Everyone agrees that the left, especially social democracy, is a mess. But what should be done about it? Continue reading
Social Democracy is Dead. Long Live Social Democracy!
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Tag Archives: Marxism
Towards This Generation’s New Left
Every generation develops its own New Left. This is a natural process as proponents struggle to come to grips with new challenges and old failures. Continue reading
Why Identify with Left-Wing Politics?
“A young person who isn’t a socialist hasn’t got a heart; an old person who is a socialist hasn’t got a head.” Is this true?
This old adage suggests that an attachment to the left is merely a romantic and naïve phase that should eventually pass as we mature and gain a more “realistic” understanding. Realism from this viewpoint involves the acceptance that There is No Alternative (TINA) to presently-existing capitalism and liberal democracy, that the most we can expect is some minor tinkering.
But this conservative viewpoint is unconvincing for two reasons. Continue reading
Interview with Richard Sandbrook on Reinventing the Left
Ali Burak Guven (ABG): What was your motivation for writing Reinventing the Left?
To be honest, I never set out to write such an ambitious book. I originally conceived the project as a critique of neoliberal development doctrine. But one thing led to another, and my inclination to move beyond critique to the central question of “what might be done” came to the fore. This, to my mind, raised the issue of the viability and promise of the democratic left. Continue reading
Why Polanyi and Not Marx?
A recent Marxist critique of Karl Polanyi’s theoretical approach concludes that there is nothing wrong with the latter that cannot be remedied by a major infusion of key Marxist concepts. Benjamin Selwyn and Satoshi Miyamura in their 2014 New Political Economy article display an impressive grasp of Polanyian as well as Marxist categories. Yet, in their critique, they never consider why Polanyi, who was both knowledgeable of, and sympathetic to, Marxism in his early and middle years, eventually broke with Marxism to forge his own analytical path. Might he not have had good reasons for doing so? Continue reading
Six Reasons for Reading Karl Polanyi (Even If You Study the Global South): Part II
In addition to reading Karl Polanyi for his appealing normative stance and transdisciplinary approach, I am drawn to four other attractive features. Continue reading
Six Reasons for Reading Karl Polanyi (Even If You Study the Global South): Part I
Why do social scientists select one theoretical framework rather than another? Continue reading
The Politics of Taking Sustainability Seriously
NOTES FOR A LECTURE
I. INTRODUCTION
(a) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as developed by the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development in 2014, represent nothing less than a depiction of the Good Society. Continue reading