Since John Ruskin and William Morris's protestations against mass production in the nineteenth century, critics of mass consumption thought that it not only reduced the necessity, but also the desire, to make things for personal use and enjoyment. The history of leisure painting in art societies and adult education, and of the amateur artist’s consumption of art materials and self-help literature, shows that, on the contrary, affluence both inspired and facilitated a quest for self-actualisation amongst the rank and file. Creative activities such as drawing and painting served this quest at little financial cost to the individual. Following the Second World War, a significant increase in the take-up of leisure painting was encouraged by the state as part of the broader postwar settlement. The pursuit of personal wellbeing through creative activity was regarded as a public good, of benefit not only to individuals but also to the communities of which they were a part. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, state support for recreational pursuits such as leisure painting was pared back: in the shift from collectivist social democracy towards individualist market liberalism, personal enjoyment was recast as a private affair for which the consumer must pay. Painting continued to grow in popularity, supported by expanding consumer markets in self-help literature and affordable art materials. Yet while consumerism sustained the popularity of amateur art-making, the ways in which amateur artists participated in the arts changed. Personal creativity emerges here as an inherently social activity: the private experience of creativity is mediated and structured by society. Consumerism was not bad for personal creativity per se, but the replacement of a communitarian approach with a consumerist model restricted the breadth and reach of creative aspiration nurtured as part of the postwar settlement. By the end of the century, most amateurs were painting alone.

In 1959, the Swedish Social Democratic Party prevailed over the bourgeois parties in the great battle for supplementary pensions (ATP). In the 1990’s, however, the party leadership decided to abolish the ATP in close cooperation with the bourgeois parties. The thesis poses the following question: “What prospects did the Social Democratic leadership have to gain support for the ATP-reform in the 1950’s, and then for the quite dissimilar pension reform in the 1990’s, and how can differences between these prospects be explained?” In order to explain the kind of party change pointed out in the problem statement, this thesis proposes a theoretical perspective that focuses on the tension between different roles played by the party leadership on different arenas. The hypothesis, that is tested in the thesis, is that early decisions create different constrains for future decisions on different arenas. The thesis has two main conclusions. The first conclusion is that the decision to implement the generous ATP-system in the 1950’s in practice laid the ground for the subsequent abolishment of that same system in the 1990’s. The second conclusion is that the pragmatism, always displayed on the parliamentary arena, has not been visible on the electoral arena or on the party arena. The party leadership plays different roles on different arenas, and over time these different roles have become hard, if not impossible, to combine. The result of this was that decisions on the parliamentary arena were decoupled from messages and rhetoric about these decisions on the party arena, and on the electoral arena. The pension reform in the 1990’s was quite a different decision compared to the popular introduction of the ATP-system. Both of these decisions, however, were attempts by the party leadership to maximize support on each arena. The possibilities for succeeding in this venture were greatly reduced in the 1990’s. Instead of one party striving for one goal, Swedish Social Democracy in the 1990’s appeared as two or three parties, with different objectives and goals.

Nos fins do século XIX, Eduard Bernstein causou grande espanto e turbulência no interior da social-democracia alemã ao refutar publicamente as teses oficiais propugnadas pelos líderes do partido e, ao mesmo tempo, propor a revisão crítica do pensamento de Marx, desferindo sérios ataques ao que considerava seu elemento \"nefasto\": a dialética hegeliana. Ao defender a rejeição da filosofia da história marxiana - considerada obstáculo ao conhecimento científico da realidade social - Bernstein rompe com a perspectiva revolucionária, aderindo a um reformismo evolucionista. Acreditando no potencial emancipador da democracia burguesa, que tornaria possível a tomada do poder por meios legais e pacíficos, Bernstein passa a sustentar a adoção de uma postura política conciliatória e a mitigação da luta de classes. O surgimento desta corrente revisionista deu início a um grande cisma no interior da social-democracia que veio a ser considerado como \"a primeira crise do marxismo\", introduzindo uma nova tendência de rechaço à concepção dialética da história e de abdicação de quaisquer pretensões revolucionárias. Estas idéias viriam a tornar-se hegemônicas no final do século XX, quando as teses que apregoam o \"fim da história\" são amplamente difundidas e festejadas. Diante deste novo refluxo das teorias e práticas revolucionárias, torna-se fundamental a análise minuciosa do fenômeno revisionista - o contexto em que surge, as razões de seu sucesso no âmbito da esquerda e as críticas que podem lhe ser opostas / In the end of the nineteenth century, Eduard Bernstein caused great turbulence in the German social democracy when he publicly opposed to the official theses of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party and, at the same time, recommended a critical revision of Marx\'s thought, making serious attacks on what he considered its most hideous element: the Hegelian dialectics. While supporting the total rejection of the Marxian philosophy of history - regarded as an obstacle to the scientific knowledge of the social reality - Bernstein breaks up with the revolutionary perspective, joining an evolutionary reformism. Relying in the emancipatory potential of the bourgeois democracy, that would make possible the achievement of power through legal and pacific means, Bernstein sustained a conciliatory political posture and the softening of the class struggle. The appearance of such revisionist tendency gave birth to a schism inside social democracy that was further known as \"the first crisis of Marxism\", as it excluded the dialectical conception of history and the revolutionary aim. These ideas became hegemonic at the end of the twentieth century, when theses proclaiming \"the end of history\" were widely spread. In face of the new reflux of the revolutionary praxis, the analysis of the revisionist phenomenon - the context in which it appears, the reason for its success and the critics opposed to it - becomes crucial

La thèse porte sur la "reconversion partisane" de la social-démocratie en Europe. Elle propose une explication au paradoxe apparent entre d’une part l'existence de travaux décrivant la crise voire la mort du régime social-démocrate d’après-guerre, et d’autre part la conservation par cette famille de partis de son statut de grande alternative de gouvernement. La reconversion partisane est définie comme une modalité particulière de changement partisan, qui seule pouvait permettre à la social-démocratie de surmonter l’obsolescence (plus ou moins avancée) de son projet, de sa coalition électorale et de son modèle organisationnel. M’inscrivant dans la tradition de l’institutionnalisme historique, je propose une étude macrosociologique et comparée de quatre processus de reconversion, analysés de manière systématique au Royaume-Uni, en France, en Suède et en Allemagne. Leurs similarités et leurs différences sont ensuite expliquées, notamment à l’aide de plusieurs variables susceptibles de peser sur la forme et la temporalité des reconversions. Mon travail s’achève sur une appréciation provisoire de la mise à l’épreuve des reconversions par la grande crise économique en cours depuis 2008. Au-delà de l’éclairage nouveau qu’elle projette sur la trajectoire historique de cette famille politique, la thèse est une contribution à la littérature sur le changement partisan, sur la "cartellisation" des grands partis de gouvernement, et sur l’adaptation de ces derniers aux mutations de la structure des clivages politiques en Europe. Elle illustre aussi comment une approche "intégrée" des partis (sur plusieurs niveaux d’analyse) peut entrer dans un dialogue fécond avec les travaux sur les recompositions contemporaines de l’Etat moderne et du capitalisme. / The thesis deals with the "partisan conversion" of social democracy in Europe. It aims to resolve the apparent paradox between the existence of many publications describing the crisis or even the death of social democracy on one hand, and the fact that this political family has remained one of the major party alternatives on the other hand. We define the partisan conversion as a singular type of party change, which was the only one that could help the Social democrats to overcome the obsolescence of their project, electoral support and organizational model. My analysis is methodologically anchored in the historical institutionalism paradigm. It offers a macrosociological comparison of four processes of partisan conversion in the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and Germany. The similarities and differences between these processes are then explained, partly through a set of variables weighing on the structure and the temporality of conversions. My work ends with an appreciation of how theses conversions have been put under stress by the 2008 global crisis. The thesis thus provides a reconstructed picture of the historical path of social democracy, additional analytical tools to the literature in party change, and some insights to the reflections about the contemporary cleavage structures. Our intention is also to prove the usefulness of an investigation nurtured by the most recent works on global capitalism and the modern state.

Cette thèse cherche à définir les caractéristiques structurelles de l’identité politique du Parti Socialiste Ouvrier Espagnol telle qu’elle s’est construite entre le Congrès Extraordinaire du Parti de septembre 1979 et la fin de la première législature de Felipe González en juin 1986. Le premier chapitre analyse les différentes phases ayant permis au socialisme espagnol de se doter d’une architecture identitaire solide préalablement à son éclatante victoire aux élections générales du 28 octobre 1982. Cette étape antérieure à l’accession aux responsabilités marqua en effet l’inscription du Parti dans de nouveaux paradigmes idéologiques et stratégiques tels que la prise en compte de l’opinion publique, une intégration partielle des marqueurs de la social-démocratie, ou encore une approche continuiste de la question territoriale et de la politique militaire. Le second chapitre révèle le haut niveau de cohérence entre le projet politique et le contenu de l’action réformiste menée. L’étude contrastée de l’offre programmatique du PSOE et des réformes mises en œuvre entre octobre 1982 et juin 1986 montre en effet que le socialisme espagnol confirma, dans la praxis, les principales composantes structurelles de l’identité politique définies en amont. Cette approche comparative permet cependant d’identifier un certain nombre de renoncements et de rééquilibrages programmatiques qui sont analysés dans un troisième chapitre. Au cours de la Législature, le PSOE au pouvoir procéda en effet à une redéfinition doctrinale en matière de politique étrangère, évolua vers des paradigmes sécuritaires et amorça le passage d’une identité social-démocrate hétérodoxe à une identité social-libérale. / The aim of this dissertation is to define the organizational features of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party as they have been shaped by the party’s Extraordinary Congress from September 1979 to the end of the Second Legislative Session in 1986. The first chapter is an analysis of the different phases which led to the building of a strong underpinning architecture before the decisive victory at the general elections of June, 28th 1982. This preliminary phase to power marked an ideological and strategical shift characterized by the consideration of the public opinion, a partial integration of social-democratic markers, or a continuist approach of the territorial question and of the military policy. The second chapter sheds light in the extreme coherence between the political project and the nature of the concrete reformist actions. The contrastive study of the SSWP’s projects and the reforms between October 1982 and June 1986 shows that, in practice, Spanish Socialism implemented the organizational structures of their political identity as they had previous defined it. This comparative approach enables to however to identify a number of programmatic renunciations and readjustment which are analyzed in the 3rd chapter. During their Legislature, the SSWP in power redefined the doctrine in terms of international affairs, adopted a security policy or shift from a heterodox social democratic identity to a social liberal one.

A proposta desta dissertação é analisar como os governos de esquerda da América Latina contribuem ou não para a construção, desenvolvimento e consolidação de uma cultura democrática na região. A partir da experiência recente de Brasil e de Venezuela, que representam hoje os dois modelos dominantes da esquerda latino-americana, investiga-se se os resultados sociais obtidos estimulam ou não a confiança dos cidadãos no regime democrático. Para alcançar esse objetivo, verifica-se se houve ou não avanço em educação e saúde nos dois países entre 1990 e 2008. Tal diagnóstico é confrontado com a opinião de brasileiros e venezuelanos sobre a satisfação com a vida cotidiana e com o grau de apoio à democracia no mesmo período. A partir dos dados analisados, pode-se concluir que há avanços, no entanto, as medidas implementadas na área social são insuficientes para se consolidar a dimensão social da democracia e fortalecer substancialmente a cultura democrática. / The proposal of this dissertation is to examine how the governments on the left in Latin America contribute or not contribute to the construction, development and consolidation of a democratic culture in the region. Since the recent experience in Brazil and Venezuela, which now represent the two dominant models of the Latin American left, investigates whether the results obtained social stimulate or no public confidence in the democratic system. To achieve this goal, it is whether there is progress in education and health in both countries between 1990 and 2008. This diagnosis is confronted with the view of Brazilians and Venezuelans on satisfaction with life and the degree of support for democracy in the same period. From the data, it can be concluded that there is progress, however, the measures implemented in the social area are insufficient to strengthen the social dimension of democracy and substantially strengthen the democratic culture.

As profundas transformações sociais, políticas e econômicas em processo na Europa no final do século XIX e início do século XX, decorrentes da expansão das relações de produção capitalistas, afetaram indelevelmente inúmeros aspectos da vida privada, trazendo à lume as contradições insertas no modelo de família reproduzido pela sociedade patriarcal burguesa. O relevante papel desempenhado pelos teóricos marxistas neste período histórico possibilitou o desenvolvimento de um movimento feminino organizado com vistas à concretização de um projeto emancipatório socialista, capaz de colocar fim à opressão de gênero e classe. O trabalho em questão pretende analisar a visão de mundo, organização e estratégias de ação formuladas pelos membros da social-democracia no tocante às novas mulheres revolucionárias, bem como a sua repercussão sobre as futuras gerações de feministas socialistas, a fim de questionar a possibilidade de articulação entre as categorias de gênero e classe social no âmbito da teoria marxista. / The deep social, political and economical transformations in process in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, due to the expansion of the capitalist relations of production, affected countless aspects of the private life, shedding light on the contradictions inserted in the family model reproduced by the bourgeois patriarchal society. The relevant role performed by Marxist theorists in this historical period made possible the development of an organized feminine movement aiming at the materialization of an emancipative socialist project, capable of putting an end to both gender and class oppressions. This study intends to analyze the world vision, organization and action strategies formulated by social-democrats concerning the new revolutionary women, as well as their repercussions for the future generations of socialist feminists, in order to question the possibility of articulating the categories of gender and social class within the Marxist theory.

Nos fins do século XIX, Eduard Bernstein causou grande espanto e turbulência no interior da social-democracia alemã ao refutar publicamente as teses oficiais propugnadas pelos líderes do partido e, ao mesmo tempo, propor a revisão crítica do pensamento de Marx, desferindo sérios ataques ao que considerava seu elemento \"nefasto\": a dialética hegeliana. Ao defender a rejeição da filosofia da história marxiana - considerada obstáculo ao conhecimento científico da realidade social - Bernstein rompe com a perspectiva revolucionária, aderindo a um reformismo evolucionista. Acreditando no potencial emancipador da democracia burguesa, que tornaria possível a tomada do poder por meios legais e pacíficos, Bernstein passa a sustentar a adoção de uma postura política conciliatória e a mitigação da luta de classes. O surgimento desta corrente revisionista deu início a um grande cisma no interior da social-democracia que veio a ser considerado como \"a primeira crise do marxismo\", introduzindo uma nova tendência de rechaço à concepção dialética da história e de abdicação de quaisquer pretensões revolucionárias. Estas idéias viriam a tornar-se hegemônicas no final do século XX, quando as teses que apregoam o \"fim da história\" são amplamente difundidas e festejadas. Diante deste novo refluxo das teorias e práticas revolucionárias, torna-se fundamental a análise minuciosa do fenômeno revisionista - o contexto em que surge, as razões de seu sucesso no âmbito da esquerda e as críticas que podem lhe ser opostas / In the end of the nineteenth century, Eduard Bernstein caused great turbulence in the German social democracy when he publicly opposed to the official theses of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party and, at the same time, recommended a critical revision of Marx\'s thought, making serious attacks on what he considered its most hideous element: the Hegelian dialectics. While supporting the total rejection of the Marxian philosophy of history - regarded as an obstacle to the scientific knowledge of the social reality - Bernstein breaks up with the revolutionary perspective, joining an evolutionary reformism. Relying in the emancipatory potential of the bourgeois democracy, that would make possible the achievement of power through legal and pacific means, Bernstein sustained a conciliatory political posture and the softening of the class struggle. The appearance of such revisionist tendency gave birth to a schism inside social democracy that was further known as \"the first crisis of Marxism\", as it excluded the dialectical conception of history and the revolutionary aim. These ideas became hegemonic at the end of the twentieth century, when theses proclaiming \"the end of history\" were widely spread. In face of the new reflux of the revolutionary praxis, the analysis of the revisionist phenomenon - the context in which it appears, the reason for its success and the critics opposed to it - becomes crucial

As profundas transformações sociais, políticas e econômicas em processo na Europa no final do século XIX e início do século XX, decorrentes da expansão das relações de produção capitalistas, afetaram indelevelmente inúmeros aspectos da vida privada, trazendo à lume as contradições insertas no modelo de família reproduzido pela sociedade patriarcal burguesa. O relevante papel desempenhado pelos teóricos marxistas neste período histórico possibilitou o desenvolvimento de um movimento feminino organizado com vistas à concretização de um projeto emancipatório socialista, capaz de colocar fim à opressão de gênero e classe. O trabalho em questão pretende analisar a visão de mundo, organização e estratégias de ação formuladas pelos membros da social-democracia no tocante às novas mulheres revolucionárias, bem como a sua repercussão sobre as futuras gerações de feministas socialistas, a fim de questionar a possibilidade de articulação entre as categorias de gênero e classe social no âmbito da teoria marxista. / The deep social, political and economical transformations in process in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, due to the expansion of the capitalist relations of production, affected countless aspects of the private life, shedding light on the contradictions inserted in the family model reproduced by the bourgeois patriarchal society. The relevant role performed by Marxist theorists in this historical period made possible the development of an organized feminine movement aiming at the materialization of an emancipative socialist project, capable of putting an end to both gender and class oppressions. This study intends to analyze the world vision, organization and action strategies formulated by social-democrats concerning the new revolutionary women, as well as their repercussions for the future generations of socialist feminists, in order to question the possibility of articulating the categories of gender and social class within the Marxist theory.

British Labour Party&rsquo / s attitudes and policies towards European integration have historically oscillated between varying degrees of support for concrete integration steps and obstinate opposition to it. A major and pronounced volte-face on European policy occurred after 1983 and the aim of this study is to locate the causes of this shift in European policy and its subsequent course under &lsquo / New&rsquo / Labour period. The causes and motivations are searched within the general transformation of the party and they are assessed according to the changes in party&rsquo / s ideology and its perceptions about the needs of British national political economy. The scope of the study covers the intersection area between intra/inter-party politics and political economy. On these areas, Neo-Marxist theories of state and Regulation Approach are utilised, as well as the classical political sociology models on party politics. An historical inquiry on party policy encompassing the post-war period has been undertaken. In a similar vein, in order to compare it on ideological grounds, other European social democratic-socialist party policies are analysed alongside the British Labour case. It is argued that party&rsquo / s policy preferences are strongly influenced by and shaped according to the national socio-political institutional structure. The thesis comes to the conclusion that historical institutionalist analysis coupled with a &lsquo / structural dependency to capital&rsquo / theory offers a highly plausible explanation for the evolution of Labour Party&rsquo / s policy course on Europe, including the recent &lsquo / New&rsquo / Labour period.