Nov 14th, 2020 3-4:30pm Want to spend your Covid-19 isolation sharpening your analytical senses and building your historical knowledge? Join the Education Committee for the inauguration of our Socialist Night School! This will include a lecture followed by a discussion informed by selected optional readings. Register here to participate in this online meeting.

Our next session, on Nov 14th at 3pm, will conclude our three-session course on the history of socialism. This course will discuss the history of social democracy in the 20th century. This tradition produced some of the most humane societies the world has ever seen in Northern Europe, yet is often regarded as a failure by many on the Left. What are we talking about when we say 'social democracy'? How have 20th century social democrats understood their politics? What can democratic socialists in the 21st century learn from this experience?

Reading

"Why Socialists Should Fight for Structural Reforms" by Meagan Day (a refresher from our Socialist Strategy discussion)

"Cockblocked by Redistribution: A Pickup Artist in Denmark" by Katie JM Baker

"Beyond Social Democracy" by Ralph Milliband and Marcel Liebman

Watching

The Spirit of '45, feature length documentary by Ken Loach on the accomplishments of the British Labour Party after WWII

Extended Reading

Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism by Gøsta Esping-Andersen

The Struggle for Economic Democracy in Sweden by Gregg Olsen (hard to find; I have a copy to lend)

"The Coup in Chile" by Ralph Milliband

Extended Watching

A Very British Coup, a three-part BBC miniseries based on a novel of the same name by British Labour politician Chris Mullins about the election, and subsequent (what we would now call) deep state opposition to a hard left prime minister. Mullins, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group with Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, based his novel on the very real consideration of a coup against Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson during the 1970s. Also Episode 2 and Episode 3.

_The Battle of Chile_ a documentary by Patricio Guzman about the coup against the elected Socialist President Salvador Allende. Also, Part 2 and Part 3.