The third way and its critics /

Everywhere, the buzz is "Third Way Politics" (TWP). This hottest hot button term describes the new style left-center governments throughout Europe and the US. TWP commands a large literature with Giddens as its leading advocate. His The Third Way (1998) and Beyond Left and Right (CH, Oct'95) have argued that only TWP can resolve problems produced by globalization and the information economy. What is TWP? Supporters don't always agree, and critics deny the possibility altogether. Giddens's reply to critics argues that the Third Way is an endeavor to respond to socioeconomic change; it is "modernizing social democracy"; and it suggests that capitalism and markets are not "the source" of the problem. "Government and the state are at the origin of social problems"; strong civil society is necessary. Giddens hits hard at the neoliberal love affair with the market, insisting that TWP navigates a course between the state and the market. In Giddens's view--a crucial (and arguable point)--it is not a middle path between left and right but rather an effort to redefine social democratic doctrines. Although this book breaks little new ground, its clarity and "crossfire" energy make it a valuable and useful volume for upper-division undergraduate and graduate students of contemporary social and political thought. H. Steck; SUNY College at Cortland