In trying to understand how it lost 4 million working-class voters between 1997 and 2010, the Labour party has found itself in strange waters. The notion of "Blue Labour" put forward by Maurice Glasman is already being used by some to propose a socially conservative, economically liberal agenda, which, with its appeals to flag, faith and family, sounds more like something that would go down well on doorsteps in Birmingham, Alabama, rather than in its West Midlands namesake.

For many, the problem with New Labour was that it was already too blue – too pro-market – to be believable when it went looking for support among traditional voters. Yes, 4 million working-class votes were lost, but not to the Tories. The majority of them simply sat on their hands, no longer willing to support New Labour, yet unable to bring themselves to support someone else.

It is doubtful that they will come flocking back if Labour begins to promote the three Fs. The party does need to reach out to its traditional voters, but this cannot be achieved by stealing someone else's traditions.

Still regarded by many on the left with suspicion, tradition does, nonetheless, have an important role to play in helping Labour reconnect with its lost support, not by making us feel nostalgic, but by helping us to recognise that we have been here before.

Capitalism constantly challenges the way in which we organise society and its great leaps forward have, historically, always been followed by political movements that have sought to rebalance society by curtailing the power of the free market.

England has a particularly rich tradition of attempting to hold those with greater economic power to account. Magna Carta contained many more clauses regulating trade than it did human rights. The civil war began as a dispute over the divine right to levy taxes. The industrial revolution placed great wealth in the hands of a new breed of capitalist and, in response, produced the first working-class mass movement in the world, the Chartists. The creation of the welfare state in 1948 was the last great attempt to organise society for the common good.

Capitalism's most recent leap forward, globalisation, has once again left us at the mercy of the markets. The power of the nation state to govern its own economic affairs has been put into question by multinational conglomerates with no loyalty to any country or continent. Successive governments, deregulating the labour market in the hope of attracting investment, have created an atmosphere of insecurity among a native workforce that has seen their jobs disappear overseas to as employers seek ever-higher profit margins with no regard to the social consequences.

The past two decades have also witnessed greater numbers of immigrants coming to Britain in search of work and better living conditions for their families. Those who oppose immigration complain that nobody voted for a huge influx of foreigners without recognising that the mass movement of cheap labour is a key aspect of globalisation.

The answer to the problem of Labour's missing 4 million voters lies not in turning back to some idealised insular vision of the past, but in getting to grips with the negative aspects of globalisation. The political tradition that matters most to disenfranchised working-class voters is Labour's tradition of opposing the excesses of capitalism.

What they want – what they need – is a Labour party that remembers what it is for: a party that defends the ordinary working people against the ravages of the free market; a party that holds those who wield great financial power to account; a party that provides people with a sense of security in an ever-changing world.

Globalised capitalism is on the rocks and its masters seem intent on carrying on with business as usual. The time has come for us to once again begin the work of rebalancing our economy. Can the Labour party cast off its free market dogma and lead the effort to reorganise society for the common good?