Social democracy in a global era

In the triumvirate of capital, labour and state, capital has long been a problem for the other two. Social Democracy has historically represented labour, especially in the UK where the Labour Party was born out of the trade union movement, and used the state as an agency to achieve its aims. But social democratic goals of redistribution and regulation are often not in the interests of capital, or not seen to be. And capital has pressured social democratic governments to restrain policies that involve such ends. The social democratic parties were once the strongest political forces in Europe. Today, however, they appear disorientated and rudderless, crucially lacking the ideological, intellectual and organisational vitality which underpinned their strength in the post-war political landscape. Electorally marginalised, seemingly ideologically exhausted and often out-of-step with the contemporary zeitgeist, European social democracy is currently in profound need of revision and renewal – potentially its very existence as a political force is under threat. This book marks a serious attempt to forge the intellectual backbone of a renewed social democracy fit for the twenty-first century. Bringing together leading academics, political thinkers and policy experts, it offers a new and original perspective on ideological and policy innovation and will be invaluable reading for anyone interested in the future of social democracy.