Publisher's Synopsis
Vast changes in western societies have dimmed the prospects of the labour-based political parties that emerged a century ago, and then became major contenders for government power. The contributions in this volume, coming from international commentators, make evident the problems generated for left parties by the emerging postindustrial international economic order. Not only are traditional working class constituencies shrinking, but traditional projects are losing force and credibility as the world in which they were crafted is transformed.;Despite common difficulties, each party confronts the new problems of postindustrialism in the context of different national political heritages, and weighted by different internal party legacies. These differences, in turn, go far toward explaining the relative success of some parties, and the disarray of others.
