Tagged: Socialism

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change

Austerity and the Double-Movement

After the French elected Socialist Francois Hollande in a rebuke of austerity policies gripping Europe, news headlines issued reports of worried markets.  The fear, among some, is that the new president would act in such a way, or more precisely that the public was acting in such a way that, would spook markets.  Some economists, most notably Princeton professor and Nobel prize winner Paul Krugman, have argued against austerity in favor of government stimulus to push economic demand and growth. ...

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

The German Democratic Republic: ‘A Social Paradise’?

by paulabowles It has recently been noted that there appears to be ‘an increasing sense of nostalgia for communism’ among many Germans. Although, this may in part be connected to wider global financial concerns, this on its own does not explain the attraction for many younger people. Indeed, it is suggested that many of these were born after Germany’s reunification, with no experience of the reality of living under communism. In an effort to tackle these concerns, the East German...