The cerebral Ed Miliband attempts this week to impose his authority on Britain’s fractious Labour party as it comes to terms with opposition. What is his political philosophy? More broadly, what is an appropriate philosophy for a European party of the left in the post-socialist era? Do such parties have a continuing rationale? Their incapacity to formulate any coherent account of, or response to, the global financial crisis puts that question in sharp focus.

Political philosophy has been the subject of a strong, decidedly individualistic American influence since the second world war. The most influential figure is John Rawls, whose Theory of Justice develops the notion of social contract initiated by Locke and Rousseau centuries ago. Rawls invites his readers to consider what agreement individuals might reach behind a “veil of ignorance”, in which they have no knowledge of the economic or social position they will occupy in society.

Rawls argues that risk averse individuals will choose an egalitarian economic order. The individualistic, contractarian approach is followed by others, such as Robert Nozick, who use it to reach more conservative conclusions. Political philosophies based on contract and individualism have a natural affinity with neoclassical economic models.