Rebuilding Social Democracy: Core Principles for the Centre Left

Description

The British Labour Party is in crisis and without a clearly defined set of aims and values. Reclaiming Social Democracy is the first major reappraisal of social democracy and thinking on the centre-left since election of Jeremy Corbyn. With a foreword by Lord [Peter] Hain, it examines the key foundational principles of social democracy in order to find a route back to political credibility for Labour. Written by leading academics in the field, it identifies the values and objectives needed to revive left and centre-left thought and practice in Britain as an alternative to Conservative austerity.

Dr Kevin Hickson is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Liverpool, where he teaches and researches on British political ideologies. He has published widely, including to debates on the future of the Labour Party. He was Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in East Yorkshire in 2015 and is a Labour Councillor in Crewe, where he was Leader of the Council between 2013-15.

"A perceptive contribution to debates about the Labour Party which now faces a crisis of existence as a serious political force." Lord Neil Kinnock "A serious and timely attempt to find a solution to Labour's 'existential crisis'." Steven Fielding, University of Nottingham "Every generation of social democrats must revise their ideology to reflect new times and this book does exactly that." Lord Raymond Plant, Labour Peer, House of Lords "The arguments contained in this book point to one way out of the current impasse the Labour Party finds itself in." Polly Toynbee, Guardian Columnist "An incisive and eloquent collection of essays which engage with the underlying political principles shaping centre-left politics in the world today." Patrick Diamond, Queen Mary, University of London