The prosperity and social harmony western countries experienced in the aftermath of the Second World War were largely underpinned by social democratic principles and policies. Yet in more recent decades social democracy has been in retreat, as shown by the decline of centre-left parties across Europe.
Paul Collier, a distinguished economist, recently outlined his vision of how western societies can renew social democracy. His central contention is that we must re-establish a national “domain of shared identity”.
Collier isn’t the only prominent thinker to make this sort of argument. Sheri Berman, a political scientist, also suggests that social democracy’s revitalisation requires a “strong sense of fellow feeling … fostered within national borders”.
These scholars emphasise shared identity due to social democracy’s strategic goal. This ideology’s starting point is that capitalism produces “unprecedented material bounty” but at the same time has socially deleterious consequences, such as extreme inequality, social dislocation, and atomisation. Its proponents therefore seek to harness the productive capacity of capitalism while protecting society from its harmful effects.