The Third Way and Its Critics: Sequel to "The Third Way": Written by Anthony Giddens, 2000 Edition, (1st Edition) Publisher: Polity Press [Paperback] Paperback – 16 May 2000

A very interesting read.

I bought this book only for one of my papers because I didn't want to run to the library all the time. In fact, in that paper I was critising the use of the Third way theory in order governments to deny their social responsibily in times of risk and uncertainty. A. Giddens may sound believable about the rise of the new socialism that he is expecting, but his association with New Labour and Blair's policy has proven that in implementation, Third Way is not an innocent theory and has increased inequality.Since policy readers need to be objective, it is useful I think to read books that claim different things from the one you are believing in, so I won't critisize the theory but the book. He demonstrates the critics in the begging, it makes a critisizng of the implementation failure and then he reintroduces his theory. It is quite simply written.A subjective feeling that I have for this book is that it is not a well-done research work. The fame that Giddens has gained as the new name in Sociology and his collaboration with english government allow him to express himself with no strong support.

Although the idea of "The Third Way" has had a long history its most recent manifestation was as the sociological ideology of Anthony Giddens which underpined what became popularly known as Blairism. Many commentators saw the twentieth century in Marxist terms as a class conflict between Capitalism and Socialism. The Conservative Harold Macmillan and Labour's Evan Durbin each called for State intervention to ameriorate the inequalities of wealth which existed in the 1930s and 1940s. Ironically Fascism and Nazism were both adherents of the Third Way, subjecting industry to the needs of the State while fighting a war against the Soviet regime. The postwar Attlee regime created a more mixed economy but made little progress in coming to terms with free market economics. Conflicts tended to concentrate on the respective merits of state and private competition and seeking ways to balance any conflict of interests.Underlying economic theories were battles for political power. The consensus politics of the 1950s, known as Butskellism - signifying the lack of clear distinction between the economic policies of Labour's Gaitskell and Butler for the Conservatives - crystallised into consensus politics. Under Thatcher consensus politics was replaced by conviction politics. The state's role was reduced by privatising publicly owned companies, deregulating industries, relying on the market to internally correct any problems, reducing the amount spent on public services, avoiding running long term fiscal deficients and reducing taxes.The State was to be restricted to the issues of defence and law and order. Some of this did not translate into practice and public expenditure continued to rise. In 1989 the Soviet Union finally, if reluctantly, accepted the failure of communism making the conflict between "capitalism" and "socialism" officially redundant. Social democracy acquired a new lease of life as the primary opposition to the neo-liberalism which had developed ideologically as a response to the classical theories of Keynes.Giddens argued that Marxist class analysis had failed. So too had the statism associated with social democratic governments. He did not see the Third Way as a middle way between "top-down socialism and free-market philosophy but a restructuring of "social democratic doctrines of globalisation and the knowledge economy", both of which resulted in the ossification of Clause 4 and other Labour shibboleths.To create the good society it was necessary to strike " a balance between government, markets and the civil order" This balance would be connected "by means of a new social contract" with the government "providing resources for citizens to assume responsibility for the consequencies of what they do." The "Big Society" under another name. Giddins stated that the dual challenge of globalisation and the knowledge economy "must be met by rebuilding state capacity, in conjunction with international regulation." While avoiding asking, "What planet are you on?" it is reasonable to note that Giddens earned his degrees in an "ology".Critics of the Third Way were scathing about its lack of substance, coherence and plausibility. Referring to the American version of the Third Way, Hillary Clinton said it offered "a unified field theory of life" that will "marry conservatism and liberalism, capitalism and statism, and tie together practically everything: the way we are, the way we were, the faults of man and the word of God, the end of communism and the beginning of the new millennium." In brief, as Clive Jenkins once remarked, "it includes every platitude from "Prepare to meet Thy God" to "Kindly adjust your dress before leaving".Left wing critics assailed it as a watered down version of Thatcherism designed to win power for New Labour's political managers rather than provide benefits for the electorate. In practice Blair removed regulation from the financial services industry allowing globalisation to flourish in Britain and attracting many rich companies few of whom paid their dues to the United Kingdom. Blairism was a pantomime dominated by wishy-washy characters lacking the willpower to tackle the flow of capital to foreign domiciles for tax purposes. Ralf Dahrendorf referred to Third Way politics as speaking of the need for hard choices but avoiding such choices in order to please everyone.Giddens argued that Third Way politics meant modernising social democracy which, to him, was the only effective way of dealing with questions of social justice, corporate power and inequality. By replacing old left/right definitions of politics with a reformed and reforming social democratic movement Giddens claimed to be addressing the needs of a changing world. He believed there was a new culture which was "more widespread among younger people, the more educated and the more affluent, but is becoming the outlook of the majority. The idea of providing proof to support these assertions appears to pass him by. "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" was a great soundbite but meaningless in practice. Neither is there much originality in thinking a national minimum wage will alleviate poverty when a national minimum income is required. Deserting re-distribution in favour of equality leads to concentration on peripheral matters rather than substantive issues of deprivation.Successive governments have proved unable, unwilling, or incapable of establishing policies which meet the real challenges facing the UK. The main reason for this is the aim of each government to keep itself in power by providing policies they deem to be electorally advantageous rather than essential to the welfare of the nation. New Labour enriched the banks then rescued them from their self-induced folly but failed to take control. The policy suggestions offered by Giddens are pie in the sky rather than bread on the table. Samuel Brittain chided New Labour for being influenced by left-wing academics. Giddens's Third Way is a prime example of the baleful nature of such influence. Three stars.