Civil Society Watch

 If the project of the Left is to survive the discredit that the collapse of "actually existing socialism" has thrown over the very idea of socialism, it requires a new formulation. Even social democracy is presently suffering from the impact of the events in the East and the proclaimed triumph of liberal capitalism. Claims for social justice, economic democracy and struggles against inequalities are increasingly dismissed as relics of a foregone age dominated by the rhetoric of class struggle.

The recognition of the virtues of pluralist democracy is indeed an important achievement, but it would be a serious setback for democracy if we were to accept "actually existing liberal capitalist democracies" as the "end of history." There are still numerous social relations where the process of democratization is needed and the task for the Left is to envisage how this can be done in a way that is compatible with the existence of a liberal democratic regime.