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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 considers ways in which European social democratic parties at both the national and European level have responded to the global economic crisis (GEC). The book also considers the extent to which the authors might envisage alternatives to the neo-liberal consensus being successfully promoted by those parties within the European Union (EU). The book first explores some of the broader thematic issues underpinning questions of the political economy of social democracy during the GEC. Then, it addresses some of the social democratic party responses that have been witnessed at the level of the nation state across Europe. The book focuses in particular on some of the countries with the longest tradition of social democratic and centre-left party politics, and therefore focuses on western and southern Europe. In contrast to the proclaimed social democratic (and especially Party of European Socialists) ambitions, the outcomes witnessed at the EU level have been less promising for those seeking a supranational re-social democratization. In order to understand the EU-level response of social democratic party actors to the Great Recession, the book situates social democratic parties historically. In the case of the British Labour Party, it also identifies the absence of ideological alternatives to the 'there is no alternative' (TINA)-logic that prevailed under the leadership of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
political neutrality. Although a third position would be a desirable counterweight to the prevailing neo-liberal consensus, the absence of it is not costly to the EU. This fact leads to a degree of inertia in this regard. Secondly, Community development policy has become less focused on a single group of beneficiaries. Since 1989 in particular we have seen the widen- 150 EUD9 10/28/03 3:16 PM Page 151 Conclusions ing of the geographical focus based on geopolitical interests rather than need. This widening leads to dilution and overstretch, and increases the
social democratic parties have taken on a progressive character – i.e. that they potentially form an alternative to the prevailing neo-liberal consensus of the past three or four decades – or whether we see a (continued) capitulation of social democratic values. Finally, in terms of the experience of being in office and/or opposition, we are interested in how the social democratic agenda has fared in terms of parties in office and their ability to circumnavigate the constraints that unavoidably characterise the present crisis context. We seek an assessment of the
political culture of the GDR and its place in the ‘new’ Germany. A common theme was opposition to what was dubbed the prevailing ‘neo-liberal consensus’, symbolised by the (anti-socialist) policies of the ‘Red–Green’ coalition of 1998–2005 and the centrist ‘grand coalition’ between the Christian Democrats under Angela Merkel and the SPD from 2005. 83
by teachers, truckers, students and school students all made reference to this general context. The intervention of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu also played an important part in ensuring that the strikes developed into a wider reaction against the neo-liberal consensus forged in the late 1980s by the mainstream parties and subsequently propagated via a range of publications and think tanks. Bourdieu consciously attempted to polarise the situation, linking the neo-liberal content of Juppé reforms to the broader question of corporate-led globalisation. In doing so
economy has, of late, undermined its comparative standing, for many years the ‘Japanese model’ served as a regional alternative to the neo-liberal consensus. Not only was the state a central component of this alternative vision of successful development, but also the strong state model was a vital part of the notion of the ‘comprehensive security’ approach that Japan pioneered, too
‘the key matter which must be addressed in any negotiation’. In the context of republican history and ideology, that represented at least as daring a policy revision as Blair’s ditching of Clause Four.42 The post-conflict dispensation in Northern Ireland was quietly underpinned by the neoliberal economic policies of the Blair government – with Sinn Féin’s tacit approval, as Kevin Bean and Mark Hayes have noted: ‘As members of the devolved executive, Sinn Féin representatives have embraced the dominant neo-liberal consensus by, among other things, cutting education
policies followed since 2010 reflect the neo-liberal consensus to which the Greek socialists have succumbed. In order to save Greece from default and remain in the Euro-zone, the PASOK government drastically cut salaries, pensions and welfare spending. Such policies were unavoidable given the legacies of policy choices of previous governments, but the mix of policies and the pace at which they were implemented reflected PASOK’s own bias and political profile. The socialist government allowed unemployment to soar in the private sector, but it protected public sector jobs
air: the Anglo-American consensus is really a neo-liberal consensus. Labour has abandoned a human capital model of welfare reform rooted in European social democracy and fundamental to the Commission on Social Justice. In its dash to learn lessons from the USA, the Labour Government is importing a neo-liberal model of welfare reform – ‘work first’ – that is at odds with its
constraints and new parameters’, New Left Review, 219 Coates, D. and Hay, C. (2000) ‘Home and away? The political economy of New Labour’, paper presented at the Political Studies Association Annual Conference, April 2000, London Crewe, I. (1992) ‘On the death and resurrection of class voting: some comments on How Britain Votes’, in Denver, D. and Hands, G. (eds) Issues and Controversies in British Electoral Behaviour, Hemel Hempstead Crosland, C. A. R. (1963) The Future of Socialism Crouch, C. (1997) ‘The terms of the neo-liberal consensus’, Political Quarterly, 68:4 Desai