Why the left loses
Channel: De Balie
Date: 29/03/2018

This program will be partly in English and in partly in Dutch.
 
Across Western Europe and beyond, social-democratic parties are on the backfoot. A story of lost elections and lost governing positions, from Austria to the Netherlands, from Spain to Australia. Why is the left, especially the center-left, that played such a fundamental role in building Western Europe’s post-war society, losing? What new developments and changes are causing this political shift? Voters have seen themselves confronted with post-crisis austerity politics and unemployment, the effects of globalization and immigration. They have turned away from the traditional social democratic parties, accompanied by political fragmentation and the rise of right-wing populist or far-right parties. What will this all mean for the upcoming European Parliament Elections and the future of Europe?

A roundtable will explore the past and future of the centre-left. Different international speakers will give their perspective on why the left loses and what this means for Europe. Rob Manwaring and Paul Kennedy, editors of the book Why the Left Loses, argue that an essential element in any robust democracy is an effective centre-left. What will happen if the centre-left appears to be unable to present voters a suitable alternative for the far-right, for example during next year's European Parliament elections? And why have these parties been unable to formulate an alternative so far?

We will discuss this with Rob Manwaring (Flinders University, Australia), Paul Kennedy (University of Bath, UK), Jan Pronk (Former Minister for the PvdA), Sarah de Lange (University of Amsterdam), René Cuperus (Visiting Scholar ‘Germany Institute’, University of Amsterdam) and Eddy Terstall (Dutch film director).

    Rob Manwaring is a Senior Lecturer at Flinders University, in South Australia. He researches labour and social democratic politics, comparative politics, political parties and democracy.

    Paul Kennedy is a Lecturer in Spanish and European Studies at the University of Bath, UK. He is the author of The Spanish Socialist Party and the modernisation of Spain (2013) and co-author of Podemos and the art of the possible (2018).

    Sarah de Lange is professor by special appointment at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. Since 2016 she holds the Dr. J.M. Den Uyl chair, a chair established by by the Wiardi Beckman Foundation.

    Rene Cuperus is visiting scholar at the German Institute at the University of Amsterdam. He is also a columnist for Dutch paper, de Volkskrant. He was the former Director for International Relations at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation. 

    Eddy Terstall is a Dutch film director. He studied sociology and politicology at the University of Amsterdam. He was a prominent member of the PvdA (Dutch Labour Party).
    In 2014 he was on the list for the Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the animals) during the European Parliament elections.  

Editor: Ianthe Mosselman


Livestream 2018-03-29

This video is also at:
https://vimeo.com/debalie/leftloses
https://youtu.be/00kha0Wlo4E

https://www.debalie.nl/agenda/podium/why-the-left-loses/e_9783327/p_11771056/



 N E D E R L A N D S : 

De voertaal van dit programma is deels Engels en deels Nederlands.

In Europa en daarbuiten gaat het slecht met de sociaal-democraten. Verloren verkiezingen en verloren regeringsposities, van Oostenrijk tot Nederland en van Spanje tot Australië. Waarom verliest links, en in het bijzonder centrumlinks, dat zo’n belangrijke rol speelde bij het opbouwen van het naoorlogse Europese samenlevingsmodel? Welke ontwikkelingen zijn verantwoordelijk voor deze politieke omslag? Kiezers werden na de crisis geconfronteerd met bezuinigingen en werkloosheid, met de effecten van globalisering en immigratie. Ze keerden zich af van de traditionele sociaal-democratische partijen. Daarmee gepaard gingen een fragmentatie van het politieke landschap en de opkomst van rechts-populistische- en extreemrechtse partijen. Wat betekent dit voor de komende Europese verkiezingen en voor de toekomst van Europa?

Lees verder:
https://www.debalie.nl/agenda/podium/why-the-left-loses/e_9783327/p_11771056/




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