The term green left refers primarily to a political affiliation that combines elements of

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It be ...

and

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

in countries where the term is used. It is primarily a

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

oriented ideology, with an expansion in focus to the rights of other species. It is often used in contrast with

center-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

green parties A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

, that attempt to reconcile their environmental goals with a capitalistic framework, and, rarely, center-right green parties (like the

Latvian Green Party The Latvian Green Party ( lv, Latvijas Zaļā partija, LZP) is a green political party in Latvia. It was founded in 1990. It was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019. It is positioned in the centre and lea ...

and

Ecologist Green Party of Mexico The Ecological Green Party of Mexico ( es, Partido Verde Ecologista de México, , PVEM or PVE) is a green-conservative political party in Mexico. In the 2012 legislative elections, the party took 34 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (out of 500 ...

), that hold anti-feminist views. Examples of "green left" parties include

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of th ...

in the Netherlands, the

Green Party of the United States The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green state political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democracy, grassroot ...

, the

Left-Green Movement The Left-Green Movement ( is, Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð), officially the Left Movement – Green Candidature and also known by its short-form name ''Vinstri græn'' (VG), is an eco-socialist political party in Iceland. The Left-Gre ...

in Iceland, and the

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand ( mi, Rōpū Kākāriki o Aotearoa, Niu Tireni), commonly known as the Greens, is a green and left-wing political party in New Zealand. Like many green parties around the world, it has four organisationa ...

. The name " Green Left" is also used by a variety of organisations which espouse socialist or Marxist principles, but with a greater emphasis on environmental preservation than previous iterations of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and communism.

Politics

Europe

In Europe, the green left arose partly out of the declining

Eurocommunist Eurocommunism, also referred to as democratic communism or neocommunism, was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more rele ...

tendency that has been mostly associated with various communist parties in the continent. As a result, many former communist parties and remnants of communist parties were either reestablished or fused into existing

. Far-left political parties or joint electoral lists have been formed over the years, most often between Marxist and radical greens. In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

, the

party was formed in 1989 by a merger of a communist,

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigne ...

, left-wing Christian and

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

parties. In December 2007, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

electoral coalition An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. Ea ...

of the radical left was formed known as The Left – The Rainbow, comprising

Federation of the Greens The Federation of the Greens ( it, Federazione dei Verdi, FdV), frequently referred to as Greens (''Verdi''), was a green political party in Italy. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the Federation of Green Lists and the Rainbow Greens. Th ...

, two communist parties and a small

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

party.

Elsewhere

The green left has also been prominent in the

outside of Europe, especially in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...

Politics

Europe

Elsewhere

See also