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/it-can-be-astonishing-how-far-some-colleges-will-go-to-enforce/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“artificial order on civilization is with brute force. The only way to make something unnatural appear to be natural is to force everyone to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/artificial-order-on-civilization-is-with-brute-force-the-only-way-to/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“Double-Standard Bigotry. It is not uncommon within progressive circles to find the assumption that certain kinds of people are less equal than others. White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/double-standard-bigotry-it-is-not-uncommon-within-progressive-circles/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) > [“The popular culture has also lowered the threshold on public shaming rituals. It is not only suppressing certain speech on college campuses, but making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-r-holmes/the-popular-culture-has-also-lowered-the-threshold-on-public-shaming/) [Kim R. Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) [Explore all 14 Kim R. Holmes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-r-holmes/) ## More Marxist quotes > [“I should say that it was only for me that Marxism seemed over. 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The Marxist illusion is partly derived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/liberalism-makes-this-mistake-in-regard-to-private-property-and/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [ In the struggle to defend the legacy of Leninism . . . \[Stalin\] proved himself to be an outstanding Marxist-Leninist fighter. . . .… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/in-the-struggle-to-defend-the-legacy-of-leninism-stalin-proved/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [“Films and music videos, like other media works, are machines for generating affect, and for capitalizing upon, or extracting value from, this affect. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-shaviro/films-and-music-videos-like-other-media-works-are-machines-for/) [Steven Shaviro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-shaviro/) > [Marxism is the opium of the Marxists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/marxism-is-the-opium-of-the-marxists/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [It is necessary to master Marxist theory and apply it, master it for the sole purpose of applying it. If you can apply the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/it-is-necessary-to-master-marxist-theory-and-apply-it-master-it-for/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [I prayed for the first time in a very long time today. I explained to God that unless he wanted the Marxist-Islamic alliance and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-behring-breivik/i-prayed-for-the-first-time-in-a-very-long-time-today-i-explained-to/) [Anders Behring Breivik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-behring-breivik/) > [“In other words, low growth cannot adequately counterbalance the Marxist principle of infinite accumulation: the resulting equilibrium is not as apocalyptic as the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/in-other-words-low-growth-cannot-adequately-counterbalance-the/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [An American professor complained that a crypto-Marxist like me was invited in the USA, and I was denounced by the press in Eastern European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/an-american-professor-complained-that-a-crypto-marxist-like-me-was/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Lenin, Stalin, and Rakosi recognized that a renewed and purified Christianity was the only force that could move the masses as powerfully as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/lenin-stalin-and-rakosi-recognized-that-a-renewed-and-purified/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [“...the working classes—that motor of social transformation which Marx increasingly stipulated for the role of the proletariat; the dispossessed and alienated revolutionary vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-nettl/the-working-classes-that-motor-of-social-transformation-which-marx/) [J. P. Nettl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-nettl/) > [Besides, there is more that binds us to Bolshevism than separates us from it. There is, above all, genuine, revolutionary feeling, which is alive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/besides-there-is-more-that-binds-us-to-bolshevism-than-separates-us/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) [Browse all 287 Marxist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The postmodern left gets its particular brand of egalitarianism from the New Left of the 1960s. It was then that neo-Marxism and other radical movements transformed the radical politics of America into something entirely new. The focus shifted from economics to culture. 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