What is Social Democracy?

 

WhatisSocialDemocracy.pdf

 

What is Social Democracy?
A book about ideas and challenges
by Ingvar Carlsson
and Anne-Marie Lindgren

 

Foreword
Every social democrat has his or her own personal answer to the question of
what social democracy stands for. Social democracy is not and never has been
a party with a fixed body of dogmas that every member must swear by.
It has a tradition of ideas shaped by more than a hundred years of theoretical
debate and practical politics, the development of which can be followed in the
party manifestos. This collection of ideas covers values and social analysis,
dreams about the society of tomorrow and practical policies for the society of
today.
This booklet describes this tradition of ideas: how it has developed and how it
can be used to understand the period of change that society and policy has now
entered. In this sense it is an introduction to the history of ideas and the
discussion of ideas within social democracy. It is of course also a personal
answer to the question of what social democracy stands for. Furthermore, it is a
contribution to a debate on the future of social democracy, a world that has
changed much both in relation to the society that saw the birth of the Labour
Movement and the world in which social democracy implemented its big
reforms, but in which the issues of equality and solidarity are as topical now as
they were then.
The book can be seen as a synthesis of our many decades of experience of
social democratic discussions of ideas and practical social democratic policy
against changing, external conditions and a very varied discussion climate. A
reappraisal has sometimes been necessary – but never of the fundamental
values or underlying outlook on society.

Stockholm, February 2007
Ingvar Carlsson Anne-Marie Lindgren

WhatisSocialDemocracy.pdf

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