Democratic socialism

The future for centre-left politics after the Trump disaster Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 8th 2020 The most dramatic US Presidential election in recent times has caused the emergence of a host of issues about power, democracy and power. The election of Joe Biden and defeat of Donald Trump throws up questions about politics beyond the US - including how progressive politics can refashion what they stand for in a world of continual change and turmoil. Centre-left parties used to be anchored in organised labour and the politics of class. In Western Europe this grounded the appeal and rationale of

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Robert Owen and New Lanark: A vision of society relevant to Scotland 2020 Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 28th 2020 It's hard to be hopeful in these stressful times. It is not unreasonable to suggest that there is a widespread and corrosive sentiment at large in the UK - and much of the West - that the current unsatisfactory state of the world is the best we can do (minus a tweak or two) - and that fundamental change for the betterment of humanity and the world isn’t really possible. Our collective past should teach us not to listen to

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The future of Labour matters to everyone – and to Scottish self-government Gerry Hassan Sunday National, January 5th 2020 Nearly a month ago Labour stumbled to one of the worst defeats in its history. Yet the weeks after the calamity of the election of a Boris Johnson government with an overall majority of eighty seats, have seen Labour no further forward in recognising the scale of its reverse or how much it needs to change. This matters – for, despite everything, Labour still matter. They are still by far the principal opposition to the Tories at Westminster and the only

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History in the Making: The End of the Era of Neo-liberalism – in the UK and Globally Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 27th 2019 This, we are continually told, is meant to be a seismic, even historic election - usually referring to the fundamental implications of Brexit. What is seldom addressed is that this election also signifies far-reaching change in another aspect of politics. This is the confirmation of the jettisoning of the economic assumptions which have defined UK politics for the past 40 years - sometimes described as neo-liberalism. This shift is a continuation and reinforcement of a change

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Could Corbyn’s Labour be the future? A work in progress, but now imaginable Gerry Hassan Compass, September 27th 2018 Labour conference this week is an important staging post in the new Corbyn-led, energised mass party - not just the biggest in Britain, but bigger than all the other party memberships put together. The Jeremy Corbyn-John McDonnell leadership has been three years at the helm, and are the new establishment running and defining the party. They are now in near-total control of the party, its institutions and in tune with the expanded grass roots. This is their party now and

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