Introduction: European Social Democracy in Situ

Abstract

Social democracy has greatly influenced capitalism in Europe and in turn, capitalism has also shaped the face of social democracy. Despite the natural antagonism between the two political forces, their fate has been to work alongside and influence one another. The historic aim of social democracy was to fight back the most oppressive aspects of capitalism and even to overthrow the liberal-capitalist order prevailing in all European societies at the end of the nineteenth century. As we head towards the twenty–first century, however, the situation appears to be the reverse: capitalism has been more successful at transforming social democracy than vice versa. From its origins as a revolutionary political movement which aimed to free the working class from the exploitation of the capitalist system, social democracy has gradually become a force integrated within the capitalist order. This integration has been so effective that social democracy has now become one of the central pillars of liberal-capitalist societies.