Social democratic parties abandoned class politics for a pro-market Third Way

Evidence

Social democrats’ transformation into social-liberal parties—chiefly liberal, barely social—occurred almost everywhere in Western democracies. In a world now deprived of any serious alternative, social democrats abandoned their historical role—the progressive socializing of capitalism through democratic means—and rebranded themselves as the “Third Way.” Starting in the 1990s under the triumphant leadership of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, the center-left increasingly endorsed a liberal agenda, hailing the “benefits” of globalization while proposing to mitigate its negative social effects by promoting “equal opportunities” of access to the all-powerful markets. As Przeworski’s predictions were coming true and the working class was shrinking, the center-left openly turned its back on those citizens and exclusively championed the middle class’s aspirations, including European integration. — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 117

Categorization

• XREF: Clinton-era ‘Third Way’ convergence echoes the earlier discussions of left parties adopting liberal economics — connects to general debates on the end of social democracy as a governing project. — connects to: Social democrats faced a structural dilemma between class base and middle-class concessions — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 18; Post-1989 left parties dissolved into market-friendly formations — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 126; Hayek rejected all Third Way positions, setting him apart from Keynes and Stiglitz — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1917 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Post-1989 left parties dissolved into market-friendly formations #corroborates (0.85) — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 126
• Hayek rejected all Third Way positions, setting him apart from Keynes and Stiglitz #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1917
• Wolf’s third-wave feminism aligned with Third Way centrism and corporate power. #corroborates (0.70) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 63