Reinventing the Left in the Global South: The Politics of the Possible

This book offers a fresh appraisal of the nature and significance of the democratic Left in the Global South. The moral and intellectual leadership of the Left is shifting south from its European birthplace. It is in the Global South, most notably in Latin America, that one finds newly self-confident progressive movements. This 'new' democratic Left includes parties and social movements that not only are avoiding the familiar pitfalls that ensnared socialists and social democrats in the twentieth century, but also are coping with the realities of the twenty-first century, especially neoliberal globalization. In analyzing and illustrating three innovative strategies - moderate social democracy, radical social-democratic transition to socialism, and Left populism - this study nudges the debate about the Left out of the well-worn grooves into which it has fallen in recent decades.

Table of Contents:
1. Reinventing the Left; 2. Alternative visions: leftist versus neoliberal paradigms; 3. How neoliberalism fails; 4. Making history: agency, constraints and realities; 5. Pitfalls and promise of the moderate Left; 6. The radical Left: moving beyond the socialist impasse; 7. Politics of the possible.

About the Author :
Richard Sandbrook is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Since 1968 he has focused his research on the Left's experience in the Global South, the relevance of social-democratic thinking to the reshaping of neoliberal globalization, the political economy of the basic-needs and market-oriented development strategies, the relationship of democratization to development, and the political role of workers and the urban poor in Africa. He has published over 50 articles and ten books, including Social Democracy in the Global Periphery: Origins, Challenges, Prospects (with Marc Edelman, Patrick Heller and Judith Teichman, Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Review :
'Richard Sandbrook's Reinventing the Left in the Global South is an excellent antidote to the pessimism that so often infects progressives in the US and Europe. Acutely aware of the pitfalls and dilemmas of trying to construct new left alternatives, Sandbrook is no Pollyanna, but his chronicling of contemporary national experiments in the Global South re-opens classic debates on how to move from theory to socialist and social democratic practice in refreshing and productive ways.' Peter Evans, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley 'This book is a tour de force, a manifesto of sorts for the democratic Left in the twenty-first century. The central message of the book is that decisive state action, propelled by popular forces, will remain essential for rectifying the injustices of capitalism in the Global South. Sandbrook bases his conclusions on the study of concrete cases. The thoughtful insights and humane conclusions of this book are essential reading for all those on the Left, but also for all those who - irrespective of their politics - worry about human suffering in the Global South.' Atul Kohli, David Bruce Professor of International Affairs, Princeton University 'This book contains solid and relevant research on the new developments of the Left in the Global South, especially in Latin America: a 'counter-movement' vis-à-vis neoliberal policies - comparable to Karl Polanyi´s 'great transformation' - which represents a turnaround in the world's political geography. With keenness but without any complaisance, Richard Sandbrook provides a serious analysis of populist and social democratic varieties of this new Left, warning about the dilemmas that each category confronts facing the aims of social equity, the rules of the market and the imperatives of democracy.' Jorge Lanzaro, Instituto de Ciencia Política, Universidad de la República, Uruguay 'Richard Sandbrook's Reinventing the Left in the Global South is an ambitious book, inspired by local activism and progressive movements in Latin America and Asia, and setting these in a comprehensive history of the modern Left. Its main theoretical roots lie in Polanyi: Sandbrook sees the contemporary movements as organic societal responses to utopian (neoliberal) market-building efforts.' James E. Mahon, Jr, Latin American Research Review