European Social Democracy During the Global Economic Crisis : Renovation or Resignation?

Assesses how social democratic parties have responded, at the national as well as at the European Union level, to the 2008 financial crash -- . This book addresses the question of how social democratic parties in Europe have responded to the global economic crisis-at the national level, across the Europen Union, and within the institutions of the EU. Many commentators have been keen to see a social democratic response to the global economic crisis that began with the sub-prime crisis and subsequently morphed into a full financial and economic crisis, from the collapse of Lehman Brothers onwards. In order for a social democratic alternative to globalised and finance-driven capitalism to emerge, however, we also need social democratic parties to be moving in the direction of producing such policies, and for them to be in a viable and popular form. This book is one of the first to assess whether this is the case. The book draws together some of the best-known and most prestigious scholars of social democracy and social democratic parties, along with a number of impressive new scholars in the field, to present a compelling and up-to-date analysis of social democratic fortunes in the contemporary period. It benefits from an analysis of social democratic parties' experiences in six different countries-the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, and Greece-along with a number of chapters on social democracy in the European Union. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of social democracy and social democratic parties, European politics, party politics, and political economy. Book jacket Front matter Contents List of tables List of contributors Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Introduction Part I The political economy of European social democracy under global economic crisis ‘It does not happen here either’: why social democrats fail in the context of the great economic crisis Social democracy and social movements from crisis to crisis Why the financial crisis has not generated a social democratic alternative in Europe? Social democracy in the light of capitalist crises: the case of British Labour Part II National responses to crisis Coping with TINA: the Labour Party and the new crisis of capitalism Losing social democracy: reflections on the erosion of a paradigmatic case of social democracy German social democracy: a popular project and an unpopular party The French Socialist Party (2008–13): not revolutionaries, not luminaries, just ‘normal’ guys amidst the tempest Back to the drawing board: the PSOE after the 2011 general election Triumph and collapse: PASOK in the wake of the crisis in Greece (2009–13) Part III Towards a social democratic European Union? Limits of consensus? The Party of European Socialists and the financial crisis Palliating terminal social democratic decline at the EU level? Reforming Europe,renewing social democracy? The PES, the debt crisis and the Euro-parties Postface: death by a thousand cuts? Index This book makes an important contribution to the existing literature on European social democracy in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and ensuing recession. It assesses how social democratic parties have responded, at the national as well as at the European Union level. A wide range of leading political scientists provide the reader with an in-depth understanding of the prospects for social democracy in the midst of an unprecedented crisis for neoliberalism. The book draws together some of the most well-known and prestigious scholars of social democracy and social democratic parties, along with a number of impressive new scholars in the field, to present a compelling and up to date analysis of social democratic fortunes in the contemporary period. It benefits from an analysis of social democratic parties'experiences in 6 different countries – the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain and Greece – along with a number of chapters on the fate of social democracy in the institutions of the EU. This book makes an important contribution to the existing literature on European social democracy in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and ensuing recession. It assesses how social democratic parties have responded, at the national as well as at the European Union level. A wide range of leading political scientists provide the reader with an in-depth understanding of the prospects for social democracy in the midst of an unprecedented crisis for neoliberalism. The book draws together some of the most well-known and prestigious scholars of social democracy and social democratic parties, along with a number of impressive new scholars in the field, to present a compelling and up to date analysis of social democratic fortunes in the contemporary period. It benefits from an analysis of social democratic parties' experiences in 6 different countries - the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain and Greece - along with a number of chapters on the fate of social democracy in the institutions of the EU