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The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 320.5310940904
EAN: 9780521521109
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0521521106
Label: Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 238
Publication Date: August 07, 2006
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Studio: Cambridge University Press
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Editorial Review:
Political history in the industrial world has indeed ended, argues this pioneering study, but the winner has been social democracy - an ideology and political movement that has been as influential as it has been misunderstood. Berman looks at the history of social democracy from its origins in the late nineteenth century to today and shows how it beat out competitors such as classical liberalism, orthodox Marxism, and its cousins, Fascism and National Socialism by solving the central challenge of modern politics - reconciling the competing needs of capitalism and democracy. Bursting on to the scene in the interwar years, the social democratic model spread across Europe after the Second World War and formed the basis of the postwar settlement. This is a study of European social democracy that rewrites the intellectual and political history of the modern era while putting contemporary debates about globalization in their proper intellectual and historical context.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - buyer beware
I picked up this book expecting to find a comprehensive history of 20th century social democracy. But it turns out the book is an intellectual history of social democratic thought in Italy, France and Germany in the 19th century through the 1930s, with a lot of detailed discussion of pretty obscure thinkers and party congresses. It may be fascinating for historians but not for political scientists. It does not really dig into political economy or political sociology, has no data on the size of workers' ... Read More
Rating:  - nylawyergirl
Sheri Berman has written a brillant, sweeping historical review of European Politics. She offers original insights into the development of the modern global economy. Destined to become a classic in its field, this book should be mandatory reading for political historians everywhere.
Rating: - A must for anybody interested in political economy
Berman argues that most of what we think about twentieth century politics is just wrong. Instead of seeing the chief ideological battle as one between democrats and totalitarians, or between capitalists and communists, she argues that the real struggle--or, better put, a crucial yet forgotten struggle--was about how to make capitalism and democracy mutually compatible.
Free markets don't only bring growth, she points out, but also bring instability, social dislocation, and other problems ... Read More
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