The Global Third Way Debate

Left-of-centre governments are currently in power in many countries. In greater or lesser degree, all have moved away from traditional doctrines and policies of the left, recognizing that left values have to be pursued by different means today. The term 'Third Way' has become a widely accepted, if controversial, label understood by many modernizing social democrats to refer to these attempts at ideological and policy innovation. The debate that has arisen around these developments is a truly worldwide one, stretching from the US and Europe through to Asia, Australasia, and Latin America. Anthony Giddens has been perhaps the foremost contributor to the global Third Way discussion. In this book, he has brought together some of the key contributions from around the world. Articles include the development of Third Way policies in EU countries; welfare institutions and reforms; economic and social policy; trust, the civic order, and government; the stresses of democracy; the regulation of corporate power; ecological modernization; the Third Way from the South; and global governance. This book will be of interest to anyone concerned with the future of progressive politics. It provides perhaps the most comprehensive and integrated account to date of core developments in leftist political thinking.