The Sanders, Corbyn, Ardern and Shorten moments were missed chances to renew social democracy through structural reform, leaving genuine economic grievances to be harvested by the populist right.

Every generation offers political moments that, in retrospect, appear as forks in the road. In the past decade, four such moments emerged across the English-speaking democracies: the rise of Bernie Sanders in the United States, Jeremy Corbyn in Britain, Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand and Bill Shorten in Australia. Each was different in ideology, personality and political circumstance. Yet together they represented something larger: opportunities to reverse the long retreat of social democracy from its founding purpose.

For much of the twentieth century, social democracy sought to civilise capitalism. It accepted markets but insisted they should serve society, not dominate it. Progressive taxation, strong trade unions, public housing, universal healthcare, quality education, publicly owned infrastructure and competition policy were not merely welfare measures. They were structural reforms designed to spread power, opportunity and security throughout society.

Beginning in the 1980s, however, many social democratic parties accepted much of the neoliberal settlement. Markets became the primary instrument of public policy. Public ownership gave way to privatisation. Finance and property became increasingly dominant. Governments shifted from shaping markets to managing their consequences. Labour parties became increasingly centrist, managerial and technocratic. Elections were........

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