Abstract
What is Eurocommunism? It is a spectre haunting the communist parties in the West, the State Department, the Kremlin and some academics. Why is it still only a spectre? Eurocommunism is, in fact, an expression created by journalists. This in itself does not constitute a crime, but is merely the result of a common practice which you all know well, but which sometimes gives rise to debatable expressions. That this particular expression is debatable is due to the following reason. There is no communist party in power in any West European country, and none of them participates directly in government. Even in Italy, where the communists occupy important positions in the regional councils and belong to the governmental coalition, it is impossible to say that they take a direct part in power. It is therefore impossible to define in precise terms the nature of Eurocommunism.
A lecture delivered at St Antony’s College, Oxford, on 5 June 1978.
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© 1981 Richard Kindersley
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Elleinstein, J. (1981). Eurocommunism and the French Communist Party. In: Kindersley, R. (eds) In Search of Eurocommunism. St Antony’s/Macmillan Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16581-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16581-0_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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