Product Description

The idea of finding a ′third way′ in politics has been widely discussed over recent months – not only in the UK, but in the US, Continental Europe and Latin America. But what is the third way? Supporters of the notion haven′t been able to agree, and critics deny the possibility altogether. Anthony Giddens shows that developing a third way is not only a possibility but a necessity in modern politics.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226076 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The "third way", in Britain, has come to be associated with the politics of Tony Blair and New Labour. And Anthony Giddens, the director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, is frequently referred to as Tony Blair's guru as he has made a strong impact on the evolution of New Labour. In The Third Way, he makes a contribution to the debate now going on in many countries about the future of social democratic politics. The reasons for the debate are obvious enough--the dissolution of the "welfare consensus" that dominated in the industrial countries up to the late 1970s; the final discrediting of Marxism, and the very profound social, economic and technological changes that helped bring these about. What should be done in response, and whether social democracy can survive at all as a distinctive political philosophy, are much less obvious. This slim book has been described by Ian Hargreaves, former editor of the New Statesman and The Independent, as being a "landmark" in laying the intellectual foundations of the centre-left position.

Ian Hargreaves, formerly Editor of New Statesman and The Independent
"Tony Giddens has made the most significant contribution yet to laying the intellectual foundations of a modernized centre-left position. This book will be a landmark. It is a pioneering work of vital interest to the formation of political thinking on both sides of the Atlantic."

Will Hutton, Editor-in-Chief, the Observer
"Tony Giddens, allegedly Tony Blair's favourite intellectual, has done what many considered impossible: he has constructed a coherent and persuasive definition of the third way. But importantly he has pulled it off, insisting that rather than being beyond left and right, it is part of the left, the renewal of social democracy. This book could be decisive in persuading the Blairites that they must look to the left rather than the right for their political future. It is an important and potentially very significant political intervention."

Customer Reviews

A very readable apologia
Certainly approachable, this book charts a host of notions designed to appeal to New Labour (or perhaps it is the other way around). Ideas to do with the increasing 'fuzziness' of national boundaries appealed to me as real, but those concerned with the return to 'community' seemed romantic wishful thinking. But the way the book is structured, one can readily pick the ideas that appeal without having to swallow the whole ideology (perhaps because there isn't one, really?). At the end I was uncertain whether this really was a blueprint for a new Labour party, or a clever and readable apologia for their appropriation of distinctly Thatcherite approaches.

Neoliberalism by other means
Undoubtedly a specialist in using a lot of words to say absolutely nothing, Anthony Gidden's does manage to insult all people who believe that we are capable than more than not enough. He dispenses with the all left wing ideology in one sentence and offers a paltry excuse for the horrors of Thatcherism. If you think humans are capable of moral sophistication and mental progress, this is an important book to read. As this is the best introduction there is to the new enemy.

bit of a chiche now
The "Third Way" has certainly become something of a cliché now, but the book is interesting nevertheless as it sets out what is envisaged for the "Third Way". We must remember that it was written prior to Blair winning the 1997 general election. The book is good in that it is simple and clear, but not particularity revolutionary or challenging.