Prospects of social democracy in a post-pandemic world

This should be seen as neither a straight prediction nor just wishful thinking, more a clear-eyed analysis of constraints and opportunities that social democrats may face or have to be prepared for

Many social commentators in the claustrophobic gloom of their self-isolation have shown a tendency to write in somewhat feverish apocalyptic terms about the near future. Some of them expect the pre-existing dysfunctionalities of social and political institutions to accelerate in the post-pandemic world and anticipate our going down a vicious spiral. Others are a bit more hopeful in envisaging a world where the corona crisis will make people wake up to the deep fault lines it has revealed and try to mend things towards a better world. Some others take an intermediate position of what is called upbeat cynicism: hold