Election Struggle: The Emergence of "Right-Wing Socialism"
In European politics, the concept of conservative socialism has undergone a remarkable evolution, from a 19th-century state-building strategy to a contemporary political force. This transformation is evident in the rise of parties like the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) in Germany, a party that blends left-wing economic policies with socially conservative elements and nationalism.
Historically, conservative socialism in Europe, exemplified by Bismarck’s Germany, combined conservative nationalism and social welfare to counter socialism while preserving order. Post-WWII conservatism in Germany mixed market support with welfare, while the Social Democratic Party (SPD) moved rightward economically.
Sahra Wagenknecht’s BSW embodies a modern conservative socialism in Germany. By advocating a programme that mixes social policies with a strong anti-immigration stance, Wagenknecht aims to "save democracy" by fighting the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) on its own turf. This approach has resonated with voters dissatisfied with traditional left-right distinctions, resulting in the BSW gaining more votes than Die Linke in the European elections of June 2024.
However, the story of conservative socialism in Europe is not always one of success. In Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has taken an openly right-wing stance on issues related to gender, LGBTQI+ rights, and migration, but also on certain social and economic rights. This shift towards the right, which began decades before the current crisis, has led to a catastrophic decline for the party, with electoral defeats seeing it lose a great deal of support, dropping from 27% in 2017 to just 7% in June 2024.
In contrast, SMER, a party formed in 1999 as a split from the Strana demokratické levice (Party of the Democratic Left, SDL), has become more conservative than socialist over the years. SMER has expanded its links with the far right, aligning itself with racist, Islamophobic views, anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric, and conspiracy theories. Despite achieving no significant systemic social progress, even during its term of single-party government between 2012 and 2016, SMER won the parliamentary election in September 2023 with 23 per cent of the vote.
The successes experienced by the BSW in Germany, however, are not replicated in Bulgaria, where the conservative socialist approach has accompanied a decline into irrelevance for the country's socialist party. This illustrates how conservative socialism can either propel a party to success or lead to its downfall, depending on the context and the party's ability to balance its conservative and socialist ideologies.
In Denmark, the Social Democrats, under the leadership of Mette Frederiksen, have adopted one of the harshest immigration and refugee policies in the world. This approach has been used as inspiration by the United Kingdom and Austria. The Danish asylum policy, which emphasizes repatriation and return, has been a controversial topic, raising questions about the human rights implications of such policies.
In conclusion, the resurgence of conservative socialism in European politics is a complex phenomenon, with parties like the BSW and SMER reflecting both the potential benefits and risks of this ideology. As the political landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these parties navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by conservative socialism in the years to come.
The resurgence of conservative socialism in European politics, as demonstrated by parties like the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) in Germany and SMER in Slovakia, often defies simple categorization, with the potential to either propel a party to success or lead to its downfall, as seen in the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).
In Denmark, the Social Democrats, under Mette Frederiksen's leadership, have embraced a controversial conservative socialism stance on immigration and refugee policies, with their approach serving as an inspiration for other countries like the United Kingdom and Austria, thereby underscoring the intricate implications of this ideology in the realm of policy-and-legislation and general-news.
