Reinventing the Left in the Global South: The Politics of the Possible - Softcover

Sandbrook, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107421098 ISBN 13: 9781107421097

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2014

Synopsis

This book offers a fresh appraisal of the nature and significance of the democratic Left in the Global South. The moral and intellectual leadership of the Left is shifting south from its European birthplace. It is in the Global South, most notably in Latin America, that one finds newly self-confident progressive movements. This 'new' democratic Left includes parties and social movements that not only are avoiding the familiar pitfalls that ensnared socialists and social democrats in the twentieth century, but also are coping with the realities of the twenty-first century, especially neoliberal globalization. In analyzing and illustrating three innovative strategies - moderate social democracy, radical social-democratic transition to socialism, and Left populism - this study nudges the debate about the Left out of the well-worn grooves into which it has fallen in recent decades.

About this title

Book Description:

Offering a fresh appraisal of the democratic left in the Global South, this book will interest readers questioning whether alternatives exist to the mainstream development doctrine, searching for new approaches on the left, or wanting to learn more about the renaissance of studies drawing upon the ideas of Karl Polanyi.

About the Author:

I am a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Toronto who recently "retired" after 41 years of service. However, I remain active as a teacher and writer. I have focused my research since 2000 on three related topics: the experience of the democratic left in the Global South, the relevance of social-democratic thinking to the reshaping of the neoliberal global order and the utility of a framework based on Karl Polanyi's "double movement" for understanding counter-hegemonic struggles. I have conducted field work mainly in Africa, especially in Kenya, Ghana and Mauritius, and have also travelled widely in Latin America and Asia. I have published about 60 scholarly articles and chapters and 12 books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1107421098
• ISBN 13: 9781107421097
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 309