Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality
About this ebook
Part memoir, part history, part political manifesto, Seeking Social Democracy offers the first full-length treatment of Ed Broadbent’s ideas and remarkable seven-decade engagement in public life. In dialogue with three collaborators from different generations, Broadbent leads readers through a life spent fighting for equality in Parliament and beyond: exploring the formation of his social democratic ideals, his engagement on the international stage, and his relationships with historical figures from Pierre Trudeau and Fidel Castro to Tommy Douglas, René Lévesque, and Willy Brandt. From the formative minority Parliament of 1972–1974 to the contentious national debate over Canada’s constitution to the free trade election of 1988, the book chronicles the life and thought of one of Canada’s most respected political leaders and public intellectuals from his childhood in 1930s Oshawa to the present day. Broadbent’s analysis also points toward the future, offering lessons to a new generation on how principles can inform action and social democracy can look beyond neoliberalism. The result is an engaging, timely, and sweeping analysis of Canadian politics, philosophy, and the nature of democratic leadership.
About the author
Ed Broadbent was the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989 and Member of Parliament for Oshawa (1968–1990) and Ottawa Centre (2004–2006). Before his entry into politics, he taught political theory at York University. He was vice president of the Socialist International between 1979 and 1989 and director of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development from 1990 to 1996. In 2011, he was the founding chair of the Broadbent Institute.
Jonathan Sas, formerly director of research at the Broadbent Institute and a senior political advisor in the BC government, currently works as director of communications at the BC Federation of Labour. Jonathan is a former editor of the Mark News whose writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, National Post, and Maisonneuve Magazine.
Luke Savage is a staff writer at Jacobin Magazine and a former employee of the Broadbent Institute. His work has been published in The Atlantic, The Guardian, Current Affairs, the Globe and Mail, and the New Statesman.
Frances Abele, C.M., is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. She is research fellow at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, the Institute for Research on Public Policy, and the Broadbent Institute.
