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PRAKSIS is a semiannual publication of the Network of Social Democracy in Asia (SocDem Asia). It seeks to combine theory and practice by providing cogent analysis to inform the strategy of the progressive movement and help shape the policy direction that should guide the region's governments.

Moreover, the journal serves as an Asian-wide social democratic channel of exchange in issue analyses, ideological deepening, and strategy development for advancing the agenda of freedom, justice and solidarity.

The journal also releases special editions to address pressing and unexpected issues affecting the region.

Unity in Diversity

EDITORIAL
Unity in Diversity

In August 2017, American far right groups staged a massive demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia. Meant to unite the various white nationalist groups in the United States, the rally sparked violent clashes in various parts of the city which left three people dead. Among the casualties was Heather Heyer who died when a white supremacist deliberately drove his car into a crowd of mostly peaceful counter-protesters. The event in Charlottesville demonstrated the growing influence of the far right — emboldened, no doubt, by Donald Trump's presidential victory a year earlier.

Unfortunately, similar trends are also occurring in Western Europe, where far right parties stoke racism and Islamophobia to gain public support. In the recent French presidential election, for example, far right candidate Marine Le Pen narrowly lost to incumbent Emmanuel Macron with a 17 percent difference. While in neighboring Germany, the anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won 83 seats in the Bundestag, promising in its 2021 manifesto to end “the creeping extinction of European cultures” through the “complete closure of external EU borders.”

Described by Enzo Traverso as an attempt “to destroy democracy,” the rise of the far right also underscores the increasing importance of identity politics in the early twenty-first century. Meant as a form of collective action, identity politics seek to articulate the needs and demands that arise from the shared experiences of certain social groups.

But in the…

EDITORIAL
Unity in Diversity

Videos

The Federal Election in Germany - An Election Analysis and Insights for Asia

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Leading up to the German Federal Elections last September, many political analysts and media commentators already wrote off the German Social Democrats as the election's biggest losers and pointed to its eventual decline. The opposite happened.
Join us to learn how the SPD changed its political course and turned a predicted decline into a political comeback.

Transformative Realism: New Politics for Today's Crises?

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Reflecting on the multiple crises revealed by the COVID 19 we look into strategies in building broad platforms and consolidate social majorities for Alternatives to the Status Quo. We talk with Marc Saxer, Head of the Asia-Pacific Department of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and author of Transformative Realism. We are also joined by prominent panelists such as Liew Chin Tong, Executive Committee Member of the Democratic Action Party; Sabina Dewan, Executive Director and President of the JustJobs Network; and Percival Cendana, National Executive Committee Member of the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party.

Building Resilient Democracies Webinar

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Democracies around the world are under pressure. The economic and socio-political performance of democracy has been challenged by right-wing populist movements and the mismanagement of several global crises. The future of social democracy depends in large part on how we can build together resilient, resistant and effective democracies, capable of facing the challenges of the future with our values?

The Progressive Alliance, in collaboration with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and in cooperation with the Network of Social Democracy in Asia (SocDem Asia), addressed this question in this Asian leg of regional level debate with progressive personalities from the region and from various backgrounds, before presenting their results in November 2021 at the Global Progressive Forum conference.

Feminist Politics Webinar | March 12, 2021

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SocDem Asia in partnership with Akbayan Citizens' Action Party Philippines and Fretilin Timor-Leste
1. What are the political challenges faced by the feminist movement today?
2. What characterizes feminist politics and leadership? How does this translate into feminist practice in governance, community development and political participation?
3. How do we make our parties and/or organizations feminist? Are there mechanisms, bottom lines and/or pitfalls to avoid?