European social democracy during the global economic crisis

Assesses how social democratic parties have responded, at the national as well as at the European Union level, to the 2008 financial crash

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 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.

IntroductionDavid Bailey, Jean-Michel De Waele, Fabien Escalona and Mathieu VieiraPART I: The political economy of European social democracy under global economic crisis1. It does not happen here either: why social democrats fail in the context of the great financial crisis – Fabien Escalona and Mathieu Vieira2. Social democracy and social movements from crisis to crisis – George Ross3. Why the financial crisis has not generated a social democratic alternative in Europe? – Magnus Ryner4. Social democracy in the light of capitalist crises: the case of the British Labour – John CallaghanPART II: National responses to crisis5. Coping with TINA: the Labour Party and the new crisis of capitalism – Philippe Marlière6. Losing social democracy. Reflections on the erosion of a paradigmatic case of social democracy – Jenny Andersson7. German social democracy: a popular project and an unpopular party – Ingo Schmidt8. The French PS (2008-13). Not revolutionaries, not luminaries, just ‘normal’ guys amidst the tempest – Christophe Bouillaud9. Back to the drawing board. The PSOE after the 2011 general election – Paul Kennedy10. Trimph and collapse: the PASOK in the wake of the crisis in Greece (2009–13) – Dimitri A. SotiropoulosPART III: Towards a social democratic European Union?11. Limits of consensus? The Party of European Socialists and the financial crisis – Michael Holmes and Simon Lightfoot12. Palliating terminal social democratic decline at the EU-level? – David Bailey13. Reforming Europe, renewing social democracy? The PES, the debt crisis and the Europarties – Gerassimos MoschonasPostface: death by a thousand cuts? – Ashley LavelleIndex