The Social Democratic Vision of The Future

Fülszöveg

Social Democraq' nowadays has the same dilemma as any other range of ideas or movements. Rules of pragmatism are not enough any more in politics and in understanding the world around us - the future should be seen in such a way that the knowledge of the past is indinspensable. A clear and exact image ofthe society, of its status, and the process of its development is necessary, and it cannot be obtained without dealing with everyday pragmatic questions as well as theoretical ones. One of these essential questions seems to be the settlement of the basic values -considering the past - in the interest of the future. The basic values - accepted by Social Democrats, Cristian Democrats, people on the left wing, and people who have affinity to social thinking - are in the focus of Iván Vitányi's book. The author is very much concerned with the problems of the present, he discusses the greatest social processes taking place at present and having important effect on creating values: the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Social Democraq' nowadays has the same dilemma as any other range of ideas or movements. Rules of pragmatism are not enough any more in politics and in understanding the world around us - the future should be seen in such a way that the knowledge of the past is indinspensable. A clear and exact image ofthe society, of its status, and the process of its development is necessary, and it cannot be obtained without dealing with everyday pragmatic questions as well as theoretical ones. One of these essential questions seems to be the settlement of the basic values -considering the past - in the interest of the future. The basic values - accepted by Social Democrats, Cristian Democrats, people on the left wing, and people who have affinity to social thinking - are in the focus of Iván Vitányi's book. The author is very much concerned with the problems of the present, he discusses the greatest social processes taking place at present and having important effect on creating values: the changes of produce and work, the new forms of capitalism, the paradigms of the new era.
Vitányi's goal in his work is to offer a general approach to his theme, but at the same time the current problems of Eastern Europe and those of Hungary occur throughout his essay. As he states in the last words of his book: "At times, history plays the 'trick' that the late-comers are luckier: they may save certain experiences by the example of their predecessors. Will this happen to us too? Only history will decide."
Iván Vitányi (1925-) sociologist. Prof, emer., ELTE; director emer Institute of Sociology, MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences); MP; member of the presidency of MSZP (Hungarian Socialist Party). Vissza