Agenda 2010: German social democracy and the market state

Ideology is always for something. Who thought neoliberalism was any different? The post-Cold War provides an excellent laboratory in which to observe 20th c. civilization crumbling, even as it marches towards world markets unbounded by law or social principles. Through repetition and rhetorical sleight-of-hand, the market has robbed the state and thus the polis of its agency. Thus, Schroeder’s SPD is contemplating yet another retreat from the social democratic model, in favor of the post-welfare-state model already well established in the UK and America. And yet within the SPD ranks are breaking as members watch the party abdicate Germany’s basic social contract. These events are reminiscent of M. Polanyi’s The Great Transformation [1744], and they demonstrate once again Marx’s prescience.