Good Society Debate
Sustainable Europe?
I am glad this week’s theme is called ‘sustainability’ and not ‘the environment’. The ‘environment’ always sounds like something you look at out of the window, or visit at the weekend. However what is on the agenda now is much more than that, it is about whether we can sustain the capacity of the [...]
Democratic Politics beyond the Third Way
Social democrats have a strong claim on democracy, and for good reason. First, their opposition to Soviet-style communism and their commitment to parliamentary democracy marked the beginning of their journey towards power.
Second, as soon as the alliance with the liberals fulfilled the goal of equality in political representation for the working class, they set their [...]
Rebuilding Democracy
Increasing social disintegration, the domination of private economic interests and the erosion of democratic politics show the necessity for a profound democratic renewal of European societies. Democratisation refers not only to the political sphere, but involves all sectors of society, the economy as well as the production of knowledge. In the following I will focus [...]
Europe at the Crossroads: It’s Now or Never!
The European Union is one of the grandest projects in human history – the creation of a new economic, and eventually social, super-state out of the ashes of post-war despair. The founders had a cunning plan: They would create an economic imperative around the production of essentials such as coal and steel, convinced that a [...]
Social Democracy and Happiness
Many have argued that the current crisis of social democracy is due to the lack of a vision – so where can one look for inspiration? A new academic discipline has emerged over the last years at the intersection of economics, psychology, political science and sociology: the science of happiness. Responding to criticism of Gross [...]
A Deafening Silence
Social democracy has nothing distinctive to say about many of the problems we currently face.
An ominous paradox hangs over the battered ranks of European social democracy. By rights, this should be a social-democratic moment. The economic crisis of the last two years has shown beyond doubt that the neoliberal economic paradigm which has dominated [...]
Where now for Social Democracy in Europe?
A positive future for social democracy depends upon a genuine political commitment to social and environmental justice.
In the first half of the twentieth century, social democracy fundamentally transformed the European social and political landscape. Recognising the need to temper the injustices inherent in the capitalist economic system, the proponents of social democratic ideology strove for [...]
A New Social Democracy for Europe
Only through offering a new vision for these new times will social democrats be able to renew themselves and create a more just and prosperous Europe.
The crisis of the SPD in Germany is matched by a crisis of European social democracy as a whole. Only a third of the member states of the European Union [...]
The need for a new Socialist Politics
Are social democrats capable of responding to the opportunities for renewed support for socialism that are offered by the present crisis?
Social democrats have lost ground in Europe during the last few years. The SPD fell to a historical low in the Germany federal election last year, French socialists have been in decline since the last [...]
Some Points on the Future
More ideas for the future of social democracy
I offer here a number of points on the discussion.
Firstly, we need to focus on the future: ‘building the future’ needs to be considered as a main dimension of every part of our work. We need to underline constantly that we intend to build the future, just as [...]
The Future of Social Democracy
Though social democracy has had its problems, it offers a politics that can be developed and broadened to encompass the needs of the present.
Social democracy faces testing times in Europe and elsewhere, but the pessimism can be overdone. We should avoid both the politics of nostalgia and the politics of despair. An example of the [...]
Who will be the Builders of the Good Society?
A reflection on the good society debate so far.
The good society debate will restart on 11 January, with ten final articles. More than eighty people from across Europe have taken part so far. Thank you to everyone for this successful experiment in collective thinking and discussion. I think it is the first of its kind. [...]
