Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.201315:25Seite1 [Limberg BoxPatch :TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 1] »another democracy« Social movements for Donatella Della Porta Europe andSocialDemocracy Gesine Schwan Selective GrowthandNewProgress Erhard Eppler Journal ofSocialDemocracy Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf 12012 € 3,80 INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY EDITION Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 2

INHALT

1 Editorial Gesine Schwan 2 Europe and Social Democracy: Four Surprising Arguments Björn Hacker 8 New Elective Affinities? Liberal Dogma may be breaking up Europe’s »Welfare State Families« Erhard Eppler 11 Selective Growth and New Progress Michael Dauderstädt/ Markus Schreyer 15 The Indebted State and Democracy – A Debate We Need To Have Wolfgang Schroeder 20 The SPD’s Road toward New Progress Thomas Meyer 24 The New Face of Inequality: a »Fragmented Class Society«? Katajun Amirpur 28 Prospects for Democracy in the Arab World Donatella Della Porta 30 Social movements for »another democracy«

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 2] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 1

EDITORIAL

ou are reading the first International Edition of one of YGermany’s longest-running and most respected monthly journals devoted to politics and culture, Neue Gesellschaft/ Frankfurter Hefte. The Friedrich Ebert Foundation has chosen a group of internationally renowned social scientists, jour- nalists, and high-profile representatives of social democracy to contribute to this venture. The new International Edition will be published at the be- ginning of each quarter with selected articles from previous German-language monthly issues that are especially well-suited to illuminate international – and especially European – debates. In this way we hope to stim- ulate dialogue across national boundaries within the democratic left. Recent political and economic trends are weakening the social commitments, policies, and ideas that sustain the goals of social democracy in most parts of the world. We want to do our part to strengthen the social and pro-democracy forces aligned against such developments. We expect the new journal to serve as an open, action-oriented forum for social democracy. Supported by careful analyses, social scientists, journalists, and representatives of civil society will be able to carry on an extended conver- sation about the situation of social democracy not only in Germany and Europe but around the world. We are convinced that true democracy is possible only in the form of social democracy. Furthermore, we believe that the interactions between national, European, and planetary arenas will shape the future of democracy in a globalized world. By democracy we understand something more than free and fair elections or majority rule,important as they may be.We also have in mind the primacy of responsible politics and government over markets; guarantees of basic social and civic rights to all citizens throughout the world; and above all a long-term commitment to sustainability as a means of protecting the natural systems on which civilization depends. We are convinced that our future should and must not be held hostage to the imperatives of anonymous markets or the superior political resources of special interests operating behind the scenes. Instead, the forces that ought to decide the future of our embattled planet are the citizens, activists and politi- cal representatives who are committed to social democracy. And they will be best positioned to cooperate once the challenges are clearly identified and con- sensus is reached about how to meet them: precisely the aim of our journal.

Thomas Meyer Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher

NG|FH 1|2012 1

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 3] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 2

Gesine Schwan Europe and Social Democracy: Four Surprising Arguments

Gesine Schwan ta to enjoy the benefits of full citizenship. (*1943) was president of Viadrina European In those days, barriers such as Prussia’s University in Frankfurt an der Oder from 1999 until 2008.Today she is the president three-class electoral law prevented them of the Humboldt-Viadrina School from participating equally in political and of Governance in Berlin. cultural life.They furthermore lacked equal opportunities in education and profes- [email protected] sional advancement; indeed, few even had even a chance to earn a decent living. In sum, they were denied social recognition. he German Social Democratic Party is Human dignity was an empty slogan for Tnot usually regarded as a »Europeanist« most, not something they had a real chance party, and rightly so, despite its internatio- of ever experiencing for themselves. nalist tradition, attachment to peace, and Social Democrats were therefore current, reliably pro-European policies. mainly concerned with achieving justice Nevertheless, Europe is now about to un- and solidarity, assuming they could ever dertake a historic course correction, by gain the political liberty necessary to fight virtue of which the Social Democratic for those goals. The core objective of these Party could become the leading German early struggles was to obtain a measure of pro-European party.But for that to happen, social security for people so that their lives the Party has to recognize the signs of the would no longer be so much at the mercy times and carry out a political paradigm of the vicissitudes of capitalist markets. shift. For strategic reasons, the CDU chief, The state was responsible for justice and Chancellor Merkel, is evidently avoiding social security. Meanwhile, the internatio- any long-term European policy commit- nal origins of the social democratic move- ments. Her short-sighted, uncoordinated ment meant that it would be pledged to measures are in effect holding the EU’s a peace policy. The liberation of workers future hostage to certain powerful special across international boundaries was suppo- interests that have put her under immense sed to eliminate war at its source by pressure. That is why the Social Democra- attacking its chief cause: war-mongering tic Party needs to take up the baton of pro- capitalism. At that time, internationalism Europe policymaking. It should make com- thus implied the social or transnational mon cause with other Europeanist parties solidarity of the working class rather than as well as organized public-interest groups the international association of nation- in civil society. Together these allies can states, its primary meaning today. generate a groundswell of support for Eu- By contrast, European policy in the ropean solidarity »from below.« The Party wake of WW II aimed at just this kind of can prioritize the common interest of all confederation of nation-states. After the citizens, and at the same time save them dreadful experiences of National Socia- from being sacrificed to the power of lism and the slaughter of the War, the hope anonymous financial markets. was that European unification-beginning Social democracy entered the political with cooperation in the coal and steel scene in the 19th century,striving to enable area-would bind together the continent’s the members of disadvantaged social stra- nation-states tightly enough that they

2 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 4] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 3

would no longer be able to or even want to As the European Union developed fur- wage war against each other. It also strove ther, it continued to keep its distance from to achieve greater understanding among typically social democratic values such as »peoples,« since differences between the justice, solidarity and social security. Be- latter were assumed to be greater than sides promoting peace-defined merely as those that existed within the societies of the absence of war-the project of Euro- each nation. This sort of cross-national pean unification focused principally on »understanding« was to be nourished by certain economic liberties such as freedom cooperation below the level of states, e.g., of movement for persons, goods, services, among cities, youth organizations, repre- and capital, all of which were indispens- sentatives of the professions, and artistic able to the creation of a European com- initiatives. But all of these efforts assumed mon market. The values of justice and that nation-states would remain the ulti- solidarity were not given equal billing, mate framework of policymaking; hence, although certain individual politicians did it is symbolically significant that the public try hard to make good this deficit. The po- perceived European unification as a mat- litical implementation of these values, par- ter for heads of state to celebrate. ticularly social security,was essentially left Because the political value-system of up to the member states. There were good Social Democracy put a premium on peace, reasons for this decision. Each state had its its objectives seemed to dovetail nicely own peculiar national history and culture with those of European unification. How- that had to be taken into account in the de- ever, the value of peace as understood sign of its social security system. There in the tradition of social democracy was could not be any one-size-fits-all »techno- rooted in the social alliance of the working cratic« approach to social security across class across national boundaries, i.e., it was the entire EU. always class-specific, unlike the under- standings reached by the governments of nation-states. European unification did not Social democracy’s European aim primarily at justice, solidarity and policy goals today social security. What is more, it was mainly instituted The trends toward economic, technical, by bourgeois, conservative figures whose and cultural globalization we are witness- social class backgrounds did not exactly ing today suggest a new agenda for social make them spokesmen of the under- democracy. By themselves, individual na- privileged. It was the political and cultural tion-states can no longer fully achieve its elites of Europe-including Social Demo- core values of freedom, justice, solidarity crats-who took up the cause of »Project (qua social security) and peace; rather, so- Europe.« The strategy of European uni- cial democrats will have to work in and fication was based on the premise that, if through Europe.It is certainly true that na- those elites could join together in a com- tion-states have neither relinquished their mon effort, they could eventually win over primordial economic, social, and cultural other social classes for the principle of significance nor their ability to mold the European unification as well. To be sure, identities of their citizens. Nevertheless, the cultured bourgeoisie did launch a globalization in its many guises and cross- »European movement« that was intended national consequences has changed the to overcome national prejudices, but the rules of the game. The same can be said for EU never garnered support from a cross- the pressing global challenges we face: cli- national social movement »from below.« mate change, poverty, natural resource

NG|FH 1|2012 3

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 5] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 4

scarcity,migration,justice in the allocation attained by uniting members of specific of resources,and – last but not least – secu- social classes or strata. rity. All of these transformations require Willy Brandt, probably the most his- more capacious political and economic torically significant Social Democrat of spaces in which to maintain and develop the postwar era, did not share this political justice, solidarity, and social security. But and strategic »statist« preoccupation. He this does not mean that the European advocated a policy of reconciliation with Union can wall itself off from the world; to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union,both the contrary, it needs to take responsibility of which had suffered devastation at the for reshaping globalization in line with its hands of the National Socialists. That in own values. turn became an unshakeable foundation To do that, it will have to be able to act, for the European policy subsequently adop- and that means gaining the support of its ted by the Social Democrats. With an eye citizens. History has shown that nation- on the third world and the Socialist Inter- states did not win the loyalty of their own national, Brandt also helped bring to citizens until they emerged as welfare sta- fruition a new social democratic peace tes in the second half of the 19th century, policy.We should not forget to include the offering the latter a modicum of social se- names of Erhard Eppler and Heidemarie curity. By the same token, EU citizens will Wieczorek-Zeul in the list of those who not identify with Europe until the Union contributed to this policy innovation. moves beyond its preoccupation with eco- There are good reasons why both served as nomic freedoms and begins dispensing ministers of economic cooperation. Never- social security. Here we are not merely theless, the true focus in all of these cases talking about the aims of social democracy was not so much Europe per se, but rather in a partisan-political sense, but rather a policy of peace and solidarity that en- pointing out an indispensable precon- tailed obligations toward the third world. dition for the future of Europe. Still,the paradigm shift in European policy However, social democracy will have proposed here has points of contact not to undergo a major political paradigm shift only with Brandt's Eastern and peace poli- in order to redirect the focus of its efforts cies but also with the designs and accom- away from nation-states and toward the plishments of the development policies EU, at least when issues of justice and so- adopted by Social Democracy. cial security are on the table. Its political To be sure, huge obstacles are still thinking has been oriented toward states blocking the way forward.Right now every- (in the singular) from the time of Kurt one is talking about the renationalization Schumacher to the present day. Schu- of Europe and the coolness of its citizenry macher,in fact,wrote his dissertation on toward the EU. Of course, such attitudes the »state«.1 Over time the state,in its guise are not present to the same degree in all of as dispenser of welfare, has managed to the member countries, but they are cer- provide a measure of social security and tainly growing stronger in those viewed by equality of rights for the less advantaged. their citizens as »donor countries«. Re- In doing so, it has overcome their aliena- nationalization is not a random event; tion and »reconciled« them with capita- rather, it is a long-simmering reaction to lism. Those achievements laid the foun- the structures and decisions of the EU. To dation for a »statist« tendency within the renationalize Europe means in practice to German Social Democratic Party.But they strengthen national governments within also diminished the appeal of the tra- and against Europe and to align national ditional value of peace as an end to be parties and labor unions against those of

4 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 6] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 5

other nations. Since up until now there has not as the source of solidarity among per- been no consensus about the final shape sons and states, but as the cause of friction of the EU,the European Council has set the between them.The name of Europe’s capi- tone of the Union. It is essentially dom- tal has become almost synonymous with inated by heads of state and government, the icy winds of global market-radicalism. although it also includes the Commission Over time a confusing tangle of natio- and the Council Presidents. nal and transnational,social and economic However, the representatives of these subdivisions has grown up in the Euro- governments hold power in their home pean Union, overlain by conflicts between countries by winning national elections, the power of special interests and that of which means that they tend to emphasize nations. In terms of their economic posi- the viewpoint of their respective nations. tion, entrepreneurs generally do not have When they return home from Brussels, any national interests. Their companies’ they usually justify their conduct by citing success does of course hinge somewhat on the advantages that will accrue to the home the infrastructure of the countries in which country, not potential benefits for the they invest (the legal system, transpor- EU as a whole. By contrast, when they tation network, education, etc.). However, make decisions that are unpopular with they can readily cross national borders and the domestic electorate, they try to avoid set up operations somewhere else – unlike losses in the next elections by blaming it all the working people that governments have on Brussels. Although elections to the to worry about and from whom they derive European Parliament have certainly be- their legitimacy.Yet at the same time these come more important as the EU acquires businessmen can call upon their lobbies jurisdiction over more subject areas, they to influence national governments and do not really provide a counterweight to parliaments in the interest of their firms. this trend. The radical pro-market policies Politicians have trouble resisting such embraced by the EU Commission have pressure, especially when it is accompa- done even more to spark the renationaliza- nied by threats to move operations abroad tion of Europe. These policies have trans- or fire employees. It is true that by now a formed European nation-states into little number of companies feel some respon- more than business »locations« trying to sibility for the external effects of their outdo the global competition and vying business models (on the environment, raw with each other for capital investments. materials, social conflicts), but not nearly Once, states were regarded mainly as places enough of them. In any case firms can al- where human beings lived in accordance ways escape their responsibility for the so- with their distinctive cultural, social, and cial fallout of their business practices by professional interests and values. Now – adopting transnational strategies. especially in times of high unemployment By contrast, national governments and – they have to concentrate on selling parliaments do have to take the rap for themselves as attractive and business- social discord, especially the gap between friendly places to invest, primarily by cut- rich and poor, which has grown noticeably ting taxes and reducing social spending. wider during the past quarter century.This Consequently, the interests of national la- trend has given rise to an asymmetrical bor unions often seem to be at logger- relationship between the way in which heads, as in the case of Poland and Ger- particular interests are represented and the many which have traded charges of tax- macro-level balance of political power. and wage-dumping. Thus, Brussels is in- Given this confusing mix of forces and in- creasingly perceived by member nations terests, national governments are often

NG|FH 1|2012 5

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 7] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 6

tempted to intensify their national rheto- labor unions, however indispensable that ric in order to please potential voters. But tactic may be. The latter were born amid in practice their words sometimes come the structures and political decisions of back to haunt them when they themselves their respective nation-states; hence, they want to promote transnational all-Euro- are still too deeply wedded to those states. pean solutions. We rail at the lazy Greeks, Indeed, social democracy owes its very but then above all we want to save German legitimacy to its successes in the arenas of investors,without of course revealing their national politics.The paradigm shift I have complicity in the Greeks’ plight. After all, been advocating will force social demo- the outcome of the next national elections cratic parties to do a radical about-face. may hinge on their votes.This double game They will henceforth have to look around weakens loyalty to Europe; furthermore, it for ways to cooperate with the transnatio- is counterproductive in terms of solving nally oriented portion of organized civil the problems that we now face.In the wake society. Of course, there will inevitably be of the trends described here, especially conflicts between these new associates as deregulation, social democrats have been well. Social democracy will probably have losing a lot of supporters and voters who to engage in »antagonistic cooperation« perceive themselves as losers in previous with its new partners; in fact, conflict and rounds of radically market-oriented glob- cooperation will be unavoidably paired. alization. These voters either stay home Labor unions, too, should participate in or defect to competing parties on the left, these cooperative arrangements. In fact, not least because they blame social demo- they are especially valuable partners in cratic governments for deregulation in the alliance-to-be, because they feel most their own countries. So what are the chan- keenly the pressures generated by a ruth- ces that social democracy will still prevail less deregulatory politics bent on turning in and through Europe in its efforts to the nation into a highly competitive busi- achieve its values of justice, social security, ness location.But they must simulta- and solidarity? Will it be able to reverse neously fight to keep and create jobs in course and become the most resolute pro- their own countries. European party? Since we social democrats have no reason to think that there is any realistic alternative to a capitalistic economic order, The odds in favor of a new social we are compelled to organize our forces democratic European policy at the transnational level in order to get that order under control (not just inter- Whether a pro-European policy succeeds nationally, via a consortium of national or not will depend crucially on whether governments).That is a project that will be social democracy can manage to engage of interest not only to wage earners, but transnational actors and political coali- also to broad sections of the educated tions in a campaign for justice and soli- bourgeoisie who do not want to end up as darity and against the long-term trend mere appendages of an anonymous market toward renationalization. The latter fight mechanism. Social democracy needs to will prove especially challenging, because recruit these allies in the service a politics national impulses are grounded in the of justice and solidarity, not least because structural factors already analyzed in this they vote. Such a politics would look like essay. Unfortunately, it will not be enough an updated version of the older tradition just to seek more extensive cooperation of social internationalism, now organized with other social democratic parties and at an all-European level and devoted to the

6 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 8] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 7

task of turning capitalism into a global ambiguously in favor of European unity, market system in which human beings can and struggled to gain the support of the actually thrive. nation’s citizens. It would have offered the opportunity to end financial speculation, cap increasing debt levels, and get the Afterword European project back on track. Even now, when they seemingly have lost their bear- The ongoing debates about reforming finan- ings, politicians should be ready to take cial markets offer an instructive example risks in order to give Europe a decisive of how necessary this paradigm shift has boost. This is the task that social demo- become.At the beginning of the debt crisis crats are now called upon to carry out. Chancellor Merkel set the terms of the dis- Moreover, where reform of the financial cussion by declining European solidarity markets is concerned, political coopera- and instead advocating the principle that tion with transnationally organized civil each country should take care of itself. In society offers the best opportunity to enact this way she indicated that the old politics serious regulatory reforms against the re- would continue, that is, the ruinous com- sistance of powerful, frequently opaque petition to see which country can offer the lobbying pressure on national governments. most business-friendly location. Her posi- The worldwide »occupy« movements can tion enjoyed the legal support of both the help here as well. We do not lack for plans Maastricht and Lisbon Treaties, which was and schemes; we lack the power and op- a great advantage for her. portunity to put them into effect across The policies that her stance entailed – national boundaries. The rhetoric about small steps to solve short-term problems – and emphasis on German superiority fa- will do nothing but raise the ultimate price vored by the current German federal govern- that must be paid to rescue the indebted ment,and especially by its Chancellor,have countries. And as yet there is no end in given a fillip to an empirically verifiable sight to this chain of events, because mar- trend in German society. Citizens are being kets are not sentimental. They will test the told that they don’t need to acknowledge limits of European solidarity to see how far any dependence on their friends, and that it can be pushed and how much money they should »go it alone.« In short, they can be made by stretching it further still. are drifting toward a version of German The Chancellor publicly rejected Euro- isolationism. In this respect the German bonds almost immediately on the grounds government is not just acting contrary to that they would tempt nations into even Europe, but against the well-considered greater acts of irresponsibility. The solidar- long-term interests of the German people. ity principle was suspected of encour- They have never done well when they be- aging parasitism. The authoritarian yet lieved they could rely on themselves alone. skeptical political posture that she adopted Unlike the CDU/CSU the Social Demo- – one that weds untrammeled suspicion of crats in Germany do not have to ally with southern European behavior to pride in powerful special interests. They can find Germany as a model country – has played common ground with those who favor the nicely into the presumed attitudes of her interest of all normal European citizens in electoral base. But it is not only the Ger- a life of freedom and justice. That is the mans who will pay the price for it. reason why social democrats everywhere A preemptive policy would have com- can become the leading pro-European bined solidarity with sanctions against parties at this historic crossroads in the budgetary indiscipline, spoken out un- continent’s history. „

NG|FH 1|2012 7

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 9] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 8

Björn Hacker New Elective Affinities? Liberal Dogma may be breaking up Europe’s »Welfare State Families«

European welfare states were once distinguished by their different emphases and contours. Market-oriented reforms have turned such »unity in diversity« into a clichéd ideal type. As a result the European social model is now characterized by a risk shift to the individual and sharper class conflicts.

Björn Hacker supplemented previously hard-won rights (*1980) is a consultant on European of civil and political citizenship. To judge economic and social policy in the inter- national policy analysis department the degree of social homogeneity that pre- of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. vails in a given society, however,it is impor- tant to measure two key features: the degree of de-commodification, i.e., the extent to [email protected] which social security frees an individual from dependence on market transactions; and the degree of stratification, i.e., how ooking at European societies from the far differences in social status persist or Lvantage point of other continents, one have been softened by social redistribution. finds among them an apparently broad When individuals are emancipated from consensus on how to handle class conflicts. utter dependence on the market (»decom- The unifying element in most cases seems modified«), they can rest assured that so- to be a commitment to bring order and cial welfare systems will indemnify them structure into such conflicts – and their for the loss of their jobs.And this holds true accompanying socio-political tensions – regardless of whether job losses have come even while setting bounds to economic about due to ill health, family issues, ad- competition. The political scientist Colin vanced age, or educational deficits. More- Crouch talks about a sort of elective affin- over, the social welfare state calls upon re- ity among the various European welfare distributive programs, for instance those states,by which he means the shared social carried out by the social and educational and economic heritage that evolved in Eu- systems, to rectify the social stratification rope and still distinguishes it from other created by market forces. parts of the world. The social scientist Gøsta Esping- Yet when one looks at European affairs Andersen has described models of three from the inside, one realizes that conside- different »families« of welfare states in rable differences have begun to appear in Western democracies based on the dif- their social arrangements, to the point of ferent ways in which these two features apparently calling into question the as- are manifested in their respective social sumption that they share a common struc- arrangements. In each of these the central ture at all. It is certainly true that social institutions that provide social security – rights were codified in all European states state, market, and family – play different after the Second World War. If one accepts roles. Esping-Andersen’s typology con- the argument of the sociologist Thomas tinues to be widely used even today, even Marshall, these developments consolidated though it suffers from some obvious draw- the modern form of social citizenship that backs. For one thing, it is based on data

8 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 10] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 9

from the 1980’s, so it cannot take into to class and occupation are leveled out by account the reform experiences of the far-reaching redistributive programs. last two decades. Furthermore, it ignores During the 1990’s updated calculations borderline cases, such as the Netherlands. of the decommodification and stratifi- To summarize the family models, we cation features, as well as some other indi- may begin with the liberal welfare state, in cators, have tended to confirm the exis- which citizens have to provide social se- tence of these three welfare state families, curity to such a large extent through their although they have also led scholars to add own private, individual efforts. The de- a fourth type: the Mediterranean world of grees of decommodification and income welfare. This group comprises the social redistribution are low, and beyond a certain provision systems of Greece, Spain, and basic level, the state guarantees no more Portugal, which are reminiscent of the con- than minimal social provision for the servative welfare state in their high degree neediest cases.In terms of social class rela- of corporatism and the prominence of tions, the liberal welfare state is pervaded family structures. However, they display a by a sharp dualism that divides the mi- marked dualism, in which an elaborate, nority of social service recipients from the partly universal social security network is majority who can afford to provide for balanced against a rudimentary, not fully their social needs through private chan- guaranteed form of social provision fur- nels. In Europe, Great Britain and Ireland nished by the state without regard to em- are good examples of countries that have ployment. adopted the liberal welfare model. The conservative welfare state forms the second family grouping. Here, social A process of increasing security is closely tied to gainful employ- hybridization ment,while strongly corporatist and statist elements guarantee a moderate degree of The fact that welfare state arrangements decommodification.As a provider of social cluster in respect to the factors mentioned services the market plays only a minor – their contribution to the security of the role, whereas the family continues to fulfill individual and the way they manage in- its traditional security function. Since the herited social stratification – clearly re- generosity of state-supported social services veals the differences that continue to exist is strongly associated with income, the among European approaches to social se- conservative welfare state has minimal curity in spite of all elective affinities. redistributive effects. Hence, status dif- Nevertheless, the »family resemblance« ferences in such a society are maintained. approach implies a degree of stability in Germany, France, and Austria exemplify the different paths taken by welfare states this welfare state family. that can no longer be found,at least during The social democratic welfare state, as the past fifteen years. Certain broad social represented by the Scandinavian countries, transformations have wrought profound forms the third grouping.This kind of wel- changes in the welfare state families identi- fare state features universal protections for fied above. These include the following: the entire populace, supported by a com- the end of the male breadwinner model, prehensive state-sponsored network of so- the increasingly transnational character cial security. The individual is also much of the economy, and above all growing less dependent on either market trans- skepticism toward state intervention actions or the family than in the other as opposed to market-based solutions. family groupings.Differences in status due Widely shared and oft-repeated clichés –

NG|FH 1|2012 9

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 11] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 10

conservative welfare states are inflexible served class of the »precariously employed« and financially unsound; the lauded »Swe- has continued to widen. dish model« does not allow inequalities to arise in the first place – ignore actual developments. A European trend toward Analysis of the institutional archi- liberalization tecture of individual welfare state arrange- ments as they evolve over time suggests a In many countries, the end result of these process of increasing hybridization. Many trends has been a reduction in spending countries have integrated selected elements (relative to GDP) on social protections. of different welfare state worlds into the Moreover, given the competitive situation designs of their respective systems of so- inside the European Monetary Union, cial security. That process is especially comparative advantage accrues to countries noteworthy in the ten nations of Eastern that have lower taxes and wages. The ten- and Central Europe that acceded to the EU dency is therefore toward a dismantling of in 2004 and 2007 and thus could scarcely the achievements of the social welfare state, display any type of post-socialist welfare and as a result social inequality has been state uniquely their own. Everywhere in increasing in many European countries, a Europe reforms are being weighed that trend which is apparent in the distribution seem to be headed in one direction when of income, for example.The widening chasm taken in the aggregate: social policy is to be between rich and poor is manifested in many understood more and more as a factor places by a worsening rate of susceptibility affecting productivity within the frame- to poverty. The primarily economics-ori- work of the European economic system. ented principles behind the creation of the No matter how deeply involved the state EU have certainly contributed to the diffu- may have been before, step-by-step reforms sion of a liberal view of the state in many are cumulatively supposed to reduce its European capitals. But the austerity poli- role in organizing and guaranteeing social cies that have come to the fore during the security. recent crisis have accelerated this process. In this way welfare states will be re- It is true that structurally distinct wel- vamped. The ongoing process of recal- fare state families continue to exist in ibrating state-market relationships will Europe, at least as ideal types. However, as over time favor pro-market solutions. Tra- we have seen, a new kind of elective affini- ditional social communities lose ground ty among European states has started to vis-à-vis a more individualistic under- emerge for two related reasons: the dis- standing of social protection, just as social mantling of state-sponsored redistributive rights are made conditional on social duties. programs and increasing recommodifi- The Scandinavian welfare state has limited cation in social insurance, which implies a the scope of its universalistic system of resurgence of market logic in that sphere. social provision, while conservative wel- The shared bond of specifically European fare states have watered down their tradi- achievements in preserving and enhancing tional Bismarckian social insurance models. social cohesion, always so striking to out- Meanwhile, the liberal welfare state has siders,is being supplanted by a new guiding extended its need-based system by relying ideal based on a risk shift to individuals increasingly on means testing. Finally, in and recrudescent class polarization. Let us the Mediterranean world of welfare the hope that this trend is not the last chapter gap between highly protected beneficiaries in the development of a uniquely Euro- of social welfare institutions and the under- pean social model! „

10 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 12] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 11

Erhard Eppler Selective Growth and New Progress

he contemporary notion of »new pro- Erhard Eppler Tgress« is certainly not equivalent to the (*1926) former Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation; from 1970 to 1991 he was idea of selective growth,yet the first concept a member of the Social Democratic Party’s includes the second.Anyone who advocates Federal Steering Committee,and from »new progress« has to specify what should 1973 to 1992 he chaired the SPD’s Committee grow and what should not. If the goal is on Fundamental Values. simply to maximize growth across the

board, then »new progress« turns out to be picture-alliance/dpa wishful thinking or just an empty phrase. What we call economic growth today possible, as is the case with the CDU/FDP used to be no more than a statistic, a num- coalition’s »Growth Acceleration Law.«2 ber. There was agreement about how to cal- When growth becomes the primary, culate a country’s total economic output, generally accepted goal, politics begins to i.e., its domestic product.When that figure play second fiddle to markets. After all, increased from one year to the next,the in- politicians do not »create« growth; busi- crement was called growth. Obviously an ness enterprises do that. So if one is going economic criterion such as this had to be to carry on a »policy of growth,« one must based on figures that could be measured – among other things – keep the business precisely: for example, anything that was community happy or even offer them in- bought and sold on the market, or wages centives, such as lower taxes. That is the and salaries that were subject to taxation. origin of the current ruinous competition Services rendered by a housewife who has among states, especially those of Europe, to take care of a large family were not in- as they outbid one another in offering to cluded in these statistics, since their value reduce business taxes. This rivalry has con- could not be calculated with any precision. tributed more than most economists would Seen in this light, growth is an interest- admit to deepening sovereign debt. States ing statistic. It is superbly designed to must now »save,« which means in practice make finance ministers happy,because they that they have to neglect or even privatize can now figure out how much tax revenue certain traditional responsibilities.We can they can expect to collect.We have become observe the outcome all around us in Ger- accustomed to the idea that periods of many’s cities. strong growth will be followed by periods Yet another argument for indiscrim- of weak or even zero growth.We even talk inate growth has been proposed that about booms and busts. If governments dovetails nicely with the ones already were honest with themselves, they would mentioned: that the way to greater eco- have to admit that they do not control nomic growth is to liberate markets from these cycles; at most they can enhance or encumbrances, weaken the state, and inhibit them. reduce the »state’s share« in the overall Problems start to arise when growth is economy. This is exactly what most econ- declared to be a political goal – indeed the omists have advocated over the last three most important one or even, as with Ange- decades, which has made the campaigns of la Merkel, the only one that counts. In that market radicals in the political arena that case, the goal of growth can justify almost much easier. As soon as growth becomes any possible policy and some that are im- the pre-eminent goal of all politics,there is

NG|FH 1|2012 11

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 13] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 12

a slippery slope that eventually launches us As long as governments are thought down toward market radicalism. Even poli- to exist solely to accelerate,increase,or stim- ticians who actually do intend to achieve ulate economic growth, then even failed something quite different, end up at the market radicalism creates constraints that bottom of this slope. Whenever countries ensure its continued survival. To put this led by Social Democrats chalked up slower point a bit differently: whenever growth is rates of growth than other countries did, declared to be the be-all-and-end-all of po- their governments were accused of »doing litics, then politics itself loses its pre-emi- nothing« or of irresponsibly blocking nent position.If growth is the sole objective, growth-promoting policies. Eventually then economics inevitably must take pre- they too were forced to adopt »inescapable cedence over politics. The primary obliga- reforms« that freed up markets, all the tion of government is now simply to keep while cutting back on the state’s legitimate the economically powerful elites happy. responsibilities, especially in social policy. Those moves then entailed tax cuts, especially for truly »productive« individ- New ways to think about growth uals or sectors of the economy, an expression invented precisely to justify For all these reasons it is neither trivial such policies. nor coincidental that 2010 witnessed a re- When respected banks refused to lend newed critical discussion economic growth. one another money during the financial Scholarly and political circles had debated crisis unless the state would guarantee re- that issue in the years between 1971 and payment, the slogans of market radicalism 1975, but their findings had been swept began to sound hollow and even ridicu- aside – like so much else – by the wave of lous. They were empty promises that had market radicalism. In this context, the passed their »use-by« date. But states, German Bundestag established a Com- now more deeply in debt than ever before, mission in 2011 to investigate the issues of emerged from the crisis weakened rather »growth, prosperity, and quality of life.« than strengthened. Financial markets, mean- The Commission was requested by the while, treated sovereign states in exactly Social Democratic and Green Parties, but the same way that they had previously the Christian Democratic and Christian treated private debtors: the higher the lev- Socialist Parties were also given an oppor- el of debt, the higher the interest rates they tunity to participate. Eventually Meinhard demanded. Such conditions could even Miegel, a highly respected contributor to bankrupt entire countries. debates on economic policy, offered some In any case the crisis surrounding surprising observations3.These can be market radicalism had created objective summarized as follows: First, the period of constraints that again seemed to call for a rapid growth among Europe’s older indus- formula even more radically market-orient- trial countries is nearing an end. Second, ed than previous ones: the state would rates of growth continue to fall even taking now have to »save« money and not just in the business cycle into account. Third, what Greece and Spain. It would have to cancel remains of economic growth is siphoned entire programs and maybe even increase off to deal with the harmful consequences the value-added tax. The one thing it ab- of that growth. Thus, the quality of life in solutely had to avoid was raising corporate such countries has ceased to improve. taxes, even in places like Ireland where they Miegel’s conclusions make sense; in- are already absurdly low, because such a deed, they should not be surprising if one move allegedly would reduce growth. takes seriously the statistics of the past few

12 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 14] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 13

decades. His third point is particularly realized at the time that growth alone, controversial, because it pulls the rug out without any qualifications, was too vague from under any crude pro-growth policy. a goal to guide political decision-making. A policy that principally aims at higher It is pointless to treat specific growth rates of growth is not only self-defeating rates as political goals. But it is equally and expensive for the state; it is ultimately mistaken to strive for zero growth. The real worthless for human beings. question is: »What should grow?« One of His insights dovetail with those of the weaknesses of politics is the fact that Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s best- practice tends to lag behind theory. But in seller, The Spirit Level, the conclusions the case of growth, the opposite is true. of which are contained in its subtitle, Practice is far ahead of theory. At least in »Why equality is better for everyone.« What Germany, consensus reigns that the use of enables people to live betteris not growth fossil fuels should decline, whereas the use per se, but rather less inequality. of renewable resources,required to replace fossil fuels, must grow. The days are long gone when the Federal Ministry of Eco- Selective growth is the key nomics, supported by the corresponding ministries of all other countries, defended Miegel’s analysis has much in common the dogma that electricity use should grow with the efforts of Social Democracy to by 7 % a year, thereby doubling every ten reinvigorate the politically nearly mori- years, because that is the rate of increase bund notion of progress by calling it »new requisite for economic growth. Only the progress.« In this respect the Party is resus- theory of growth itself, so characteristic of citating an important plank in its 1989 that era, has survived. In the meantime we Program. There, under the rubric of »Pro- have started discussing whether we should gress, Growth, and Structure,« one reads be eating less meat to protect the climate that, »Not all growth is progress. Growth and more vegetables for the sake of our has to be sought in those areas that main- health. Political debates are now centering tain natural life-support systems, improve on issues such as whether freight could the quality of life and labor, reduce depen- move more quickly by rail than by road. dency, advance the cause of self-determi- And at some point we will no longer be nation,protect life and health,secure peace, able to ignore the dilemma of how to cut enhance present and future opportunities, CO2 emissions in half if air travel doubles. and support creativity and initiative.What- In the Program for Germany that he ever jeopardizes those natural life-support presented to Parliament in 2009, Frank- systems, diminishes the quality of life, and Walter Steinmeier argued that government curtails future opportunities ought to should now promote selective growth. shrink or disappear.« Many of those who »Green industries« and human services, took part in that discussion saw in the 1989 which cannot be automated, should grow paragraph a call for »qualitative growth.« and generate new jobs. Thus, Steinmeier In fact, quite a few of them regarded the was specifying what should grow, partly as author of this article as the inventor of a result of political choices,while his oppo- the whole notion of qualitative growth, nents merely promised higher rates of although he never actually used that term growth, stoked by tax cuts. In short: poli- himself. Even then, 35 years ago, the point cies of selective growth are already on the was to emphasize that political choices political agenda in all but name4. about growth had to be made, i.e., growth Of course there will always be an array had to be selective. Social Democrats of goods and services that we can confi-

NG|FH 1|2012 13

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 15] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 14

dently leave to the market. Markets rather 19th century. It may even evoke diffuse than governments ought to decide how fears in the minds of some people. If much cheese, how many shoes, televisions, the democratic left isn’t willing to give up and bicycles ought to be produced. Never- this word – and there are arguments in theless, the number of bicycles will in- favor of doing just that-then putting the crease when there are more easy-to-use adjective »new« in front of it will not be bike paths.And that is a decision that local enough to dispel either fear or indifference. governments normally make. Advertising has already rendered the word The notion of »qualitative growth« is »new« hackneyed and trite. Moreover, the plausible, attractive, and politically inoffen- very concept of progress implies that sive. One can certainly sing the praises of something new is being done; hence, new »qualitative« growth, while continuing to progress is redundant. On the other hand, do what one had been doing all along. In not everything that is new constitutes the end all growth is »qualitative« in some progress, but that is exactly what the ex- sense.But selective growth invites discourse: pression »new progress« seems to suggest. what do we think ought to grow and what Alternative formulations of social de- not? Which sectors should be growing mocratic aims will also run into criticism. more rapidly than market forces alone For example, two of the more common allow and which more slowly? What has to slogans are: »human progress«, and – as if shrink? Selective growth requires political to underscore the social component – »pro- discussion and ultimately political deci- gress for all«. But these of course assume sion-making, whether in the form of laws that the term »progress« has to be retained. or administrative actions. Just as the call Even the expression »selective growth« for maximum possible growth implies the itself seems ill suited to publicity campaigns. primacy of economics,so too the question, Yet all social strata at least understand »What should grow and what should not?« what is at issue in that expression: not how implies the primacy of politics. much growth there is, but rather what is A politics geared to maximize growth growing.Alert citizens will gladly take part always yields the same set of imperatives: in discussions about what should grow market radicals want to reduce taxes on and what should shrink, so that we may business and the »productive sectors,« protect our natural life support systems while radical Keynesians demand econom- and thus live in the way that we would like. ic stimulus programs financed on credit. This approach could enliven democracy Both sets of policies quickly reach their far more than all the complaints about how limits when financial markets punish grow- tired of democracy people have become.A ing sovereign debt with higher interest paradigm shift would be associated with rates, while a majority of citizens begin to this new terminology. During the era of see for themselves what a half-starved market radicalism we grew accustomed to government looks like at the local level. asking how we must live in order to survive Rightly understood, »new progress« in a globally competitive environment.But may be almost exactly what could moti- politics draws its sustenance from asking vate the Social Democratic Party of the how we want to live. 21st century. The concept suggests timely Both selective growth and the quest for answers that flow from an older tradition. a new kind of progress are permutations of But is this the right choice of words to the deeper question: how do we want to live convey those answers? Nowadays, the term and how do we not want to live, a query »progress« lacks the punch to mobilize that marked the beginning of social democ- masses of people that it once had in the racy itself. „

14 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 16] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 15

Michael Dauderstädt/Markus Schreyer The Indebted State and Democracy – A Debate We Need To Have

When public debt is on the agenda, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the issue involves more than just financial and economic policy-making. What is ultimately at stake here is the survival of the democratic foundation of our societies.

he current crisis afflicting the European Michael Dauderstädt TMonetary Union (EMU) is usually inter- (*1947) is head of the economic and social policy department of the preted as a crisis of sovereign debt. In this Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. view many member-states of the EMU have indulged for years in unsound fiscal poli- cies. In the wake of the global financial and economic crisis, budget deficits and sover- [email protected] eign debt have continued growing apace.As a result international capital markets have begun to lose confidence in the finances of Markus Schreyer European states. Accordingly, demands are (*1971) has a graduate degree in economics and business administration.He is being raised for a reduction in budget de- a consultant on general economic and ficits and sovereign debt as well as a sustain- fiscal policy and foreign trade in able consolidation of public balance sheets, the economic and social policy department not least via a debt-braking mechanism in of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. every one of the EMU member states. [email protected] This is the background against which a number of questions have been aired con- cerning the relationship between govern- seriously jeopardized not only for the cur- ment debt and democracy. These questions rent generation, but also for its successors, will require a thorough debate if we ever while the government's leeway for policy- hope to come up with really effective, long- making would be even further reduced. term political solutions. It is especially cru- On the other hand, balanced government cial to clarify two fundamental sets of topics budgets and declining debt would not on- concerning these issues. ly stabilize the confidence of capital mar- First, does democracy have to rely on kets in government finances; they would government debt, or are growth and pros- also promote growth.As the public sector’s perity possible even without sovereign demand for capital on international capital debt? Critics of the indebted state call for markets fell, interest rates would go down a sustainable budgetary policy in the form and thus more investments in physical cap- of a balanced public budget and reduction ital (in the private sector, which would of government debt. Excessively high bud- absorb the freed-up capital),greater growth get deficits and public debt, they claim, are and prosperity would ensue. Furthermore, not only the primary causes of the present fiscal policy of this sort would increase the crisis of the EMU; they also have the effect confidence of consumers and taxpayers in of raising interest rates and thus crowding the soundness of the government’s finan- out private investment. If things go on as ces,which would likewise have a beneficial they are, growth and prosperity would be effect on consumption and growth.

NG|FH 1|2012 15

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 17] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 16

However,the above line of reasoning is own investment projects and thus created opposed by another, which claims that a growth. However, in recent years – espe- fiscal policy of extreme austerity and cut- cially as financial capital markets have be- backs in public investment will only serve come the dominant feature of the global to undermine future economic growth and economy – it is evident that private enter- tax revenues. Radical savings programs prises have become less willing to tap the may throw an economy into a recession or savings of private households for invest- even depression in the short run. The lon- ment purposes.That is,their willingness to ger such a recession lasts, the greater will incur debt has diminished. Instead, they be the negative effects on long-term macro- have tended more and more to finance in- economic growth prospects,since physical vestments via cash flow,i.e.,out of their own and human capital, as well as that for re- retained earnings.As a matter of fact there search and development, would be degrad- have been years in the recent past in which ed.So in spite of all efforts at consolidation the private business sector turned out to be the risk remains that that public debt may a (net) saver on the macroeconomic level, not decline at all. Indeed, the reverse may a role normally assumed in the overall econ- occur as,in the wake of economic contrac- omy (only) by the private household sec- tion, debt begins to increase again.And so, tor.In Germany,the net monetary assets of this counter-argument would continue, private households increased from 70 % sovereign deficits are an important instru- of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to ment precisely in crisis situations, because more than 120 % between 1991 and 2010 they tend to stabilize the expectations of while the liabilities of the corporate sector the participants in the economy and thus oscillated between 50 % and 70 %. The get the economy as a whole back on an up- resulting gap had to be closed by foreign ward track as quickly as possible. debtors and the German government whose net debt increased from about 20 % to 50%. Who should go into debt? Alternatively the private household sector could go into debt in order to stimu- First, economic theory analyzing the cir- late growth through more consumption. culation of income and funds shows that Indeed, just such a »privatized Keynesia- economic growth and the accumulation of nism« could be observed in the years lea- wealth cannot be attained without debt. In ding up to the financial crisis, especially in a society marked by the division of labor, the United States. There, thanks to the de- current income will only just suffice to regulation of financial markets and numer- finance ongoing expenses. Consequently, ous financial innovations, private house- there always has to be somebody who goes holds were able to go more deeply into debt into debt, in order to provide (directly or and hastened to do so, thus for a long time indirectly) advance financing for a higher acting as the consumer of last resort to level of production and thus economic crank up the growth motor of the global growth. If there always has to be someone economy. Nevertheless, the most recent to go into debt so as to generate growth, experiences surrounding the financial and than one must ask whether the state nec- economic crisis show that this practice does essarily has to play that role, or whether not offer a sustainable path to growth and growth can be achieved even when the prosperity. Eventually private households government does not incur any debt. will end up too deeply indebted.And when In the past it was usually the private that occurs, the state will again have to bail business sector that took on debt for its out the private sector (households, busi-

16 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 18] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 17

nesses, banks) by increasing its own debt. perity without assuming more sovereign Alternatively,foreign countries rather than debt. Do we need the indebted state in cer- the domestic economy could assume more tain circumstances only because democracy debt, thereby acting as an economic motor is not in position to mobilize enough tax by permitting export surpluses.We can ob- revenue? Or do contemporary democracies serve that tendency in the past few decades need the indebted state for more funda- as well, particularly in Germany. There, mental reasons,principally to stoke demand especially in the years prior to the financial for savings which in turn generates eco- crisis, an increasing amount of capital has nomic growth? been exported to foreign countries, partly If it makes sense for private firms to because domestic savings have not been finance their activities (in part) through directly absorbed by domestic investment. credits, why should not the same principle This trend has sparked a boom in investment hold true for states? For example isn’t in- and consumption abroad and contributed creasing public debt indispensable in order to Germany’s essentially export-driven to finance important drivers of economic economic growth. Paralleling these devel- growth such as public investments in edu- opments, Germany’s export of capital has cation, health, infrastructure, and social improved its net foreign asset position, equalization? This conclusion seems espe- which may prove advantageous for the care cially compelling when one takes into ac- of its aging population.Yet the most recent count that we must somehow compensate experiences surrounding the financial cri- for the structural weakness in private pro- sis have shown that even this strategy – pensity to invest that has been evident for counting on the willingness and ability of some time now.And don't public debts un- foreigners to incur debt rather than one’s der certain circumstances play a crucial own domestic enterprises or the state – macroeconomic role in the accumulation does not turn out to be sustainable. Sooner of wealth and prosperity in the hands or later some kind of crisis will crop up that of private households? From a macro- affects the deficit countries or at least their economic standpoint, what would happen debt levels and/or finances. Such crises put to growth and prosperity if the state were to at risk not only Germany’s export-driven stop absorbing private savings? What would growth model,but also its previously accu- happen to the global financial system and mulated foreign assets, the value of which to capital-based retirement schemes if the would decline (in part or entirely) due to the government, committed to eliminating crisis. Here again the government would public debt, stopped issuing bonds and have to step in and cushion the negative borrowing? After all, sovereign debt had impacts upon the private sector by assum- long been regarded as the most secure ing more debt. investment and indeed the foundation of If the private business sector would the world’s financial architecture – at least resume its classical function of absorbing until the financial crisis hit. private savings for investment purposes, Second: Is the indebted state consistent that alone would reduce pressure on the with democracy, and if so, how? When the government to stimulate growth through government gets into debt, it obviously taking on sovereign debt and stepping in loses sovereignty to its creditors, who can as the borrower of last resort in case of exercise increasing political control. This excessive private deleveraging. We there- may become a serious problem not only on fore have to inquire whether the state could economic, but also on democratic grounds, use certain measures such as tax policy to when demands are levied upon the govern- achieve macroeconomic growth and pros- ment by a minority of citizens or even from

NG|FH 1|2012 17

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 19] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 18

abroad. In such cases the power of certain justice may lead the hard-hit citizenry of actors over the indebted state would be many countries to launch massive protest magnified. Let it be noted that, as a gene- demonstrations, thus posing new dangers ral rule, the interests of creditors do not for democracy. For example, the govern- necessarily mesh with the interests and polit- ments in many crisis-plagued countries ical will of a country’s majority. One can refuse to hold plebiscites on the bailouts of observe this dilemma at work in situations (foreign) creditors and holders of wealth, where public debt is growing. The more out of a widely shared concern that these deeply indebted governments become, the might shake the confidence of »the mar- more they have to divert public funds to kets,« thereby precipitating still higher debt service and interest payments instead interest rates. Even opposition parties in of using them for other,democratically de- the countries hit by the crisis see no option sirable purposes. Moreover, as the counter- other than to accord absolute priority to part to this sovereign debt we find corres- the demands of »the markets.« ponding but very unequally distributed private wealth.As debt-related interest pay- ments are doled out to the government’s »Efficient financial markets – creditors, we also see increasing redistribu- wishful thinking« tion of wealth between rich and poor as well as from wage and salary earners to Financial markets are supposed to exert those who derive their income from to a powerful disciplining influence on states’ savings and investment (known as »un- budgetary policies, mainly by setting earned income«). Both trends may jeop- interest rates.And yet on closer inspection ardize not only economic growth but also one has to ask whether actors in the finan- – increasingly – democracy itself. cial markets are really carrying out this The fact that the interests of creditors control function in as rational and care- diverge from those of a country’s broader fully targeted a way as has been claimed. populace shows up even more clearly when Long before the simmering financial crisis – as in the typical case – measures to bal- of 2007 arrived, impressive evidence had ance the budget are taken during periods been accumulating that it no longer makes of crisis. All of the austerity and bailout sense to talk about »efficient financial measures approved during the EMU crisis markets.« They are instead characterized have aimed at restoring the confidence of by short-term strategies of profit maxi- international capital markets in the sound- mization and herd behavior. They there- ness of government finances. The affected fore contribute to the formation of danger- states thus feel compelled to take account ous speculative bubbles that eventually end of the demands raised by these (undemo- up as more or less serious financial crises. cratic) financial markets. They then usu- Even in the context of the EMU crisis one ally pursue a creditor-oriented austerity notices that financial markets (including policy (by cutting public expenditures, the rating agencies) did not exert an early raising taxes, and selling off public infra- stabilizing, corrective influence on faulty structure). Yet from the point of view of developments or disequilibria, as has been economics these austerity measures in and generally claimed. To the contrary, they of themselves have a pro-cyclical impact exacerbated such tendencies by pro-cycli- and so exacerbate the crisis.What is more, cal herd behavior and creditor panic during the dominance of pure market rationality the crisis. But then if (financial) markets or the market principle inherent in them evidently fail to exercise any control over as well as the concomitant loss of social sovereign debt, how do we guarantee

18 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 20] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 19

sustainable, reasonable levels of public long term should approximate the quotient debt? Does government debt inevitably of the deficit ratio and the growth rate. end up in a situation where the creditors Thus, even accumulating more and more have political control? Or can it be insti- debt can be sustainable as long as the econ- tutionally imbedded in such a way that omy continues to grow. Thus, for example, democracy is shielded from the power of the well-known Maastricht criteria implic- creditors? Various strategies have been itly assumed a (nominal) rate of growth proposed to resolve those issues. On one of 5 %, which – given a deficit ratio of 3 % hand,some have insisted that states should – would keep the debt-to-GDP ratio at avoid incurring any debt at all in order to 60 %. But if a strict debt-brake were intro- free themselves from the clutches of (un- duced and rigidly adhered to, the debt-to- democratic) financial markets and thus GDP ratio would over time tend towards focus more strongly on the interests of zero. And no good reasons can be adduced their own populations. One prominent as to why this is reasonable goal, especially demand is to prohibit sovereign debt by as long as the economy keeps growing. To law, usually by building in some kind of the contrary: if sovereign debt is necessary debt-brake into the constitution. The back- on a macroeconomic level to promote ground assumption lurking behind such growth and prosperity, then such a regu- proposals for self-discipline on the part of lation would prove counterproductive on legislatures is that politicians would like to economic as well as social policy grounds. pursue a short-term policy of maximizing On the other hand, some critics sug- votes by handing out all sorts of expensive gest shielding the state from the excessive electoral gifts, and would therefore have power of creditors by supervising and little interest in long-term,sustainable fiscal regulating financial markets more closely. policies. It is doubtful that this assumption It remains to be seen whether and to what is always true, not least because many extent such proposals might succeed. One countries can be found in which govern- radical option would be cutting govern- ments have succeeded in consolidating ment debt by involving private creditors in their finances in the past, even without restructuring the public debt (as in the case any legal debt-brake.At least this last wave of Greece),rather than taxing their wealth. of (massively) increased debt burdens This would signal a fundamental regime appears to have had nothing to do with the change in global financial architecture if failure of democracy or politics. Rather it loans to the government were to lose their arose on account of the financial crisis character as secure forms of investment. caused by excessive private sector debt. Such a move would surely make it more A further objection to the demand for difficult and costly in the future to find a strict debt-brake-in addition to all the financing for public investments on inter- conceptual difficulties involved in imple- national financial markets. However, it menting one – would be that the political might be possible to invent new regulatory self-discipline imposed by it would severely channels that tie the interests of creditors curtail the prerogatives of democratically more closely to those of the general popu- elected legislatures. Nor can one discover lation of a country. One could finance the any economically reasonable justification state by issuing government »shares« rather for believing that a balanced budget (be- than by relying on bonds. In that case the yond the business cycle) would be optimal. government could pay dividends that would According to an equation developed by depend on the levels of economic growth the Russian-American economist Evsey D. and general tax revenues generated by the Domar, the debt-to-GDP ratio over the broader economy instead of paying fixed

NG|FH 1|2012 19

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 21] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 20

interest on loans. That alone would solve a any government bonds on the grounds lot of problems. that monetarizing public debts would ulti- As an alternative to all these schemes, mately lead to inflation. Yet the examples some in the EMU insist that the Euro- of the United States and Japan indicate that pean Central Bank should be positioned this may not necessarily be the case. To as the lender of last resort in the market some extent then, especially in the EMU, for sovereign debt (in the financial sector we should be rethinking not only the issue those institutions are dubbed »lenders of of sustainable government finances, but last resort« that – either voluntarily or by also the goals and policy instruments of law – step in to offer new credits or guar- the – still independent – European Central antee debts that no one else is willing to Bank itself. All of these questions and guarantee). That would erase any possible problems need to be clarified in an un- doubts about a given government’s liq- biased, undogmatic way; that will provide uidity or solvency. Several countries (e.g., the basis for making consistent, perspi- the United States,Japan,and Great Britain) cacious political choices among a variety have shown that such a flanking financial of policy options. Well-chosen policies – policy on the part of central banks can i.e., ones that promote democracy, justice, make even heavy debt loads bearable and and economic efficiency all at once – will avoid the creditor panics and the ensuing in turn provide the indispensable pre- crises of liquidity and solvency that usu- requisite for resolving the current conflict ally accompany them. To be sure, some between the constraints of financial mar- critics of the scheme would prefer to pro- kets and aspirations for democratic self- hibit the Central Bank from purchasing determination. „

Wolfgang Schroeder The SPD’s Road toward New Progress

At its National Congress around the beginning of December 2011 the SPD made some important structural adjustments to its program.Perhaps the most significant changes involved its positions on the functions and institutions of the European Union. The Party proceeded circumspectly, always an eye on its identity.

Wolfgang Schroeder day Karl Polanyi’s 1944 classic, The Great (*1960) is a Professor at the University of Transformation, sounds an inspiring note: Kassel (currently on leave) whose area of expertise is »The political system of the Federal »The economy is no longer imbedded in Republic of Germany/statehood in transition.« social relationships; rather, social rela- At present he is a permanent secretary in the tionships are imbedded in the economic Ministry of Labor,Social Affairs,and Family in the State of Brandenburg. system.« According to Polanyi the destruc- [email protected] tive consequences of untrammeled mar- kets provoke – almost pendulum-like – a self-protective reaction on the part of so- n a time that threatens to fall out of joint, ciety. Among these historical counter- Ithe SPD’s review of its own program did measures were the rise of labor unions, so- not fail to thematize the relationship be- cial security systems, and laws to regulate tween capitalism and democracy. Even to- markets. In this sense social democracy is

20 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 22] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 21

still about developing schemes to strike a today to prove that these policies worked. better balance between dynamic market Germany weathered the world economic processes and social integration. and financial crisis better than other So how does our economic system have countries. to be constructed and regulated in the fu- Yet these accomplishments have cer- ture in order to create a good society for tainly had a darker side:The low-wage everyone? In its deliberations on this broad sector expanded, and atypical forms of question, the SPD focused on one crucial employment proliferated on the watch of problem. Since we live in a society built the Social Democrats. In consequence, on work, ways must be found to satisfy around 22 % of all income-earners worked people’s need to participate in and shape for low wages, while 1.4 million of them the decisions that affect them as well as of- qualified for subsidies from the Hartz IV fering them protection against the vicissi- program6. The number of those working tudes of the market. Yet those imperatives on temporary contracts today is twice as must also be balanced against the inev- high as it was in 2004. Poverty and social itable economic and social dynamism un- injustice have increased more in Germany leashed by scientific and technical change. during the past twenty years than in most Aware that it must negotiate the tensions other OECD countries. That is the reason generated by these often conflicting goals, why the legacy of the last SPD-led govern- the SPD decided to deal with the contra- ment is identified by the label »Hartz IV,« dictions of our epoch by redefining the even though it produced other, equally notion of progress itself. In a way anal- important and far more popular policy ogous to Polanyi’s pendulum movement, initiatives, including a new citizenship law, this rethinking of progress suggests that strong moves toward full-day schooling, the SPD is swinging back toward the center and the eventual end of nuclear-generated of gravity of its historic political »brand,« power. As a result of the Hartz IV debacle, finding means to combine economic and the SPD soon came to bear the brunt of its social progress. core electoral supporters’ disappointment. Agenda 2010 drove a wedge into the The adjustments the SPD has made in Party5. Some saw in it an appropriate res- the labor market and social policy areas ponse to the difficulties that globalization reflect not merely some unintended and had entailed for the German Model, while unfavorable developments in the former, others thought it signaled a betrayal of so- but also some misjudgments that were the cial-democratic principles. At the time the fault of the Party itself. When the Agenda SPD government had to cope with eco- 2010 policies were adopted, the main goal nomic pressures generated by a stagnant was simply to increase the quantity of avail- economy, high unemployment, and the able jobs, whereas now the quality of those constraints implicit in the global compe- jobs is getting far more attention. The SPD tition to become a »business-friendly« lo- and the labor unions have closed ranks to cation. It responded by wagering that it launch a campaign for »good work« which could provide social security most effec- provides a conceptual basis for what the tively by going along with the market rather Party hopes to achieve. One concrete than opposing it. Among the measures it manifestation of this concern is their com- adopted in this spirit were lower taxes and mitment to a legal, across-the-board mini- fringe benefit costs as well as deregulation mum wage and regulation of the contract of labor markets,all of which were intended labor market. to make Germany a more competitive place When the red-green coalition was in to do business. There is plenty of evidence power, it decided to raise the age for full

NG|FH 1|2012 21

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 23] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 22

pensions to 67, a move that provoked a An effective, investment-friendly policy great deal of criticism, even within the assumes a state with capacities ample Party. Debates over that decision are still enough to carry it out. In order to enhance raging. As of 2011 only around 25 % of the prestige and legitimacy of the political those over 60 years old were still gainfully system as a whole, the SPD advocates a employed. In order to avoid the negative plan to supplement representative democ- impacts on pension levels and especially racy in part by introducing some elements the increasing poverty among the elderly of direct democracy. Proponents have in that would otherwise be expected from mind both plebiscites at the national level this low level of elderly work-force partic- and efforts to strengthen local democracy. ipation, the SPD has advocated several It is remarkable that deliberations on the reforms. The party would like to expand strengthening of democracy and others the poverty-prevention policies already in about upgrading Europe’s capacity to act place, modify its invalidity pension, and were both on the agenda at the SPD Party postpone implementation of the age in- Congress, but never were considered as crease for drawing a retirement pension aspects of a common project. until the labor market situation improves. Currently, the European Union is the The tax burden on higher-earners has also most comprehensive site for carrying out undergone some cautious correction. A structural adjustments to programs. This is few years ago policymakers worried that not just a matter of Eurobonds, monetary rate hikes might encourage higher-earners funds,or other one-off measures to manage to abandon the taxing jurisdiction that crises. Rather, what are at issue here are imposed them,but that pendulum has also the principles that underlie the EU’s func- swung in the other direction. Because the tioning with respect to its institutional wealth of this group has increased so much, order. To prevent the excessive debts of a the current proposal is to raise the top tax few countries from paralyzing all of Europe, bracket from 42 % to 49 %. Plans also call the SPD is counting on political mecha- for a restoration of the tax on capital assets nisms that will generate cooperative, soli- and a reform of the rules governing married darity-based solutions. The central idea couples who file joint returns. In general here is to forge a new relationship between the SPD wants to strengthen public balance nation-states and the EU that would allow sheets without unduly burdening those more national responsibilities to be shifted who will have to pay the most. The idea of to the European level, in order to reinforce providing a universal health insurance plan Europe’s capacity to act both internally reflects the same thinking. and externally.In this context the question So is the SPD about to upset the apple is not simply how many responsibilities cart of »third way« politics? The previous Germany is willing to assign to the Euro- examples should suffice to show that the pean level, but also how much money it is social policy pendulum of the SPD has willing to invest to insure Europe’s capa- indeed moved, but it has done so without city to act on principles of solidarity. But abandoning the basic positions of the red- these proposals also raise other questions: green phase. There has also been conti- how much legitimacy does Europe have in nuity with respect to the debt brake, in the Germany? And won’t enhancing Europe’s sense that a sustainable policy of fiscal capabilities weaken rather than strengthen contraction is still on the agenda. Higher- German democracy? The social stability earners will have to bear a heavier burden, pact envisaged by the SPD has to be drawn not only to bolster state revenues, but also up in such a way that the sovereignty of to distribute the burdens in a fairer way. nation-states will not be questioned, at

22 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 24] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 23

least not in the medium term. Thus, the dulum of SPD thinking is thus swinging challenge can be expressed as follows: If slightly away from a »market-friendly« to- the EU is to be given enhanced status in ward a more »market-skeptical« policy posi- matters of macroeconomic and finance tion. Nevertheless, it is clearly still impor- policy, how can the capacities of demo- tant to stimulate the innovative mecha- cratic governance within nation-states nism of the market, yet also to question its simultaneously be preserved? outcomes with respect both to fairness in As we learn anew every day, scientific distribution and matters of safety. This must and technical progress does not lead auto- be done after the fact, but also as a preven- matically to social progress. In fact, the tive measure.A policy that aspires to com- economic gains of recent years and the bat the market’s destructive forces in the great changes that accompanied them interest of the majority must do more than have brought about a polarization between merely regulate markets. In this context a winners and losers. Just recently, Susanne positive growth strategy for both industry Höll of the Süddeutsche Zeitung noted and the service sector is necessary. tellingly in her newspaper that the notion As we analyze the adjustments that the of progress nowadays does »not carry posi- SPD has made in its program,we find a plan tive connotations.« It is therefore neces- for prudent, well-considered action. There sary and proper to undertake a conceptual are no dramatic shifts in basic policy posi- revision of the idea of progress, since that tions here. The Party has not acquiesced in is the burden that our age has evidently the policy stances of either the Greens or placed on us. The SPD has indicated in the the Party of the Left. Nor is it – despite resolutions it passed at the Berlin Party many accusations to the contrary – mas- Congress that it still sees itself as a party of querading as the Christian-Democratic progress in a quite specific sense. It takes Party. Instead, it has resolved to permit the the economic, technical, and intellectual pendulum of policy to move back toward potential of society as its criterion for positions that the Party has always under- offering every person a share in its bene- stood to be the core of its identity. At the fits. One crucial resolution approved at the same time it has built a bridge between Party Congress puts it this way: »We want third-way politics and the new economic, to have a society based on solidarity, one ecological, and social challenges confront- that links individual freedom to the joint ing us. In this way the Party is calmly responsibility of each for all the rest. defending its interpretation of social ad- Economic and technological progress as vances, emancipation, and progress. The well as ecological sustainability and demo- road to this strategy definitely does not lead cratic participation should be combined through an unconditional basic income. with individual and social affluence. The Rather, it leads to an inclusive society based crux of our emancipatory project is to on work,i.e.,one in which meaningful work combine these elements into an idea of becomes the chief means of integrating in- progress that will be new, fair, and sustain- dividuals into society. The keynote speech able.« The Party’s aim is expressly to »make at the Party Congress put it this way: »We the quality of life of all human beings into are the party of work and bear a special the chief criterion for policymaking in responsibility for that very reason.« The Germany.« Progress in the sense indicated resolutions adopted at the Congress indi- by these words cannot happen unless poli- cate that the SPD is ready to meet that tics takes priority over markets,which must responsibility. It is certainly possible that be more effectively imbedded and made the pendulum of voter approval will now to fulfill positive social purposes.The pen- swing back in the SPD’s direction. „

NG|FH 1|2012 23

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 25] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 24

Thomas Meyer The New Face of Inequality: a »Fragmented Class Society«?

There is no doubt that a certain measure of functional income inequality is legiti- mate and reasonable from a socioeconomic point of view. But when inequality becomes excessive, it loses all legitimacy, for in that case it shreds the fabric of society and weakens the entire economy. Germany is coming perilously close to that point. Hence, the time for an honest appraisal of inequality in this country has arrived.

Thomas Meyer Social Democracy has historically found its (*1943) is Professor emeritus of Political strongest moral impetus. Science at the University of Dortmund and editor-in-chief of the journal Neue Gesell- schaft/Frankfurter Hefte. His most recent books, published by VS Press, include: Telling it as it is Social Democracy: an Introduction and What is Fundamentalism? The new inequality has developed so ra- pidly that a re-evaluation of social rela- tionships is overdue. It is time to make a ot so very long ago, Social Democrats sober assessment of actual conditions in Nthought they should avoid using the society, just as Social Democracy did du- term »underclass« to designate the rapidly ring its formative period. That is the best growing number of long-term unem- way to avoid the mistake against which ployed, holders of precarious jobs, low- Ferdinand Lassalle warned when he said: wage earners, and other socially marginal- »When we bring our high hopes into the ized groups. They were concerned that, analysis of given social relations, the result since they periodically shared in govern- is always half-hearted and unsatisfactory. ing, they would be held partly responsible It is better just to tell it as it is without for the stubborn persistence of social class trying to spare anyone’s feelings.« divisions even after so many years of In order to move decisively beyond the political reform. Poverty and inequality usual findings that inequalities and forms had been in decline for decades; however, of exclusion have gotten worse in our so- outside the media spotlight and therefore ciety, new questions have to be asked. unnoticed by policymakers, the trend What kind of a society is it that is gradual- toward greater equality has recently begun ly taking shape, quite unforeseen by any- to reverse. one? What is the social character of the Poverty, gross inequality, and social newly emergent order in respect to in- exclusion are making a comeback in our come, property, and participation? Is the society, even though they appeared to have new, unequal social order merely evanes- been banished by the social welfare state cent, a kind of weak phase of the business and economic regulation.According to our cycle that will pass as soon as the economy linear idea of progress, this should not be starts to hum again? Or is a new type of happening. Worse, it threatens the prin- class division becoming so entrenched ciple of legitimation implicit in that idea that it challenges the aspirations of social of progress at its most vulnerable point democracy in fundamental ways? Many (the tendency toward equality), where things about the new order appear dis-

24 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 26] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 25

quieting: the unparalleled extent of in- sociological debates yield a clear picture of equality, the increasing scope of poverty the newly emergent order of inequality. It and precariousness, and the exclusion of is characterized by deepening,more intense entire groups in the lower echelons of so- social cleavages. The results may be epito- ciety (15 % of the population is living in mized in Hans Bude’s concept of a »frag- poverty or in danger of falling into it).And, mented« three-class society. That notion at the upper end of the social scale we involves something more than the oft- encounter the »secession of the success- cited »two-thirds society.« The lower class ful«: the elite leading luxurious lives with- comprises those affected or threatened by out contributing noticeably to the welfare poverty and exclusion, and who are shut of society as a whole. The really novel as- out of most opportunities for social parti- pect of these changing circumstances, one cipation. The new underclass includes the which puts them in a different light, is the long-term unemployed, many people who hardening of social differences. The dyna- shuttle between poorly paid work and un- mic of upward mobility that once existed employment (the »precariously employed«), for the lower strata has nearly come to a low-wage workers, single mothers, and standstill; meanwhile the upper crust has many of the elderly poor. The members of sealed itself off almost seamlessly against this class are likewise permanently denied those from below, recruiting new entrants most opportunities to take part in social mostly from within its own ranks.Are these and political affairs, which of course leads milestones along the way toward a return to their alienation from society and the toward a class society? commonwealth. The effects of class be- This unforeseen resurgence of social come ever more persistent due to several cleavages once believed to have been elim- factors: the continuing influence of the un- inated is not without ominous impli- derlying social and economic circumstan- cations.What will it mean for social cohe- ces that caused it in the first place; the self- sion, the legitimacy of a democratic order reinforcing negative consequences of the presumably based on equality, and – above situation that confronts members of the all – social democracy’s promise to create a underclass, and the discouraging life expe- society of equal and free persons? One riences that carry over into the next gener- thing is clear enough: the risks are only ation. Since members of today’s lower exacerbated by evading such questions in stratum have little real chance of moving the hope that,if we keep silent about them, up, they eventually give in to resignation – the threat might go away. Silence would in sharp contrast to the older working class only aggravate the rupture that now af- with its boundless determination and its flicts society as well as the breach between confidence in progress and personal ad- it and the political process occasioned by vancement. This is the one thing that truly these same tendencies (the »crisis of repre- distinguishes the new »underclass« from sentation«). And the hopes for improve- the old working class. ment on the part of those most deeply In respect to their ways of life and in- affected by the crisis would be dashed. come levels, members of the middle class are a highly diverse group, both horizon- tally and vertically. But what divides this Long-buried social cleavages class most deeply is the degree to which its resurface members must worry about downward mobility. A minority of this group has So what is the actual state of affairs? Hard cultivated skills and types of knowledge facts combined with the most up-to-date that are particularly well adapted to mar-

NG|FH 1|2012 25

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 27] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 26

ket demand; hence its members live a rea- people.« Social consciousness gets ever sonably secure life,enjoying their acquired more rarefied. That is what Heinz Bude status. But the majority always lives with has in mind when he discusses the »frag- the dread of falling into the underclass, of- mentation« characteristic of the new in- ten through no fault of their own. equality. The upper class, too, is internally Behind the scenes of visible social mi- diverse, again in respect to way of life, pro- lieus, then, a »fragmented class society« fessional position, and income sources. Its devoid of class consciousness is taking members are recruited through educa- hold. The absence (so far) of even the slight- tional connections, »old boy« networks, est scintilla of class consciousness has its and the filtering effect of familiar life origins in an even more fundamental lack styles. The core of this group consists of of awareness that people's lives and fates the top managers of financial and multi- are interdependent. But let no one be con- national corporations, people whom the soled by the thought that the new inequal- German far right used to call »fellows with- ity is not sparking much obvious resent- out a country.« Differences in income and ment; what is happening today poses an wealth between those at the very top and unacknowledged risk to the entire society. the very bottom are greater than ever with There is no reason to suppose that inse- the top 10 % of the population controlling cure, marginalized people who are barely 60 % of the wealth! The income differen- getting by will continue to overlook the tial between a firm’s average employees lavish incomes, wealth, opportunities, and and its top management has widened sub- sense of security that prevail at the top of stantially: according to one OECD study the social pyramid, as the latter ignore the the top 10 % of German income recipients fate of those at the bottom. It would fly in already earn eight times as much as the the face of all historical experience – not bottom decile. Regardless of how much to mention the mass protests that are be- (or little) it has actually achieved, the up- ginning to occur around the globe – to per class leads a life of privilege that it has imagine that the marginalized social clas- largely awarded itself: year-end bonuses ses will remain indifferent as they see their that are the stuff of fantasy, as well as own values mocked. They still believe that guaranteed lavish pensions even after hard work and achievement bring success; short periods of service. Their privileges indeed, that belief still helps legitimize the breed a rentier mentality that mocks the market economy and ensures its accep- traditional bourgeois work ethic. Sighard tance as a linchpin of democracy. Neckel has coined just the right expression Thus, after a long egalitarian interlude for all this: refeudalization. The new order sustained by Keynesian policies and social of inequality is increasingly squeezing the welfare measures in the wake of WW II,we visible patchwork of social milieus, despite are witnessing the comeback of inequality. all of its vertical and horizontal diversity, What went almost unnoticed at first has by in the vise of class formation. Added to now become so obvious that it can neither these trends there is another unprecedent- be overlooked nor swept under the rug by ed development. To a degree unknown in semantic strategies. It is of course true that the past,individual social classes are losing the traditional notion of class,especially in touch with their own internal milieus. its Marxian variant,misses the mark of cur- Especially where downward mobility is at rent trends. Those in the service industry stake, a new mentality has emerged in who live in luxury or those who exercise which people think: »I really don’t need control over great wealth are not neces- to worry about the social destiny of other sarily the owners of the wealth they create

26 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 28] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 27

and manage. On the other hand, quite a all divert attention from the core phenom- few entrepreneurs in the middle class work ena of the new inegalitarianism as well hard for the money they earn without en- as the risks that it entails. The forms of joying any income and status security. protest currently taking place around the The notion of »social strata« was in- globe should be seen as preliminary warn- tended to overcome the lack of conceptual ing signals.For one thing,we should worry clarity noted already. The criteria of in- about the close association between social come,education,and professional position marginalization and political apathy in Ger- were added to offer a more accurate pic- many. The twofold notion of a fragmented ture of how the new order of inequality class society, by contrast, expresses both actually worked. But unfortunately they the growing polarization between groups have failed to provide a sufficiently precise as well as their increasing indifference to- image due to the great diversity in lifestyle ward one another.But it also lets us see that contained within the modern-day service the latter phenomenon mostly works from sector. Bourdieu's idea of social milieus, the top down, but not vice versa. The posi- by contrast, includes even the inequality tional interests of the two sides are simply that arises from differences in the cir- too opposed for a two-directional flow to cumstances of employment and ways of take place. What is at stake in the new in- life. But the image of a milieu society has equality are not simply differences in life- also encouraged the illusion that every- style, but opportunities in life, issues of body can choose where s/he would like social survival. Insecurity, exclusion, and to belong. Individualism replaces social poverty do indeed give rise to resignation stratum and class, and we end up with a and apathy, but these are not the only pos- pattern of inequality that has only a hori- sible reactions. Outrage, protest, and revolt zontal dimension, not a vertical one. To are also starting to happen. One can al- be sure, the milieu model did put the so- most hear the creaks and groans as cracks cial-cultural disassociation of groups into begin to appear in the foundations of the the foreground, but that did not seem so new order of inequality. The social demo- important, as long as individual opportu- cratic compromise, which is actually the nities to make choices were what really underpinning of democratic capitalism, counted. has been called into question in radical ways by big business and its service class. Democratic regulation of the economy and Toward conceptual clarity the leveling-down of previously existing social inequalities have been ratcheted None of the concepts usually employed to back. The last appeal that Tony Judt issued make sense of social class really captures before his death was to halt and reverse what is going on in the new inegalitarian this explosive tendency before it is too order of things.All of them fuse descriptive late. Any country that ignores these risks and evaluative perspectives. The notion of will regret it. But first we must find an »class« always described both social po- appropriate label for this kind of danger, larization and political conflicts of inter- and social-scientific research has done est. »Stratum« was a concept meant to a lot already. Then the next step is to give placate everyone just because it seemed to new life and meaning to the venerable but function beyond class and conflict. »Mi- still indispensable social democratic values lieu« calls to mind individualism, personal of equal liberty and solidarity. They helped choice, horizontal alignment and socio- ensure that conditions could not remain as economic innocuousness. These notions they once had been. „

NG|FH 1|2012 27

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 29] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 28

Katajun Aminpur Prospects for Democracy in the Arab World

The various »Arab Springs« produced mixed emotions in the West.With elections in the offing, observers inevitably wondered whether a state based on the Koran and the Sunna could be a democracy at all. Our author believes that their point of view is both hypocritical and blind to reality.

Katajun Amirpur Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart have (*1971) ) is a Professor of Islamic Studies already shown in their noteworthy 2004 at the University of Hamburg.Her most recent book, The Road to a Different Islam: study, Sacred and Secular, that Western and Texts by Iranian Thinkers was published Muslim religious societies differ scarcely at by Herder Press. all in their degree of support for democracy understood as a kind of practice or a lived [email protected] experience. The same holds true for their level of acceptance of democratic values.By contrast,they argued,those same values are here are quite a few people who cannot far less widely accepted in the countries of Tget the frightening specter of Iran out Eastern Europe and Latin America than of their minds. That country’s 1979 revo- they are in the Islamic world. Their study lution did send its dictator packing, but uncovered the highest levels of support for those who had assumed that democracy democratic values in Denmark, Iceland, would follow on the heels of dictatorship and Sweden, with Germany and Austria were sorely disappointed. Before long the right behind, but also closely followed by Iranian people once again found them- Bangladesh, Egypt, and Azerbaijan. The selves living in a dictatorship, albeit one United States, Turkey, and Jordan ended up dominated by Islamists. And many ob- somewhere in the middle of the pack. In servers fear that this sequence of events short, Norris and Inglehart have by now could recur. Yet however similar these furnished evidence that Samuel Hunting- events may appear at first glance, worries ton’s brazen thesis about an impending about an Iranian-style Islamist takeover in Clash of Civilizations must be rejected on the aftermath of the Arab Spring are un- empirical grounds, however popular it may justified. A lot of time has passed in the be. Yet their findings have so far only been interim. For the inhabitants of the Arab acknowledged by insiders, while Hunting- world Iran has become an example of what ton and his ilk for whatever reason contin- to avoid, not a model to be emulated. Fur- ue to win converts. thermore, in 1979 many Iranians either had no idea what democracy was, or – if they did – believed it had already been dis- Religious commandments: credited. That is unfortunately a situation from theory to practice for which the West must bear some respon- sibility. But nowadays things look quite Against Norris and Inglehart one could different in both the Arab world and argue that enthusiasm for democracy in in Iran. People want democracy, as they the Arab world is superficial, limited to showed recently when they risked their voting procedures alone. If the will of the lives by going into the streets.Their resolve majority should happen to conflict with reflected neither a whim nor a passing fad. the divine law, then Muslims – so it could

28 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 30] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 29

be said – would have a problem with would often work to the detriment of wom- democracy.Riaz Hassan in his study,Faith- en. Yet it would appear that the majority lines: Muslim Conceptions of Islam and does not approve of such a rigid exegesis. Society, advances exactly this argument. Thus, a state based on the Koran and Sunna He claims that Muslims could not accept can certainly be a democratic one. Every- one of democracy’s essential tenets, thing depends on how one interprets the majority rule,due to the religious nature of law upon which such a state is supposed to their social and political order.If the will of be based. Under a more flexible interpreta- the majority should run contrary to divine tion, there would be no contradiction in edict, Hassan asserts, the latter would have claiming that a state could be democratic to prevail. He relies on one of his own and still be guided by the Koran and Sunna. opinion surveys, in which 93 % of the Moreover, it is unlikely that the women Indonesians, Pakistanis, and Egyptians of Tunisia, who for years lived in the most he interviewed declared that an Islamic progressive and gender-unbiased legal sys- society should be based on the Koran and tem in the Islamic world, would allow their Sunna; i.e., on the laws of God, rather than prerogatives to be taken away. Besides, majority rule. Assertions such as his are representatives of the Islamic parties in often cited with alarm whenever talk turns »Arab Spring« countries have frequently to the future of the Arab world. indicated that they have no intention of Yet we should not necessarily interpret turning the clock back. Of course we must these findings in the most obvious way. never forget that Khomeini too promised They do not have to mean a future in which liberty prior to seizing power and then sub- hands will again be chopped off and man- sequently broke his promise. datory veiling reintroduced. Indeed, the But on the other hand there is no reason entire question may have asked in a way why history has to repeat itself. The Isla- that produced a misleading answer.A Mus- mists of Tunisia and Egypt are way ahead lim cannot simply reply »no« in response to of those of Iran 30 years ago. When they the question, »Must a society be based on take a close look at Iran – and they do – they the Koran and Sharia?« Rather, Muslims realize that a rigid interpretation of Islam have a certain sense of who they are and does not lead people to embrace the faith. what their religion is all about, and that in- They also understand that a ruling clique cludes the idea that society ought to be that bases its authority on just such an based on the Koran and Sharia. But it does exegesis will not last forever. not necessarily follow that the Koran and the system of law it entails must be applied literally.We are dealing here with the inter- Let’s have greater confidence in the pretation of religious rules as well as their Arab World’s democratic potential practical implementation. And this is a wi- de-open field, because one person’s Sharia Islamists in many parts of the world have and Islam may not be the same as another’s. also learned to act pragmatically when in The possibilities for new and modern power.That was certainly true of Hezbollah interpretations of Islamic law are limitless. in Lebanon as well as the Islamists in During many periods of Islamic history,in- Jordan. Once the latter were finally allowed cluding even the present one, the law has to share power, they quickly became been updated and developed in flexible pragmatic adepts of Realpolitik. And surely ways. It is of course true that backward- no one would call it Realpolitik if Tunisia looking Islamic fundamentalists would like and Egypt were to be catapulted back into to apply penal and family law rigidly, which some sort of radical-Islamic Stone Age.

NG|FH 1|2012 29

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 31] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 30

There is one simple reason why the emerged from Judeo-Christian civilization, Islamists won the Tunisian elections and doomsayers here were predicting an Isla- will likely do the same in Egypt. They are mist takeover and a wave of refugees rolling not generally thought to be corrupt; they from North Africa over Europe. are well-known to the people, in contrast to Now is the time for us to show that we many other newly formed parties; and they take values like liberty and justice seri- were always there to help ordinary people ously.For too long we have sacrificed those when the state failed to do so. The Islamist values as we cozied up to North Africa’s associations, especially in Egypt, have al- dictators, taking at face value their assur- ways operated as welfare providers, and ances that they represented the only alter- they are now reaping the benefits of their natives to an Islamist seizure of power. previous service to the community.Whether People in the Islamic world have long sus- or not the West approves of this, it will not pected that we in the West reserve the be able to do much to change it. Still, the benefits of freedom and justice, human West should have an interest in stabilizing rights and peace for ourselves alone. We Tunisia and Egypt, a goal that can be ought to have greater confidence in the achieved best by offering economic assis- democratic potential of those people, and tance to get those countries back on their stand ready to offer our help whenever feet. Europe’s reaction has been ignoble. democracy is in trouble.We should realize While the people at Tahrir Square in Cairo that democracy is most likely to take root were fighting for the values that supposedly when people have enough to eat. „

Donatella Della Porta Social movements for »another democracy«

Donatella Della Porta brutal dictatorship, citizens do mobilize, is a professor of sociology at the European and not only on material issues. Inter- University Institute in Florence,Italy.Her research interests include social movements, preting the Arab Spring as merely a call for participatory democracy,and political representative institutions will however be corruption.Her most recent book,published misleading. The protestors in the Tahir by Cambridge University Press,is entitled Meeting Democracy (co-edited by Dieter Rucht). Square were calling for freedom, but also [email protected] practicing other conceptions of democracy that, if not opposed, are certainly different from liberal representative democracy, he Arab Spring could be read as yet resonating instead with ideas of partici- Tanother testimony that democracy is patory and deliberative democracy. becoming »the only game in town«. The Not by chance, when the ideas of the effects of the wave of protest that brought Arab Spring spread from the MENA re- about democratization processes in an area gion to Europe, they were adopted and of the world traditionally defined as domi- adapted by social movements that chal- nated by resilient authoritarian regimes lenged indeed representative democracy. for sure contributed to challenge the idea Directly inspired by the Arab Spring, of a clash of civilization based on the in- the Spanish and then Greek Indignados compatibility of Islam with democracy. occupied hundreds of squares in order not Moreover, they have shown that, even in only to protest austerity measures in their

30 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 32] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 31

respective countries, but also to ask for with participatory and deliberative forms more, and a different democracy.Austerity of democracy.The very meaning of democ- measures in Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Por- racy was, that is, contested. tugal and Spain were in fact met with long- There is in fact no doubt that the crisis lasting, mass protests. in Europe is a crisis of democracy as well Another protest was also seen – not as, or even more than, a financial crisis. against the former, but certainly different Neo-liberalism was and, in fact, is, a politi- and more directly concentrated on themes cal doctrine that brings with it a minimal- of democracy: the criticism of democracy ist vision of the public and democracy – as as it is now, but also the elaboration of pos- Colin Crouch demonstrates so well in sible alternatives. »Democracia real ya!« was his Post-Democracy. It foresees not only the main slogan of the Spanish indignados the reduction of political interventions protesters that occupied the Placa del Sol in to balance the market (and consequent Madrid, the Placa de Catalunya in Barce- liberalisation, privatisation and deregula- lona and hundreds of squares in the rest of tion) but also an elitist concept of citizen the country from 15 May, calling for differ- participation (electoral only, and therefore ent social and economic policies and in- occasional and potentially distorted) and deed greater citizen participation in their an increased level of influence for lobbies formulation and implementation. Before and strong interests. The challenge to a this example in Spain, self-convened citi- liberal concept and practice of democracy zens in Iceland had demanded the resig- is however accompanied by the (re)emer- nation of the government and its delegates gence of diverse concepts and practices of in the Central Bank and financial authority democracy, elaborated and practiced by – between the end of 2008 and the beginning among others – movements that in Europe of the following year, while in Portugal, a today are opposing a neo-liberal solution demonstration arranged via Facebook in to the financial crisis, accused of further March 2011 brought more than 200,000 depressing consumption and thereby young Portuguese people to the streets.The quashing any prospects for development indignados protests in turn inspired similar (whether sustainable or not). mobilisations in Greece, where opposition Accused of being apolitical and popu- to austerity measures had already been list, these movements have placed what expressed in occasionally violent forms. Claus Offe long ago defined as the »meta- Similarly, when the Occupy Wall question« of democracy at the centre of Street started in the United States, quickly their action. The indignados’ discourse spreading in thousands of American cities, on democracy is articulate and complex, the concern voiced by the protestors ad- taking up some of the principal criticisms dressed the financial crisis, but even more of the ever-decreasing quality of represen- the failure of democratic governments to tative democracies, but also some of the live up to the expectation of their citizens. main proposals inspired by other demo- Their very democratic quality was in fact cratic qualities beyond representation,that contested. On October 15 2011, the protest are based on electoral accountability. These events registered in 951 cities in 82 coun- proposals resonate with (more traditional) tries challenged not only the economic and participatory visions, but also with new social policy choices, but even more what deliberative conceptions that underline they saw as a deterioration of represen- the importance of creating multiple public tative liberal democracy.What is more, the spaces, egalitarian but plural. occupations represented not only occa- Above all, it criticises the ever more sions to protest but also experimentations evident shortcomings of representative

NG|FH 1|2012 31

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 33] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 32

democracies, mirroring a declining trust anti-constitutional forms of blackmail, in the ability of parties to channel emerging depriving citizens of their sovereignty. demands in the political system. Beginning But there is also another vision of de- from Iceland, and forcefully in Spain and mocracy, that which normative theory has Portugal, indignation is addressed towards recently defined deliberative democracy, corruption in the political class, seen in and which the global justice movement has both bribes (the dismissal of corrupt people elaborated and diffused through the social from institution is called for) in a concrete forums as consensus democracy. This con- sense, and in the privileges granted to lob- ception of democracy is prefigured by the bies and common interests shared by pub- very same indignados that occupy squares, lic institutions and economic (and often transforming them into public spheres financial) powers. It is to this corruption – made up of »normal citizens«. It is an at- that is the corruption of democracy – that tempt to create high quality discursive de- much of the responsibility for the eco- mocracy, recognising the equal rights of all nomic crisis,and the inability to manage it, (not only delegates and experts) to speak is attributed to. (and to respect) in a public and plural space, If the centrality of the condemnation open to discussion and deliberation on of corruption has bent some noses out of themes that range from situations suffered shape on the left (which still sees anti-poli- to concrete solutions to specific problems, tics more in the criticism of corruption from the elaboration of proposals on com- than in corruption itself), the slogan »they mon goods to the formation collective soli- don’t represent us« is nevertheless also darity and emerging identities. linked to a deeper criticism of the degene- This prefiguration of deliberative de- ration of representative democracy, linked mocracy follows a vision profoundly differ- in turn to elected politicians’ failure to ent to that which legitimates represen- ›do politics‹. The latter are often united in tative democracy based on the principle of creating an image suggesting that no alter- majority decisions. Democratic quality here natives are available – an image that pro- is in fact measured by the possibility to testers do not accept.Representative democ- elaborate ideas within discursive, open and racy is also criticised for having allowed public arenas, where citizens play an active the abduction of democracy, not only by role in identifying problems,but also in ela- financial powers, but also by international borating possible solutions. It is the oppo- organisations, above all the International site of a certain acceptation of democracy Monetary Fund and the European Union. of the prince,where the professional elected Pacts for the Euro and stability, imposed to govern must not be disturbed – at least in exchange for loans, are considered as until fresh elections are held. „

1 Kurt Schumacher (1895-1952) was the Chair of the SPD from shortly after WW II until his death in 1952. He opposed German participation in forerunners of the EU such as the European Coal and Steel Community and the Council of Europe. 2 The Growth Acceleration Law, passed by the German parliament at the end of 2009, aimed to restart lagging growth by means of »well targeted tax relief,« for example by raising family allowances, lowering certain inheritance taxes, liberalizing tax write-offs for businesses and much more. 3 Miegel cofounded the Bonn Institute for Economy and Society along with his close collaborator, prominent CDU politician Kurt Biedenkopf. 4 Former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier leads the opposition SPD in the German Bundestag. 5 Agenda 2010 was a reform proposal presented to the German Parliament by SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2003. It featured major cuts in taxes and spending, with the latter targeting pensions, unemployment compensation, and medical care. 6 Hartz IV,which went into effect in 2005 as part of the Agenda 2010 program, merged long-term unemployment assistance with welfare payments, albeit at a lower level than before. Wage-earners could still qualify for a certain category of unemployment subsidies if their income and assets were low enough.

32 NG|FH 1|2012

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 34] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 33

PUBLISHER’S INFORMATION

Editorial Department of NG/FH Released for the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Sigmar Gabriel, Klaus Harpprecht, Jürgen Kocka, Hiroshimastrasse 17 Thomas Meyer, Bascha Mika and Peter Struck D-10785 Berlin Tel: 0049 30 26935 7151, -52, -53 Editorial Staff Fax: 0049 30 26935 9238 Thomas Meyer (editor-in-chief and responsible), www.ng-fh.de Lewis Hinchman (English language editor), [email protected] Dirk Kohn, Klaus-Jürgen Scherer, Julian Heidenreich (editorial assistent)

Publisher Design Planning J.H.W.Dietz Verlag and tiff.any Ltd., Berlin Successors, GmbH Dreizehnmorgenweg 24 Typeset, Lithography, Printing, Production D-53175 Bonn Limberg Druck GmbH, Kaarst Tel: 0049 228 184877-0 Fax: 0049 228 234104 To order individual copies contact www.dietz-verlag.de [email protected].

ISSN 2194-3095

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 35] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.qxd 14.02.2013 15:25 Seite 34

FES INTERNATIONAL

Recent publications from the International Departments of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Financial Transaction Tax BRICS in Global Governance Sensible, Feasible, Overdue A Progressive Force? CARSTEN SIELING NIU HAIBIN FES Perspective, May 2012 Perspective FES New York, April 2012

Germany’s Economy Fixing Finance is Not Enough? Domestic Laggard and Export Miracle The social consequences of monetary MICHAEL DAUDERSTÄDT and financial policies FES International Policy Analysis, April 2012 WERNER PUSCHRA AND SARA BURKE (EDS.) Is the Euro Failing? FES International Policy Analysis, April 2012 Structural Problems and Policy Failures Bringing Europe to the Brink A Human Rights-based Approach to KLAUS BUSCH Climate Finance? FES Study, April 2012 ALYSSA JOHL AND YVES LADOR PUSCH International Policy Analysis FES Geneva, Could a Debt Repayment Pact Lead February 2012 Europe Out of the Crisis? TORALF PUSCH FES International Policy Analysis, April 2012

These and further publications are available at: www.fes.de/international.

Stay up to date with new developments in international affairs with the weekly publications newsletter »Neuerscheinungen«, bringing to you the latest and most important analyses, reports and opinions from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s international departments.

Subscribe today by sending an email with the subject »Newsletter NEUERSCHEINUNGEN abonnieren« to [email protected].

[Limberg Box Patch : TrimBox [0] BleedBox [3] MediaBox [10] Patch : Page 36] Quarterly_1-2012_komplett.pdf