The future of European social democracy: building the good society

This book asks the fundamental questions about the future of European social democracy. What is it for? What kind of society does it seek to create? What is its political economy? What are its ethics and what does it think about the meaning of life? What is its understanding of our different cultures and societies and who we are as individuals? Does it practice what it preaches? We do not have the answers but they are not be what they would have been twenty or even ten years ago. In a series of essays by leading European academics the book argues for major changes in the thinking and politics of European social democracy. Changes that must be orchestrated around these kinds of foundational questions so that it adds up to something more than the sum of its different national parties. Without authentic and durable conviction expressed in its values and aims, European social democracy will end up with a superficial politics of tactics and positioning that plaster over its failures and ailing political philosophy. It will be fragmented by national differences, buckle at the first confrontation with its enemies and be unable to weather setbacks and 'events'. The Future of European Social Democracy argues that in the years ahead European social democracy will need to establish a strategic, purposeful politics that has enduring, authentic conviction. This will provide the lodestone for addressing the tactical questions of how to re-build popular support and win elections. A strong, coherent story will enable it to move forward step by step toward the kind of social Europe people desire to live in.