Rebuilding Social Democracy

The British Labour Party is in crisis. A prolonged period of government between 1997 and 2010 saw the party intellectually exhausted. The subsequent leadership of Ed Miliband ultimately failed with the loss of the 2015 General Election, and the party now finds itself without a clearly defined set of aims and values. Rebuilding Social Democracy is the first major reappraisal of social democracy and thinking on the centre left since the election of Jeremy Corbyn. With a foreword by Peter Hain, it examines the key foundational principles of social democracy, including economic reform, equality, welfare, public service organisation, social cohesion, civil liberties, democratisation, and internationalism, in order to find a route back to political credibility for Labour. Written by leading academics in the field, it identifies the values and objectives needed to move the party forward, and revive left and centre-left thought and practice in Britain as an alternative to Conservative austerity.

In a broad critique of contempororary radical political theory, Joseph Schwartz imagines a feasible, progressive, majoritarian, global politics in a post-industrial world. What would it look like, and how could we get there?

During The Last 150 Years Social Democracy Has Played A Significant Role In The Advancement Of Human Civilization. This Book Is A Unique Reference Point For Any Student, Ideologue Or Practitioner Of Social Democracy.

Excerpt from The New Social Democracy: A Study for the Times The twentieth century, after a first decade, has left us its heritage of unsettlement. A Divorce Commission is examining the very foundations of social life. The bitter memories of economic conflict have poisoned the air of the Welsh valleys. Religion is face to face with a "New Theology." The motives of judges and juries are curiously and closely examined. Political revolutions change the fortunes of kingships. Philosophers gravely doubt whether the inference that two and two make four holds for this and every other possible world. It is a time above all for men and women of good will to make their voices heard. It is the easiest thing in the world to exacerbate the conflict. The most accomplished fool can be hoist on his own petard. There is certainly enough and to spare of inflammable material. In sight of us all - excited and determined - are the armies of the contending hosts. A few hasty words, some ill-considered deductions, almost the scratch of a pin-point, and Armageddon is upon us. And there is a certain mock-heroic aureole surrounding the heads of the apostles of brute force. The organs of public opinion record their achievements. Men whose tendencies are simply destructive find ready audiences, and their literary advocates smile with satisfaction at the assurance of temporary triumph. It is not the purpose of this book to help in this work of destruction. Its author sincerely hopes that not one single page - not even a sentence - will add an additional motive to the spirits of those who are all for dissipating that hard won heritage which has been left us from the past. His purpose is reconstruction - not destruction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

What future is there for the Left, faced with the challenges of the twenty-first century? Based on a lifetime's experience in politics, Marta Harnecker addresses the crisis facing the Left today.// At its heart, this book is a critique of social democratic realpolitik. Harnecker reminds us that, contrary to today's orthodoxy, politics is not the art of the possible but the art of making the impossible possible by building a social and political force capable of changing reality.// She believes that the social experiments being carried out in Latin America today hold out hope that an alternative to capitalism is possible; they are essentially socialist, democratic projects in which the people are the driving force. To create a real alternative to capitalism, though, the Left must change.// Rebuilding the Left offers real hope to those who still believe that we can create a different world.

Post-conflict reconstruction is one of the most pressing political issues today. This book uses economics to analyze critically the incentives and constraints faced by various actors involved in reconstruction efforts. Through this analysis, the book will aid in understanding why some reconstructions are more successful than others.

This book describes how, after the Second World War, the Labour Party assumed leadership of the International Socialist Movement, thanks to the achievements of the Attlee Government. International Secretary Denis Healey guided the reconstruction of the Socialist International through the early Cold War, making the British vision for socialist internationalism prevail over the French and Belgian. At first, the provisional Socialist International (International Socialist Conference and Comisco) supported cohabitation with pro-communist socialists and the USSR, but with the Sovietisation of Eastern Europe it committed to militant anti-communism. Ambiguity between the Labour Party and Labour Government influenced British policy in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy and Poland, while the characterization and stereotypes of Eastern and Southern Europe shaped the language and actions of the British. Furthermore, the book shows how international contacts and the British and Swedish model encouraged the transition of socialist parties to responsible government parties fully embracing Western democracy and prepared the ideological revision of the 1950s.