Addressing Misconceptions about Social Democracy in Eastern Europe

Addressing Misconceptions about Social Democracy in Eastern Europe

March, 9-11, 2018. The beginning of spring Regional Office “Dialogue Eastern Europe” has marked with tremendously important workshop on facing misunderstanding about Social Democracy in the countries of Eastern Partnership, especially, in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia.

Political party system in Post-Soviet countries could be characterized by lacking well-established political party tradition, formalization of political ideologies and high personalization of political movements.

Usually number of registered parties in such countries varies from approximately 32 in Moldova to almost 400 in Ukraine. The programs of different parties intersect and; therefore, create a lot of misunderstanding of core political ideologies, especially Social Democracy (SD.) Generally, Social Democracy is negatively treated in most countries of the Eastern Partnership. It is usually associated with Soviet Union, with chaos and destabilization, lack of property right and basic human freedoms.

During a three-days seminar “Addressing Misconceptions about Social Democracy in Eastern Europe” that took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 9th till 11th March, questions listed below and other relevant challenges SD faces in eastern Europe were intensively discussed

• What does Social Democracy mean to people in post-Soviet countries nowadays?

• Does it correspond to the values and needs of modern societies in the EaP countries?

• What are the main misconceptions of Social Democracy in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia (BUMA)?

• How big is the impact of Soviet mentality on governmental systems in BUMA countries?

• Is there any connection, contradiction or interdependence of freedom and stability?

• What is the role of SD in keeping the governments accountable?

The seminar gathered 15 prominent representatives from trade unions, students’ associations, civil society and NGO’s, whose activities in home countries are related to the promotion of Social Democracy in the Region.

The workshop was focused on working out mechanisms to break down 3 basic stereotypes about Social Democracy:

1.     Social Democratic values are the same as basic patterns of the Soviet Union.

2.     Freedom and equality are opposed to stability (political, economic, etc.).

3.     Ordinary citizens can’t do anything to hold the governments accountable and to bring the societies closer to social justice.

During the seminar participants have discussed and came up with the list of misconceptions common to all Post-Soviet countries. In such countries as Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova as well, as in Armenia, Social Democracy is perceived as ideology that:

• equals to communism, dictatorship, social-nationalism (characterized by the absence of democracy, private property rights – just collective rights are respected (no individual rights allowed) and centralized economy/planned economy.)

• represents left political ideology that supports pro-Russian movements/ pro Soviet Union ideas.

• neglects freedom of expression, freedom of movement and other basic human rights and liberties that are perceived as sole liberal values.

• rejects market economy per se. Therefore, there is no understanding of equality and social justice “I am working and paying the taxes, why someone else benefits (e.g. migrants, unemployed, etc.) – where is the equality?”

As a result of the discussion it was stated that not only because of the weak political party tradition, but also because of the so called phenomena of Homo Sovieticus the misunderstanding of Social Democracy is still very strong in the countries of Eastern Partnership. For this reason, the youth and civil activists should take responsibility and become driving force that will break down all the stereotypes about SD and change understanding of social justice in both their home countries and in region on the whole.

The three-days seminar became another step forward to promote the discourse of Social Democracy on a higher level in the region. It has enabled participants to share their experience with colleagues from the countries of EaP, work out mechanisms aimed at addressing misconceptions about SD and to develop action plans for further cooperation and promotion of Social Democracy in the Eastern Europe.