And Orwell and the Democratic Left

Abstract

Orwell’s avoidance of dogmatic political frameworks led to what we would nowadays call “fuzzy logic.” He did not necessarily evaluate situations and positions against a rigid binary conception of “good” or “evil,” “progressive” or “reactionary,” but in increments of “better” or “worse.” His views also changed, since his analysis was descriptive rather than prescriptive of reality, which the Second World War in any case changed in fundamental ways. His empirical approach is similar to that taken by West European social democrats.