Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The Third Way was the label originally given in 1998 by British sociologist Anthony Giddens to his program for modernizing center-left politics. It was closely associated with Bill Clinton's New Democrats in the US and Tony Blair's New Labour in the UK. It represents a direct attempt to use sociological theory to inform a political and governing project. The term Third Way is based on a characterization of two previous political “ways”: the socialism/social democracy of the “old left” (first way) and the free-market neoliberalism of the new right (second way). It seeks to adopt what it sees as the strengths of these traditions, while avoiding their weaknesses. Thus, Giddens supports social democracy's commitment to equality of opportunity, social justice, and social cohesion, but criticizes its top-down statism for neglecting individual aspiration and stifling innovation. At the same time, Giddens embraces the neoliberal emphasis upon the dynamism and efficiency of markets, but rejects universal market solutions for failing to recognize the need for active government and for threatening the social fabric. The Third Way thus refuses what it sees as the false political binaries of the past (i.e., social justice or economic efficiency), arguing that they are reconcilable (social justice and economic efficiency). Giddens's Third Way project is sociological: he does not base it primarily ... log in or subscribe to read full text