European Social Democracy During The Global Economic Crisis: Renovation Or Resignation?

This book addresses the question of how social democratic parties in Europe have responded to the global economic crisis - at the national level, across the European Union, and within the institutions of the EU. Many commentators have been keen to see a social democratic response to the global economic crisis that began with the sub-prime crisis and subsequently morphed into a full financial and economic crisis, from the collapse of Lehman Brothers onwards. In order for a social democratic alternative to globalised and finance-driven capitalism to emerge, however, we also need social democratic parties to be moving in the direction of producing such policies, and for them to be in a viable and popular form. This book is one of the first to assess whether this is the case. 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 social democracy in the European Union. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of social democracy and social democratic parties, European politics, party politics, and political economy.