Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • Strategic autonomy
    • War in Ukraine
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

A Left Without Labels

Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca 23rd October 2015

Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca

Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca

What scope is there for the emergence of a Left in Europe able to overcome the mutual suspicions between social democratic parties and those situated in more extreme positions? And to what extent can such a Left offer a political programme that is new, realistic, and exciting?

For many years, during which communists and social democrats confronted one another, these questions were not pertinent. Nor were they during the boom years, when things appeared to be going well and social democracy was one of the props of the system. But the crisis has upset everything.

On the one hand, the radical options have been reborn. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, a party of the non-social democratic Left (Syriza) governs a Western European country while in other countries, like Spain, new forces have emerged (Podemos). This is logical given the injustices created by economic policy and the increase in social inequality. These parties represent especially the groups hit hardest by the crisis.

On the other hand, the social democratic parties are in crisis: their support has plummeted across the majority of the continent, receding to the levels of the 1970s. One possible interpretation is the following: social democracy continues to aspire to be a governing option, and therefore part of the establishment, while at the same time understanding that it cannot stand idly by and should contest neoliberal recipes and globalized financial capitalism. Given the difficulty of reconciling these two elements, the social democratic discourse becomes confused. To those with the most radical ideological principles, social democracy seems too accommodating, while those who are more moderate are frightened by the suggestion of profound change and opt for centrist or right-wing forces. This type of problem explains in large part the recent disappointing results of the Labour Party in the UK and of the Socialist Party in Portugal.

In these circumstances, the Left is more divided than ever. In countries with proportional systems, new parties emerge that in practice favour – in spite of their intentions – the victory of right-wing parties (as in Portugal and perhaps Spain on the 20th of December). At the same time, in countries with majoritarian systems, a path has opened within the progressive parties for candidates who put off a part of their traditional electorate (as with Jeremy Corbyn in the UK and Bernie Sanders in the United States).


Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content. We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Sign up here

In order to deal with this division, two things have to be recognized. Firstly, the parties to the left of social democracy will not win elections, and if they arrive to government, it will have to be in coalition with social democratic parties. The circumstances in Greece have been quite exceptional and it is difficult that they reproduce themselves in other European states. The fundamental reason is that in developed countries the immense majority of society rejects radical solutions involving risk or uncertainty. Adventures and grand transformations are doomed electorally. This means that there will neither be “constituent processes” nor an “overcoming of capitalism” nor even electoral “sorpassi”.

Secondly, the remedial policies of social democracy, based on redistribution through social spending, are insufficient to correct the increase in inequality and the growing precarization of the work force. Of course, the welfare state continues to be an imperious necessity in order to protect citizens and guarantee a certain equality of opportunity, but it is not enough to confront the problems that the crisis and the monetary union generate.

What can be proposed, beyond the lament and self-absorption of the radical left and the electoral pragmatism of social democracy? Sentimentality aside, the obvious objective should be the following: to join forces around a realistic programme for change with capacity to generate equality. For this programme to be realistic means that it should be attractive for a social majority, without generating fears that put off a lot of people nor generating impossible expectations. It should be a programme that goes beyond remedial social democracy but does not go so far as to challenge capitalism.

To give content to this programme, it is useful to proceed from this diagnosis: social democracy is unable to correct inequalities due to a power structure unfavourable to its interests, created by global financial capitalism in general and the monetary union in particular. Confronted with this power structure, the traditional policies of the welfare state are insufficient. The existing power structure must be challenged. Only if a new equilibrium between capital and labour is established can the inequality, which has been created in recent times, be reversed.

The key of the so-called “social democratic period” of the thirty years between 1950 and 1980, approximately, was not just that social democracy governed in some countries. In fact, in Germany the SPD did not enter government until 1965, in a grand coalition with the CDU, and only governed between 1969 and 1980; in Italy the social democracy of the PSI only governed as a junior partner of Christian Democracy after 1963; and in France there was not a socialist president until 1981. The key was, rather, the existence of an economic-labour framework that regulated the relation between capital and labour thanks to a strong influence of the trade unions.

From the 1980s this framework was gradually eroded, as neoliberal policies advanced and displaced economic and social power towards the corporation to the detriment of workers. The only way to halt the neoliberal advance requires the Left, when it reaches power, to not only attempt to remedy the negative consequences of contemporary capitalism, but also the attempt to modify the power relations on which this capitalism rests.

This requires the Left to adopt a position that is much more critical with the institutions and policies of the euro zone, especially in those countries where the EU has historically been seen as a lifeline and an agent of process, in order to form a united front of countries with a plan of deep reform to recover the European social model as the primary objective of the integration process. And, at the internal or domestic level, the Left needs to end the excessive power the banks and big corporations have over the economy as well as politics. This is a necessary condition for the politics of equality to work.

The crisis has led to a concentration of power that is tremendously detrimental for the interests of the Left. In Spain, not only do we have a dual labour market, with workers on permanent contracts at the centre and precarious workers at the periphery, but also a dual corporate structure, with a few excessively powerful companies an endless array of unproductive small businesses that are highly vulnerable to the economic cycle. A greater equality among workers and among corporations, reindustrialization, investment in knowledge and a reduction in the weight of the large financial and energy companies should all be on the agenda.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

In both cases, the supra-national and the national, the Left needs to work so that the rules of the game are more balanced and the progressive policies can be carried out in a context that, if not favourable, is at least neutral.

We are already familiar with the various labels of the Left (old versus new, moderate versus radical, etc.): for one reason or another, they are disappointing and partial. The more radical Left is outside reality and can only aspire to be a residual force. The more pragmatic is satisfied with applying remedial policies. A Left without labels should have an objective that is ambitious but feasible: break with neoliberal hegemony, demanding a deep change in distribution of economic and political power.

The Spanish original of this column appeared on CTXT.

Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca

Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Juan March-Carlos III Institute of Social Sciences (Carlos III University, Madrid). He is the author of numerous academic articles in journals such as Journal of Conflict Resolution, Politics & Society, Annual Review of Political Science, Journal of Peaece Research, and others. His last book is La impotence democrártica (Democratic Impotence, 2014).

You are here: Home / Politics / A Left Without Labels

Most Popular Posts

European civil war,iron curtain,NATO,Ukraine,Gorbachev The new European civil warGuido Montani
Visentini,ITUC,Qatar,Fight Impunity,50,000 Visentini, ‘Fight Impunity’, the ITUC and QatarFrank Hoffer
Russian soldiers' mothers,war,Ukraine The Ukraine war and Russian soldiers’ mothersJennifer Mathers and Natasha Danilova
IGU,documents,International Gas Union,lobby,lobbying,sustainable finance taxonomy,green gas,EU,COP ‘Gaslighting’ Europe on fossil fuelsFaye Holder
Schengen,Fortress Europe,Romania,Bulgaria Romania and Bulgaria stuck in EU’s second tierMagdalena Ulceluse

Most Recent Posts

EU social agenda,social investment,social protection EU social agenda beyond 2024—no time to wasteFrank Vandenbroucke
pension reform,Germany,Lindner Pension reform in Germany—a market solution?Fabian Mushövel and Nicholas Barr
European civil war,iron curtain,NATO,Ukraine,Gorbachev The new European civil warGuido Montani
artists,cultural workers Europe’s stars must shine for artists and creativesIsabelle Van de Gejuchte
transition,deindustrialisation,degradation,environment Europe’s industry and the ecological transitionCharlotte Bez and Lorenzo Feltrin

Other Social Europe Publications

front cover scaled Towards a social-democratic century?
Cover e1655225066994 National recovery and resilience plans
Untitled design The transatlantic relationship
Women Corona e1631700896969 500 Women and the coronavirus crisis
sere12 1 RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Discover the new FEPS Progressive Yearbook and what 2023 has in store for us!

The Progressive Yearbook focuses on transversal European issues that have left a mark on 2022, delivering insightful future-oriented analysis for the new year. It counts on renowned authors' contributions, including academics, politicians and analysts. This fourth edition is published in a time of war and, therefore, it mostly looks at the conflict itself, the actors involved and the implications for Europe.


DOWNLOAD HERE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

The macroeconomic effects of re-applying the EU fiscal rules

Against the background of the European Commission's reform plans for the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), this policy brief uses the macroeconometric multi-country model NiGEM to simulate the macroeconomic implications of the most relevant reform options from 2024 onwards. Next to a return to the existing and unreformed rules, the most prominent options include an expenditure rule linked to a debt anchor.

Our results for the euro area and its four biggest economies—France, Italy, Germany and Spain—indicate that returning to the rules of the SGP would lead to severe cuts in public spending, particularly if the SGP rules were interpreted as in the past. A more flexible interpretation would only somewhat ease the fiscal-adjustment burden. An expenditure rule along the lines of the European Fiscal Board would, however, not necessarily alleviate that burden in and of itself.

Our simulations show great care must be taken to specify the expenditure rule, such that fiscal consolidation is achieved in a growth-friendly way. Raising the debt ceiling to 90 per cent of gross domestic product and applying less demanding fiscal adjustments, as proposed by the IMK, would go a long way.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ILO advertisement

Global Wage Report 2022-23: The impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power

The International Labour Organization's Global Wage Report is a key reference on wages and wage inequality for the academic community and policy-makers around the world.

This eighth edition of the report, The Impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power, examines the evolution of real wages, giving a unique picture of wage trends globally and by region. The report includes evidence on how wages have evolved through the COVID-19 crisis as well as how the current inflationary context is biting into real wage growth in most regions of the world. The report shows that for the first time in the 21st century real wage growth has fallen to negative values while, at the same time, the gap between real productivity growth and real wage growth continues to widen.

The report analysis the evolution of the real total wage bill from 2019 to 2022 to show how its different components—employment, nominal wages and inflation—have changed during the COVID-19 crisis and, more recently, during the cost-of-living crisis. The decomposition of the total wage bill, and its evolution, is shown for all wage employees and distinguishes between women and men. The report also looks at changes in wage inequality and the gender pay gap to reveal how COVID-19 may have contributed to increasing income inequality in different regions of the world. Together, the empirical evidence in the report becomes the backbone of a policy discussion that could play a key role in a human-centred recovery from the different ongoing crises.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ETUI advertisement

Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2022

Since 2000, the annual Bilan social volume has been analysing the state of play of social policy in the European Union during the preceding year, the better to forecast developments in the new one. Co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the new edition is no exception. In the context of multiple crises, the authors find that social policies gained in ambition in 2022. At the same time, the new EU economic framework, expected for 2023, should be made compatible with achieving the EU’s social and ‘green’ objectives. Finally, they raise the question whether the EU Social Imbalances Procedure and Open Strategic Autonomy paradigm could provide windows of opportunity to sustain the EU’s social ambition in the long run.


DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Eurofound webinar: Making telework work for everyone

Since 2020 more European workers and managers have enjoyed greater flexibility and autonomy in work and are reporting their preference for hybrid working. Also driven by technological developments and structural changes in employment, organisations are now integrating telework more permanently into their workplace.

To reflect on these shifts, on 6 December Eurofound researchers Oscar Vargas and John Hurley explored the challenges and opportunities of the surge in telework, as well as the overall growth of telework and teleworkable jobs in the EU and what this means for workers, managers, companies and policymakers.


WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us

RSS Feed

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube