Reviving the European Left with Peter Mertens

In this episode, I’m joined by Peter Mertens, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), to discuss the current situation and future outlook of the European left. We discuss the PTB’s meteoric rise as one of the most prominent and fastest-growing left-wing parties in Europe today, the fight against a rising tide of militarism and far-right nationalism, and the role of parliamentary politics in revolutionary struggle, and discuss what role Europe—and in particular, the European left—has to play in a shifting international order.

About the show:

Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.

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Sources and helpful links:

• Workers’ Party of Belgium website

• Joe Todd — Between Autonomy and Control (The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, March 2026)

• Marc Botenga — A Marxist in the European Parliament (interview in Jacobin, May 2019)

• Rosa Luxemburg — The Junius Pamphlet (1915)

• Grace Blakeley — Inside Die Linke’s Resurgence (Jacobin, March 2025)

• David Pestieau — Facing a Tilting World and the Rise of European Militarism: Why Peace and Socialism Matter Now (speech at the 2025 European Forum in Vienna)

• Peter Mertens — Mutiny: How Our World is Tilting (LeftWord Books, 2024)

• Peter Mertens — A Mutiny Against the West’s Order (interview in Jacobin, October 2024)

• Johan Grimonprez — Soundtrack to a Coup D’État (documentary, 2024)

• Rosa Luxemburg — Peace Utopias (1911)

Social links:

Return to Bandung:

• Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠

• Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/returntobandung

Pranay Somayajula:

• Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠

• Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/pranay.somayajula

• Website: ⁠pranaysomayajula.com

• Substack: ⁠culture-shock.xyz

Peter Mertens:

• Twitter: twitter.com/peter_mertens

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/mertens.p

Workers’ Party of Belgium:

• Twitter: twitter.com/pvdabelgie

• Instagram: instagram.com/pvdabelgie

• Website: https://international.pvda-ptb.be/