Henning Meyer and Jonathan Rutherford (eds),The future of European social democracy: Building the good society,reviewed by David J Bailey and Olaf Cramme and Patrick Diamond (eds),After the third way: The future of social democracy in Europe,reviewed by David J Bailey

Now that both the Keynesian and the neoliberal variant of capitalism have been largely discredited by empirical experience, and the goal of transcending capitalism has long been discarded by social democrats, do the latter need to think about what can and should form the basis for renewed social democratic appeal? Indeed, it is this question which is addressed in the two books under review here. Thus, both books seek to identify the context and key challenges faced by social democratic parties in the light of the crisis of global capitalism, and particularly that of its recent neoliberal variant. Meyer and Rutherford’s The Future of European Social Democracy (hereafter FESD) is part of a wider project, Building the Good Society, which was launched in 2009 by two politicians – Andrea Nahles from the German Social Democratic Party and Jon Cruddas from the British Labour Party – as part of ongoing collaboration between the British Compass pressure group and the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung think tank. Cramme and Diamond’s After the Third Way: The Future of Social Democracy in Europe (heareafter ATW), is also the product of collaboration between centre-left politicians and academics, this time under the aegis of the centre-left think-tank Policy Network.

The challenges identified in both books can be grouped into the following four problems. First, that the centre-left’s prior capitulation to neoliberalism (in adopting a ‘Third Way’ agenda) has undermined its ability to respond to the subsequent crisis of neoliberalism. As Meyer points out:

joining the Neoliberal Party – as long as it was in full swing – also led to social democrats being accused for the hangover once it set in. When the question of how to move towards a new politics was asked in the wake of the financial and economic crisis, social democrats had no answer. (FESD, p. 153)

This point is echoed by John Kay, who points out that in the wake of the global economic crisis, “the centre-left offered no diagnosis, no new ideas and gained no electoral advantage” (ATW, p. 61). The second problem is that the language of the Third Way centre-left has been detached and technocratic, preventing social democrats from connecting with the electorate and particularly with the less privileged members of the electorate who historically have been their core electoral supporters. As Wehling and Lakoff point out, Gordon Brown’s attempts to connect with the electorate failed because his “language detached him from his addressees, the electorate, and repeatedly evoked a frame in which he took on the role as a policy expert” (FESD, p. 99). This produced, in Rutherford’s words, “an increasingly dour politics with abstract principles and policy jargon” (FESD, p. 141). Third, the rise of far right parties has been seen as a response by working class voters who feel abandoned by centre-left parties. As Peter Taylor-Gooby argues, “the crisis of the social democratic welfare state…is brought out most clearly in the current shifts to the political right and in the backlash against immigration” (ATW, p. 77). Finally, many of the contributors focused on the impact of migration in undermining social solidarity/community, and the difficulties this creates for social democratic parties. Thus, social democratic parties are at once inclined towards a liberal tolerance towards immigration – in what Cuperus and Elchardus describe as “a cocoon of misplaced political correctness” (ATW, p. 136) – but equally dependent upon communitarian ideals associated with solidarity and in-group cohesion, which some social democrats feel have been threatened by immigration.

Contributors to both books also identified a number of core responses that social democratic parties should consider. First, the hope that European integration can be a vehicle for a progressive supranational response, particularly focused on the goal of ‘Social Europe’, remains a common agenda for those seeking to rejuvenate social democratic parties (see, for instance, the chapters by Cramme (ATW), and Sloam and Hertner (FESD)). Interestingly, however, social democratic commentators appear to have become much more wary about the extent to which such a course of action is viable, whilst nevertheless continuing to advocate it. As Cramme puts it, “to some, the realisation of these and similarly ambitious ideas might appear inconceivable, or even utopian. But at least they are not defeatist” (ATW, p. 174). Second, contributors to both books consistently argued for centre-left parties to adopt a programme that would seek more regulation of the market in the light of the global economic crisis. In Luke Martell’s words, “Social democracy may need to think about how to do regulation effectively but not to discard the idea that it should be doing it” (ATW, p. 43). Third, there was a widely perceived need for social democrats to re-build the grassroots of their movement, which were widely recognised to have all but vanished, and thereby re-construct the conditions for successful social democracy as existed in the past. Whilst Tsarouhas (FESD) argues for a re-engagement with trade unions, Little and Grayson (FESD) argue for social democratic parties to adopt some of the tactics used by grassroots campaigning networks such as UK Uncut. Fourth, a number of contributors noted the importance of re-shifting social democratic attention towards more ‘human’ goals, such as happiness (see Kroll, in FESD) and equality (see Rothstein, in ATW), rather than excessively fixating on economic growth.

Much of this analysis was well-informed, insightful and provided an important and interesting overview of the key challenges facing not only social democratic actors but all ‘progressive’ readers. One problem, however, was that in seeking to point a way forward, it was difficult not to notice that the centre-left had little new to offer – supranational integration, more regulation and a desire to rebuild the grassroots might be worthy goals, but they certainly aren’t new to centre-left thinking, and perhaps most importantly there was little convincing analysis of why these have been unsuccessful so far. Whilst Patrick Diamond perceives “an immediate danger that much of the momentum in global progressive politics will come from Green parties and the anti-capitalist movement, with social democracy relegated to the status of yesterday’s ideology” (ATW, p. 22), this reader was left with the impression that this is probably an accurate assessment, but not necessarily one to fear.