The Third Way and Its Critics: Sequel to The Third Way By Anthony Giddens
The idea of finding a 'third way' in politics has become a focus of discussion across the world. Political leaders, in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America claim to be following its principles. Yet the notion has also attracted much criticism. Some say it is an empty concept without any real content. Critics from the more traditional left argue that it is a betrayal of left-wing ideals.
Anthony Giddens's The Third Way (Polity Press, 1998) is regarded by many as the key text of third way politics. Translated into twenty-five languages, it has shaped the development of the third way. In this new book Giddens responds to the critics, and further develops the ideas set out in his earlier volume. Far from being unable to deal with inequalities of wealth and power, he shows, third way politics offers the only feasible approach to these issues. The work is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand the most important political debate going on today.
Anthony Giddens is the Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author or editor of over thirty books. His previous works, especially Beyond Left and Right (Polity Press, 1994) have influenced debates about the future of social democracy in many countries across the world. Frequently referred to in the UK as Tony Blair's guru, Giddens has made a strong impact on the evolution of New Labour. The Third Way and Its Critics: Sequel to The Third Way
Interesting overview. Think it has been unfairly derided after the Blair years, but it seems like many of Giddens suggestions or motivations were ignored. It's still a relevent book despite all that's changed in the years it's been published. 200 Interesting if you like politics and social policy, although too defensive to its cause. Some concepts are really advanced. 200 أولاً الثلاث نجوم سببهم إني كنت منتظر من الكتاب أكثر مما وجدت, فخاب ظني وأنا الآن حزين.
الكتاب يتحدث عن الطريق الثالث وتجديد الديمقراطية الاجتماعية استناداً إلى تجارب دول أوروبية والولايات المتحدة, المشكلة بالنسبة للقارئ العربي أو المصري خصوصاً إننا لم نخوض تلك التجارب كدولة, فلا الدولة لديها سياسات واضحة أو ديمقراطية صحيحة أو نظام يمكن دراسته وبحث سبل تجديده وإصلاحة, الوضع بائس هنا.
الاستفادة الأهم من وجهة نظري هي كيفية التعامل مع المشكلات التي واجهتها دول أوروبا وسبل حلها عند التعرض ليها في حالة ظهور ملامح وخطط للدولة عندنا.
طرح جيد للمشكلات التي تواجه الطريق الثالث وعرض رؤيته لها وطرح حلول لبعضها وترك البعض الآخر بعد تعريف المشكلة فقط, معظمها لا تهمنا كدولة نامية وعالم ثالث.
بشكل عام اشطه يعني حلو. 200 Como su título indica, este libro es sobre la socialdemocracia, la llamada tercera vía entre el socialismo y el capitalismo que marcaron el siglo XX. Pero no trata de cualquier versión de la socialdemocracia, sino de una forma renovada, adaptada a las necesidades del mundo contemporáneo.
Quizá el mejor aspecto del libro es que esclarecedor en cuanto a que ofrece un panorama muy ilustrativo del contexto político a finales de siglo, cuando tras la caída del bloque socialista el pensamiento político de izquierdas se encontraba desorientado (se encuentra, si me preguntan).
Ante el avance del neoliberalismo, con las nefastas consecuencias que acarrea, y reconociendo que no es posible el simplemente volver a modelos anteriores, Giddens perfila una socialdemocracia que incluya en su programa la gobalización, la libertad individual, la protección del medio ambiente, la igualdad, el pluralismo cultural y la democracia cosmopolita.
Sobre todo, es útil para entender realmente de qué se trata esta postura, pues muchos derechistas la ven no más como comunismo disfrazado y para muchos izquierdistas no es más que neoliberalismo light.
Aunque es un libro interesante y, como dije, ilumina bastantes puntos importantes, a casi 20 años de su publicación dudo de su relevancia en el futuro. Además, la tercera vía bien puede verse como un práctico, viable y sensato término medio, pero ese pequeño anarquista que tengo en algún lado dentro de mí me dice nope, that's not enough. 200 Anthony Giddens, en este panfleto, hace un llamado a reorganizar la socialdemocracia.
Después de casi treinta años de este giro vemos que gran parte del programa socialdemócrata se ha consolidado, apareciendo nuevos problemas en el intermedio: familias democráticas, pérdida de la tradición y su sustitución por vínculos orgánicos, el cosmopolitismo, la migración multicultural, etc.
Con este texto queda claro cómo los socialdemócratas solamente buscan acelerar la disolución de las sociedades tradicionales mientras atenúan los efectos perniciosos de la modernidad. Lo lamentable del libro de Giddens no son las ideas ahí expuestas sino que se hubieran hecho realidad en gran parte de lo que se denomina Occidente. No sorprende la disolución de los países europeos después de leer este texto.
Ahora bien, el libro tiene buena prosa. Es conciso, sin embargo, a ratos considero que revuelve sus ideas. La exposición, empero, resulta clara, casi diáfana. Para Giddens queda claro que el desafío neoliberal sacudió los cimientos de la socialdemocracia primera; él, en su época propuso retomar lo mejor de ambos legados y pretendió rebatir el provincialismo de la Derecha inglesa. Es mejor atacando a sus enemigos que al proponer alternativas. Todo queda en meros deseos: que la socialdemocracia sea abierta a la globalización pero no aniquile a la nación, etc. A ratos el texto cae en un tono lastimero, impropio de un análisis claro de la crisis por la que atravesó la socialdemocracia hace décadas.
De haber leído esta obra antes posiblemente hubiera admirado la contudencia de los argumentos o la diáfana exposición, pero ahora resulta algo superada. No obstante, como discurso está bien escrito. Y eso se debe reconoder.
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I had assumed from the title that Giddens book might be targeted at the political programmes of centre left European political parties, but in practise he seemed to be re-imagining a consensus of political values for the government of Britain to replace the idea of the welfare state which was broadly supported by political parties from 1945 through to the late 70s or early 80s. that would be universal across the political spectrum rather than restricted to any one political party.
The arguments for change included the need to address environmental issues, a desire to make the country more democratic and inclusive, globalisation, and implicitly that there is no alternative to the currently preveiling flavour of capitalism. The essence of his view is that a neo-liberal conception of the market is an unchallengeable reality, but that it can be given a human face, it can be improved upon, or its edges smoothed, principally through promoting equality as inclusiveness which in practise seems to mean that everybody ought to be free to be a wage slave irrespective of age or condition or creed. Interestingly this leads him to condemn the idea of meritocracy as something in practise leading to a self replicating elite.
His view of society is profound an economic one - the meaning and purpose of life implicitly is that you live to work. The role of the state is to maximise equal access to the opportunity to work primarily through education, abandoning the idea of the role of the state being to insure that there was work available if necessary through government purchase of companies or subsidies, the economy should though be nursed along through state infrastructure investment. The state becomes a contractual authority in this conception, for example an unemployed person enters into a contract to sincerely search for work in order to receive state benefits rather than receiving them as a right as a citizen, equally disorderly conduct particularly by young people is to be addressed by obliging them in contracts to be loyal and quiet , care for the elderly can be addressed in his view by legally obliging their children to support them, blithely ignoring the realities of the current flavour of capitalism which make it difficult for people to do so in the first place.
None of this comes as a great surprise to those who remember the New Labour era which I felt was despite its most determined efforts at times, was nonetheless slightly more left wing than what Giddens describes.
His criticism of the welfare state I found particularly curious, he did not view it as unaffordable or even particularly expensive though he notes the in creasing burden of old age pensions, the main issues seem to be the origins of the welfare state, for example the Bismarckian insurance system in Imperial Germany were design to prevent socialism and that worker's rights coming from EU legislation are influenced by Catholic social teaching, as though this is the first step to the introduction of the rosary and road side shrines. As an irreligious person I find this anti-catholicism one of the less pleasant historic relics in British political life and it suggests that Giddens vision is far less inclusive and democratic than he thinks. I believe he was correct on both counts, but I don't see how that leads one to conclude that the welfare state needs to be replaced, and that for me was part of the puzzle of this book, he has a strong vision, but it is strangely disembodied, he holds a position but without much reference to history or data.
His vision is profoundly internationalist, but also too reasonable in some respects for his time - he assumes that the reaction to the financial crises of the mid 1990s would be greater regulation, not the continued deregulation that was to occur.
I had assumed that his book predated the first Blair victory in 1997, but it comes after, perhaps as an attempt to provide some kind of intellectual framework for New Labour politicians. That Giddens sees 'third way' politics as emerging particularly with the Clintons in the USA, probably sends more of a danger signal now than it did at the time of publication. 200 Analysis shows the receding effect of governments , the increasing power of challenger movements, the reducing gap between right wing parties and left wing parties , and the need to face the problems of Globalization , and that emerged from the new technology application :D
صباح البطيخ المصري :) 200 Should be the manifesto of the Labour Party and a manifesto for our country. 200 The Third Way is a politically centrist attempt to balance some aspects of economic Neoliberalism (the New Right) with the social policies of classical Social Democracy (the Old Left). The New Right has ignored the fact that markets are in reality made up of people and therefore are social (i.e., they cannot be viewed through a purely individualist lens). The Old Left has pretended that markets are bad, full stop, and central planning is still a viable method. Since both of these approaches have imploded memorably on a global scale in recent times, it is timely to consider some of his ideas. The Third Way is pragmatic rather than highly ideological. It focuses on globalization and the information society, rather than nation-states and industrial society. Like the right, it focuses on market economies, but like the left, it propses full employment. It speaks to a balance between social rights and responsibilities. Unlike purely individualist neoliberalism it speaks to community, which is also unlike social democracy which still speaks to class politics. Give it a try and see what you think. I believe there are some very good ideas here. 200 El socialismo y el comunismo han muerto pero siguen rondándonos., p. 11.
La tecnología no puede constituir el fundamento de un programa político efectivo., p. 12.
La vida política no es nada sin ideales, pero los ideales son vacíos si no se refieren a posibilidades reales., p. 12.
El capitalismo es económicamente ineficiente, socialmente divisivo e incapaz de reproducirse a largo plazo según la teoría económica socialista., p. 13-14.
Las comparaciones apresuradas de esta clase acarrean un evidente riesgo de caricaturización., p. 19.
El Estado de bienestar es el punto álgido de un prolongado proceso de evolución de los derechos de ciudadanía., T.H. Marshall, p. 21.
Se habla con frecuencia de la globalización como si fuera una fuerza de la naturaleza, pero no lo es., p. 45.
¿Estamos presenciando el nacimiento de una generación del 'Yo', que genera una sociedad del 'Yo primero' que inevitablemente destruye los valores comunes y las preocupaciones públicas?, p. 48.
... mientras que la política emancipadora atañe a las oportunidades vitales, la política de la vida atañe a decisiones vitales. Es una política de elección, identidad y reciprocidad., p. 58.
El desarrollo sostenible es, por tanto, más un principio guía que una formula precisa., p. 71
desarrollo sostenible... la capacidad de la generción actual 'para asegurar la satisfacción de las necesidadades del presente sin comprometer la capacidad de las generaciones futuras para satisfacer sus propias necesidades', Comisión Mundial sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo: Our Common Future, 1987, p. 71
Una vez que la tradición y la naturaleza son transformadas, hay que tomar decisiones progresivas, y tenemos responsabilidad por sus consecuencias., p. 78.
... dado el poder social y culturalmente destructivo de los mercados, sus consecuencias más generales han de ser siempre examinadas., p. 80.
Los estados que afrontan peligros en lugar de enemigos han de buscar fuentes de legitimidad diferentes de las del pasado., p. 87.
Se deconfía del gobierno, a todos los niveles, en parte porque es engorroso e ineficaz., p. 81.
Igualdad ~ Inclusión \ desigualdad ~ exclusión
El bienestar no es en esencia un concepto económico, sino uno psiquico, ue atañe, como lo hace, al estar bien., p. 139.
Toda identidad étnica, es, en parte, producto del uso del poder y es creada a partir de diversos origenes culturales., p. 157. 200
