What's Left?: The Death of Social Democracy

Quarterly Essay #21

by Clive Hamilton, John Birmingham (Correspondence), Rowan Cahill (Correspondence)

In the first Quarterly Essay of 2006, Clive Hamilton throws out a challenge to Australia's party of social democracy - to both its true believers and right-wing machine men. Will it be business-as-usual and creeping atrophy, or will the Labor Party find a new way of talking to individualistic, affluent Australia?

According to Hamilton, Labor and the Left must acknowledge that the social democracy of old - with its strong unions, public ownership of assets and distinct social classes - is dead. Prosperity, more than poverty, is the dominant characteristic of Australia today. Given this, should governments confine themselves to stoking the fires of the economy and protecting the interests of wealth creators? Or is there room for a political program that embodies new ideals but can also withstand economic scare tactics? This is an original and provocative account of our present political juncture by a man of the Left who accuses the Left of irrelevance. Any new progressive politics, Hamilton argues, will need to tap into the anxieties and aspirations of the nation, find new ways to talk about morality, and thereby address deeper human needs.

"The Australian Labor Party has served its historical purpose and will wither and die as the progressive force of Australian politics." —Clive Hamilton, What's Left?

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Essays, Economics

102 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Clive Hamilton AM FRSA is an Australian public intellectual and Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics and the Vice-Chancellor's Chair in Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University. He is a member of the Board of the Climate Change Authority of the Australian Government, and is the Founder and former Executive Director of The Australia Institute. He regularly appears in the Australian media and contributes to public policy debates. Hamilton was granted the award of Member of the Order of Australia on 8 June 2009 for "service to public debate and policy development, particularly in the fields of climate change, sustainability and societal trends".


(From Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[Rhys]

I read this essay during my undergraduate degree and thought it was relevant and important, referring it to other friends. I particularly enjoy and continue to quote the concept that "money doesn't buy happiness", except it does... to a reasonable limit as discussed here.

[midsizedchillybin]

Scathing critique of the Labor government from the 80s to the Howard era. Puts forward a pretty powerful alternative political program based on abandoning a lot of bullshit neo-liberalism for something richer and harder to measure.