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What's Left of the Left: Democrats and Social Democrats in Challenging Times

edited by James E. Cronin, George W. Ross and James Shoch

Duke University Press, 2011
Paper: 978-0-8223-5079-8 | eISBN: 978-0-8223-9451-8 | Cloth: 978-0-8223-5061-3
Library of Congress Classification JF2011.W438 2011
Dewey Decimal Classification 324.217094

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE

ABOUT THIS BOOK

In What’s Left of the Left, distinguished scholars of European and U.S. politics consider how center-left political parties have fared since the 1970s. They explore the left’s responses to the end of the postwar economic boom, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the erosion of traditional party politics, the expansion of market globalization, and the shift to a knowledge-based economy. Their comparative studies of center-left politics in Scandinavia, France, Germany, southern Europe, post–Cold War Central and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States emphasize differences in the goals of left political parties and in the political, economic, and demographic contexts in which they operate. The contributors identify and investigate the more successful center-left initiatives, scrutinizing how some conditions facilitated them, while others blocked their emergence or limited their efficacy. In the contemporary era of slow growth, tight budgets, and rapid technological change, the center-left faces pressing policy concerns, including immigration, the growing population of the working poor, and the fate of the European Union. This collection suggests that such matters present the left with daunting but by no means insurmountable challenges.

Contributors. Sheri Berman, James Cronin, Jean-Michel de Waele, Arthur Goldhammer, Christopher Howard, Jane Jenson, Gerassimos Moschonas, Sofia Pérez, Jonas Pontusson, George Ross, James Shoch, Sorina Soare, Ruy Teixeira

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

James Cronin is Professor of History at Boston College and an affiliate of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University.

George Ross is ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet at the University of Montreal, Hillquit Professor in Labor and Social Thought Emeritus at Brandeis University, and Faculty Associate of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University.

James Shoch is Associate Professor of Government at California State University, Sacramento.

REVIEWS

“[D]istinguished scholars offer reflections on the past struggles and accomplishments of left-leaning parties in Europe and the United States and speculate about their future. . . . The book makes the important point that as advanced societies navigate the current moment of global economic uncertainty, liberals and social democrats have a new opportunity to regroup and rethink policies that promote economic security and social justice.”

-- G. John Ikenberry Foreign Affairs

“This book provides a timely update of much of this literature… that will be of particular use to students seeking to get up to speed with the empirical and historical development of social democracy in these particular concrete contexts. Most of the chapters also bring this concrete discussion further up to date than it currently is in most other existing literature on social democratic parties.”

-- David Bailey West European Politics

"In addition to its historical scope, What’s Left sets itself apart from the rest of its genre by including three chapters on the U.S. (regarding the Democratic Party’s evolving coalition, the American welfare state, and U.S. trade policy), making the point that the experiences of the American and European lefts are similar enough that the 'Democrats and social democrats' of the book’s subtitle have much to learn from one another."

-- Geoffrey Kurtz Logos

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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