A vision is a story about our common future that touches our hearts as well as our minds. To be effective, the story must, in simple words, portray a future that people would want to inhabit and identify some practicable steps for getting there. The left globally has not been effective lately in presenting such an attractive story-line. But there is an exception: Bernie Sanders, who emerged from obscurity as an independent Senator from Vermont to nearly capture the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Continue reading
Tag Archives: revolution
Pursuing a Passion for the Possible
Albert Hirschman’s challenge to social scientists in A Bias for Hope (1971) to embrace a “passion for the possible” has largely been ignored in the mainstream disciplines. That is a pity for, in this age of high anxiety and disaffection, don’t we desperately need perspectives that transcend the limiting confines of liberal democracy and the commodification of everything? Continue reading
The Viability of a Radical Social-Democratic Path
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Socialism in the twentieth century generally collapsed or devolved into an authoritarian bureaucratic collectivism. Have any recent movements in the Global South found a way of avoiding these dead-ends? One possibility is the radical social-democratic strategy of socialist transition; but comparative analysis suggests it is a risky, turbulent venture whose success depends upon unusual conditions. Continue reading