Nordicum-Mediterraneum (Mar 2010)
Past, Present and Future of Social Democracy: The Debate (?) in Italy and the Nordic Experience
Abstract
In Italy the debate on Social Democracy shows traces of the long hegemony within the Italian left of a Communist Party then converted to new party forms, which from the beginning rejected the Social Democratic option, due to the belief that not only Communism, but also traditional reformism was dead and buried, and to the survival of a Stalinist mentality, inclined to a pragmatic management of power. That is why Italian contributions to the redefinition of Social Democracy and of Left as a whole are poor by number and by content and recycle largely ideas from abroad. The reference countries however are not the Nordic ones, which yet could offer interesting lessons, but mainly British New Labour and its recent new course and the German SPD. What lacks is the determination to develop theories and policies suitable to the peculiarities of Italian society and economy.
